Ballad of This Evening cover

Ballad of This Evening

Rating 4.3
Word count
3.8K words
Chapters
50

Tags

Summary

Written in 746, when Du Fu was returning west to Chang'an from Qi and Zhao, "A Song of This Night" depicts the poet gambling with others at a Chang'an inn on New Year's Eve and reveals the bold spirit of his youth. The poem is vivid in description and vigorous in language, brimming with a rough, uninhibited romantic air.

Editor's review

"A Song of This Night" is a seven-character song-form poem from Du Fu's youth, written on New Year's Eve in the fifth year of the Tianbao era while he was staying in Chang'an. It begins with keeping watch through the night at an inn and moves into a scene of gambling with others; the tone is unrestrained and the language crisp, showing a rough romantic spirit rarely seen in Du Fu's poetry. Unlike the familiar deep, brooding, forceful style, this poem reveals the spirit and unruliness of the poet's youth and conveys the complex feelings peculiar to passing New Year's Eve away from home: beneath the liveliness lies a sense of drifting, and within the boldness there is self-mockery. It is short and suited to repeated recitation, so that one may feel the momentum of the song form in its sound and rhythm. When reading, one may compare it with Du Fu's later experiences in Chang'an to better understand the changes in his style. For readers who wish to know the many sides of Du Fu, this is a small poem worth close reading; for general readers, it can also be enjoyed simply as a lively and flavorful New Year's Eve poem.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers who want to know Du Fu's youthful poetic style and his many sides
  • Readers interested in Tang dynasty song-form poetry and New Year's Eve themes
  • Language teachers and students who need short classical poems for recitation
  • General readers who enjoy reading a bit of classical poetry in a festive atmosphere

Not a good fit for

  • Readers expecting a long narrative or a full biography
  • Specialist researchers seeking detailed annotations and scholarly textual criticism
  • Beginners with no familiarity with classical poetic language and meter

Reading tips

  1. Read it aloud twice first to feel the rhythm and momentum of the song-style verse, then examine the literal meaning line by line.
  2. Read it alongside Du Fu's later years sojourning in Chang'an to sense the shifts in style and mood.
  3. Note scene words such as "inn," "New Year's Eve," and "gambling" to reconstruct the poem's imagery.
  4. Copy the whole poem out once to feel, in the act of writing, the boldness of its diction and syntax.

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 【同熊少府题卢主簿茅斋(庐兼有人伦)】高適
  3. 【同朱五题卢使君义井】高適
  4. 【同郭十题杨主簿新厅】高適
  5. 【秋日作】高適
  6. 【辟阳城】高適
  7. 【赴彭州山行之作】高適
  8. 【咏史】高適
  9. 【送兵到蓟北】高適
  10. 【同群公题张处士菜园】高適
  11. 【逢谢偃】高適
  12. 【田家春望】高適
  13. 【闲居】高適
  14. 【封丘作】高適
  15. 【九曲词三首】高適
  16. 【营州歌】高適
  17. 【玉真公主歌】高適
  18. 【和王七玉门关听吹笛(一作塞上闻笛)】高適
  19. 【别董大二首】高適
  20. 【送桂阳孝廉】高適
  21. 【送李少府,时在客舍作】高適
  22. 【听张立本女吟】高適
  23. 【初至封丘作】高適
  24. 【除夜作】高適
  25. 卷二百一十五
  26. 【剑池】李岘
  27. 【张公洞】李栖筠
  28. 【投宋大夫】李栖筠
  29. 【宝林寺作】徐浩
  30. 【谒禹庙】徐浩
  31. 【自悼】薛令之
  32. 【灵岩寺】薛令之
  33. 【湘夫人】邹绍先
  34. 【寄妻父刘长卿(一作严维诗,题作发桐庐寄刘员外)】李穆
  35. 【短歌行】冯著
  36. 【洛阳道】冯著
  37. 【行路难】冯著
  38. 【燕衔泥】冯著
  39. 【同孟浩然宴赋(一作题壁歌)】王迥
  40. 【尚书都堂瓦松】李晔2
  41. 【省试七月流火】敬括
  42. 卷二百一十六
  43. 【奉赠韦左丞丈二十二韵】杜甫
  44. 【送高三十五书记】杜甫
  45. 【赠李白】杜甫
  46. 【游龙门奉先寺(龙门即伊阙一名阙口在河南府北四十里)】杜甫
  47. 【望岳】杜甫
  48. 【陪李北海宴历下亭】杜甫
  49. 【同李太守登历下古城员外新亭,亭对鹊湖】杜甫
  50. 【玄都坛歌,寄元逸人】杜甫

FAQ

How does this poem differ from Du Fu's familiar brooding style?
"A Song of This Night" was written in Du Fu's youth. Its tone is unrestrained and crisp, describing a New Year's Eve gambling scene at an inn and carrying a rough, bold romantic air, clearly different from his later representative works in the deep, brooding, forceful style. For this very reason, it helps readers see the formation and many-sidedness of Du Fu's style.
Can I read it without knowing about Tang dynasty gambling games?
Yes. The gambling in the poem is part of the scene, and readers need not know the specific rules to feel the noisy atmosphere of the New Year's Eve vigil at the inn and the poet's bold spirit. Those who wish to go deeper may look up background on Tang gambling customs, but there is no need to put off reading for that.
What setting is this poem suited to?
It suits festive occasions such as New Year's Eve, when it easily echoes the vigil scene in the poem; it is also good as short material for reciting classical poetry, to be read aloud twice in quiet moments. It is brief enough to finish and savor in a few minutes on a commute or before sleep.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Du Fu Author · Chinese

Du Fu was a realist poet of the Tang dynasty, styled Zimei and self-named Shaoling Yelao. His ancestral home was Xiangyang, and he was born in Gongxian, Henan. He served as Left Remonstrator and as an adjunct员外郎 of the Ministry of Works, and is known to later generations as Du Shiyi and Du Gongbu. During the An Lushan Rebellion he was displaced and wandered from place to place, later settling in the Thatched Cottage in Chengdu. About 1,500 of his poems survive, most collected in The Complete Works of Du Gongbu. He is revered as the "Sage of Poetry," his verse is called "poetry as history," and he is ranked alongside Li Bai as "Li and Du." His writing confronts social reality and personal hardship, covering war and displacement, the sufferings of the people, landscapes, and everyday reflections; his style is deep and forceful, his language precise and varied, and his influence on later poetry is profound. This site holds 31 of his works, including complete collections such as The Complete Works of Du Fu and The Collected Poems of Du Fu, as well as individual pieces such as "Again Showing Zongwu," "Visiting the Temple of the First Lord," "Song of the Year's End," and "The Ninth Day." His works are commonly classified under ancient poetry, Eastern philosophy, and culture.

More by the same author

Top rated in the same category