Joining the Army
Chen Yu
The frozen mud cracked in the wind on the seaside, and the sycamore leaves fell off and the branches broke.
No one can be seen when the flute is heard, and the red flag goes straight up to the snow in Tianshan Mountain.
Comments
①Sea: The large lake near the Tianshan Mountains at that time.
②Horizontal flute: flute.
③ Tianshan: The name of the mountain, in today’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Translation:
The cold wind blew hard at the foot of Tianshan Mountain, the frozen mud by the lake cracked, the leaves on the sycamore trees had been stripped away, and the branches were broken by the strong wind. In the snow-capped mountains, there was a high-pitched and loud flute sound, but no one could be seen. Looking for the sound, I saw a line of red flags moving towards the top of the mountain against the backdrop of the white snow of Tianshan Mountain.
Appreciation:
This is a quatrain in oblique rhyme about a march in the wind and snow. The whole poem is very magnificent. The first and second sentences describe the extremely harsh environment faced by the soldiers in the army: the cold wind blew strongly at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, the frozen mud near the lake ("seaside") cracked, the leaves on the sycamore trees had been shaved off, and the branches were broken by the strong wind. On this harsh background, the snow-capped mountains are reflected, and the high-pitched and resonant sound of the flute is heard. The poet uses the sound of the flute to make people think that there is someone here, but at the same time he hides the person, creating suspense by "not seeing the person" - where does the sound of the flute coming from the wind come from? This naturally leads to the last sentence: Looking for reputation, I saw a line of red flags moving towards the top of the mountain against the backdrop of the white snow of the Tianshan Mountains. The red flag remains undisturbed in the wind and snow, which fully reflects the spirit of the soldiers. The dynamic description of "straight up" makes the picture full of vitality. The high morale and indomitable spirit are all overflowed in the word "straight up".
This poem is good at setting off and subtly using references in art. The description of the environment in the first and second sentences strives to highlight the harshness of the natural environment, and uses a strong atmosphere to reflect the fearless spirit of the soldiers. Just imagine, if we were marching under the conditions of calm wind, beautiful sun, clear mountains and clear water, how could we see the high and strong morale? To meet the needs of describing the atmosphere, the rhyme rhyme is in the rhyme tone. One word at the end of the first, second, and fourth sentences enters the rhyme. "Crack", "Zhe", and "雪" are all rhyme characters with the rhyme "crumb" in the rhyme. It has a tip-of-the-tongue sound with a short ending, which is suitable for expressing tragic or heroic poetic sentiments.
The description of the atmosphere and the choice of rhyme in the first two sentences lay a good foundation for expressing the magnificent poetry. But the foil is the companion after all, and the key to the success or failure of the description lies in the three or four sentences that serve as the main body. The last two sentences are intended to describe people, but they do not write them directly, let alone tell the whole story. Instead, they only mention two things related to people-"Flute" and "Red Flag". They do not mention people but there are people there. The use of this referential technique not only saves pen and ink, but also enriches the artistic capacity of the work and gives readers a broad space for imagination. There are countless items in the army, but only the flute and the flag are mentioned, not only because only the sound of the flute and the red flag can be seen from a distance, but also because only these two items can best express the spirit of the marching officers. In terms of writing, first write "the sound of the flute is heard" and then "the red flag goes straight up", which is in line with the general habit of people paying attention to distant things "first the sound and then the shape". What is particularly clever is the embedding of the three words "不见人". "Hearing the sound" and looking for the person, looking but "not seeing", thus forming the ups and downs of the writing style, making the moving scene in the last sentence more vividly burst into people's eyes.
"Marching the Army" has the beauty of poetry and painting. The vast mountains, the red flags in a row, the white of the snow, the red of the flags, the stillness of the mountains, and the movement of the flags show a magnificent picture of marching in the snow.