My comments on "Advent of Spring" by Du Fu The brilliance of this poem lies in the point of view of the observer. He is old, bewildered and powerless. The devastation of war is suggested by a mosaic of images. It is like a short film, cutting from ruins to weeping flowers, to startled birds flapping away, to dirty beacon fires, to desperately lonely soldiers waiting for the mail. It is a great poem because it is so concise yet so meaningful. Merv Daw Other Comments: "Advent of Spring" impresses me as it has a very miserable tone. The city has fallen, and the poet is a captive. He has lost touch with his family and he feels so sad when he sees the remaining river and hills because the scenery makes him recollect the city at its best. "A letter from home was worth ten thousand pieces of gold." In this sentence, we can see that he misses his family very much. The poem tells me that war is very terrible and family is more important than money. Kabowe Cheung I like this poem very much because I think this poem is very real. People are really poor because of the war. They hate the war, because the war destroyed their homes. They are sad about that. And all the soldiers miss their families because they were forced to be soldiers; they didn�t want to leave their families. I think in this world, nothing is more important than our family. When you are happy, your family members will also be happy; when you felt upset, they will always support you. That�s the power of love. We should treasure the time with our family members and treat them as well as possible. Rachel Man At that time, Du Fu was caught by the aggressors. His country was downfallen. The landscape changed to glop suddenly. He expressed his sadness in this poem. First, he described the dreary atmosphere revealing his blues about the country. Then, he said a letter from home was treasure. This revealed his solicitude for his family. We can see that the people at that time hated the war and the destruction of their country very much. They also missed their relatives very much. This poem can really reflect the real situation. Winky Liu The poet seems to describe the view of coming spring; actually, he expresses the feelings of a broken-down country. He feels sad and sorrowful when he sees the country. The letter from home is most important. He misses family members so much, as he has not seen them for three months. His hair grows thinner day by day, reflecting how he is worried about the country. He implies his worry through his health condition. I hate the war very much! The citizens will suffer from it and it will waste much money, so, peace plays a vital role in the world. Emily Wong Try reading the poem again. It is presented below: |
| Window on Chinese Poetry |
"Advent of Spring" by Du Fu The city has fallen: only the hills and rivers remain. In spring the streets were green with grass and trees. Sorrowing over the times, the flowers are weeping. The birds startled my heart in fear of departing. The beacon fires were burning for three months. A letter from home was worth ten thousand pieces of gold. I scratch the scant hairs on my white head, and vainly attempt to secure them with a hairpin. Adapted from a translation by David Lunde |
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