Bai Juyi's poems It's late and it's snowing

"Ask Liu Nineteenth" Bai Juyi

New fermented wine from green ants, small red clay stove.

It’s snowing in the evening, can you have a drink?

Translation:

My newly brewed rice wine has not yet been filtered. There is a layer of green bubbles on the surface of the wine and the aroma is fragrant. A small stove made of red clay for scalding wine is also ready.

The sky is gloomy and it looks like it’s going to snow tonight. Can you stay and have a drink with me?

Appreciation:

From the title "ask" in this poem, we can know that Liu Shijiu is not around, so he needs to be "asked" to invite him. The questioner asked a sentence of three or four: "It's snowing in the evening, can you drink a cup of water?" In terms of emotion, the question is sincere; in terms of poetry, the question is clever. Yu Biyun's "Continuation of a Brief Introduction to Poetry": "The word "无" in the last sentence is a wonderful question, which is like hearing the sound of the mouth for thousands of years." The desire for snow means that although it has not snowed yet, the cold has arrived.

It was probably dusk, the weather was getting colder, and heavy snow seemed to be coming at any time, so I naturally thought of my friend Liu Shijiu. Why not invite him to have a drink and talk at night?

In order to invite Li Bai, Wang Lun lured Li Bai to the Thousand-foot Peach Blossom Pond. The poet chose the most common thing when friends get together - wine, and it is newly fermented wine, not the golden wine in Li Bai's works. The wine has not yet been filtered, and the dregs are still floating in it. They are thin and green in shape and float like ants in the water, so they are called "green ants".

Generally speaking, if the wine has not been filtered, how can it be served to guests? But it is this newly brewed wine that is more life-like and shows the simplicity and sincerity of friendship. Why does friendship need to be filtered or refined? Moreover, using the "little red clay stove" to scald the wine is so friendly and comfortable!

Moreover, the "newness" of "new fermented wine" and the "warmth" of "small stove" sweep away the decay and desolation of "late" and "cold". Use red against green, wine against snow, one cold and one hot, complement each other, the colors are bright and fresh. The coldness of the snow can be driven away by the wine of a small fire. How happy and warm it is to have a close friend to talk to in bed during the long lonely night!

No need for gold or jade, no need for rich carvings, just the most daily fresh fermented wine and a small stove are enough! There is absolutely no trace of vulgarity in such a poem, and it cannot be uttered by a vulgar person. The most ordinary objects become wonderful chapters once the poet's skillful hands turn them into wonderful chapters.