It rains in the east and rains in the west, but there is no sunshine but there is sunshine.
From the first of two poems of Liu Yuxi (刘禹锡), a writer of the Tang Dynasty, there are eleven poems of the Bamboo Branch Lyrics (竹枝词二首), divided into two groups, and these two poems are one of them. The first poem is about the mood of a young girl immersed in her first love.
The full poem is as follows:
The willow is at the level of the river, and I hear the sound of Lang Lang singing on the river. (
The sun rises in the east and the rain falls in the west. (But there is a clear sky.)
The sun rises in the east and rains in the west.
Interpretation:
The willows are green and the river is wide and flat, and I hear my lover's song on the river.
The sun rises in the east and rains in the west; it is said that there is no sunshine but there is still sunshine.
Expanded:
Background of the composition
Liu Yuxi, who served as an assassin of Kui (kuí) Prefecture from the first month of the second year of the Changqing reign of Emperor Mu Zong of the Tang Dynasty (822) to the summer of the fourth year of the Changqing reign (824), composed eleven Bamboo Branch Lyrics. The eleven "Bamboo Branch Lyrics" are divided into two groups, this is one of the groups of two, made after the other nine ("Bamboo Branch Lyrics Nine"), about the completion of the poet's former group of nine, and then re-created and completed, and do not want to add ten, eleven of the title after the first nine, and so also entitled "Bamboo Branch Lyrics Two".
Works Appreciation
The Bamboo Branch Lyrics is a kind of folk song in the eastern part of Sichuan in ancient times, in which the people sang while dancing, accompanied by drums and piccolos. During the song competition, whoever sings the most is the winner.
When Liu Yuxi was the governor of Kui Prefecture, he was very fond of this kind of folk song. Learning from the spirit of Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs", he adopted the music score of the local folk song and made the new "Bamboo Branch Lyrics", which depicted the local landscape and customs as well as male and female love, and was rich in the flavor of life. The genre is the same as that of the seven-word stanzas. But in writing, more white description techniques, less allusion, language fresh and lively, vivid and fluent, folk songs strong flavor.
The style of the lyrics of the poem is bright and lively, with a strong flavor of life and distinctive folk characteristics. Just as Qu Yuan wrote "Nine Songs", Liu Yuxi drew materials from local folk songs, transforming folk customs into literati elegance, creating folk song poetry that is different from literati literature, showing the importance of complementing elegance and vulgarity in literary creation.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Two Songs of Bamboo Branch Lyrics