Wild Geese cover

Wild Geese

Rating 2.9
Word count
4.7K words
Chapters
50

Tags

Summary

"Wild Geese" is a Tang dynasty poem.

Editor's review

"Wild Geese" is a Tang dynasty poem by an unknown author. It is brief and takes wild geese as its subject. In Tang poetry, geese are often associated with migration, the seasons, the frontier, and letters. This poem uses the object to stir feeling; its language is terse, its imagery clear and spare, and it lingers after reading. Because the author is unknown, the work is free of biographical allegory and is all the better suited to appreciating its mood and prosody directly from the text. For readers who want a taste of the diversity of Tang poetry without being confined to famous poets and canonical pieces, an anonymous work like this offers another way in: it reminds us that the richness of Tang poetry does not belong only to a handful of masters. When reading, first clarify the literal meaning, then note where the goose imagery appears in the lines and what it does there, and finally read it aloud several times to feel the rhythm of five- and seven-character verse. Those interested in Tang object poems may read this alongside works on similar themes and compare how they select images and convey feeling.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • General readers interested in Tang poetry and object poems
  • Readers who want a short piece to experience classical verse rhythm
  • Readers who prefer spare imagery and short poems
  • Teachers or students using it as supplementary material on object poems

Not a good fit for

  • Researchers needing detailed author background and a chronology of composition
  • Readers expecting long narrative or complex plot
  • Complete beginners to classical poetic language without annotations

Reading tips

  1. Read the whole poem first, marking words for the goose's actions, scenery, and seasonal cues
  2. Consult annotations for difficult words, then read aloud two or three times to feel the rhythm
  3. Read alongside other Tang poems on geese and compare their imagery and feeling
  4. Try paraphrasing the poem in your own words to check whether you have grasped the overall mood

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 【寄茅山何威仪二首】陆龟蒙
  3. 卷六百二十六
  4. 卷626_1【早秋吴体寄袭美】陆龟蒙
  5. 卷626_2【病中秋怀寄袭美】陆龟蒙
  6. 卷626_3【秋赋有期因寄袭美(时将主试贡士)】陆龟蒙
  7. 卷626_4【和袭美新秋即事次韵三首】陆龟蒙
  8. 卷626_5【和袭美赠南阳润卿将归雷平】陆龟蒙
  9. 卷626_6【顾道士亡,弟子奉束帛乞铭于袭美,因赋戏赠】陆龟蒙
  10. 卷626_7【和访寂上人不遇】陆龟蒙
  11. 卷626_8【秋夕文宴(得成字)】陆龟蒙
  12. 卷626_9【南阳广文欲于荆襄卜居,袭美有赠,代酬次韵】陆龟蒙
  13. 卷626_10【和袭美寄毗陵魏处士朴】陆龟蒙
  14. 卷626_11【和袭美初冬偶作寄南阳润卿次韵】陆龟蒙
  15. 卷626_12【和袭美冬晓章上人院】陆龟蒙
  16. 卷626_13【和袭美寄题镜岩周尊师所居】陆龟蒙
  17. 卷626_14【寒夜文宴得惊字】陆龟蒙
  18. 卷626_15【送润卿还华阳】陆龟蒙
  19. 卷626_16【和袭美为新罗弘惠上人撰灵鹫山周禅师碑送归诗】陆龟蒙
  20. 卷626_17【和袭美寒日书斋即事三首,每篇各用一韵】陆龟蒙
  21. 卷626_18【和袭美腊后送内大德从勖游天台】陆龟蒙
  22. 卷626_19【和袭美寄题玉霄峰叶涵象尊师所居】陆龟蒙
  23. 卷626_20【南阳广文博士还雷平后寄】陆龟蒙
  24. 卷626_21【和袭美题支山南峰僧次韵】陆龟蒙
  25. 卷626_22【送董少卿游茅山】陆龟蒙
  26. 卷626_23【和袭美寄怀南阳润卿】陆龟蒙
  27. 卷626_24【袭美将以绿罽为赠因成四韵】陆龟蒙
  28. 卷626_25【和过张祜处士丹阳故居】陆龟蒙
  29. 卷626_26【和袭美寄广文先生】陆龟蒙
  30. 卷626_27【和袭美先辈悼鹤】陆龟蒙
  31. 卷626_28【幽居有白菊一丛因而成咏呈知己】陆龟蒙
  32. 卷626_23【和袭美伤开元观顾道士】陆龟蒙
  33. 卷626_24【和袭美醉中即席赠润卿博士次韵】陆龟蒙
  34. 卷626_25【送浙东德师侍御罢府西归】陆龟蒙
  35. 卷626_26【送羊振文先辈往桂阳归觐】陆龟蒙
  36. 卷626_27【袭美留振文宴龟蒙抱病不赴猥示倡和因次韵酬谢】陆龟蒙
  37. 卷626_28【和袭美重送圆载上人归日本国】陆龟蒙
  38. 卷626_29【和袭美褚家林亭】陆龟蒙
  39. 卷626_30【归雁】陆龟蒙
  40. 卷626_31【王先辈草堂】陆龟蒙
  41. 卷626_32【伤越】陆龟蒙
  42. 卷626_33【新定陪太守一百五夜南馆玩月】陆龟蒙
  43. 卷626_34【中元夜寄道侣二首】陆龟蒙
  44. 卷626_35【寄怀华阳道士】陆龟蒙
  45. 卷六百二十七
  46. 卷627_1【人日代客子(是日立春)】陆龟蒙
  47. 卷627_2【筑城词二首】陆龟蒙
  48. 卷627_3【古意】陆龟蒙
  49. 卷627_4【春晓】陆龟蒙
  50. 卷627_5【杂兴】陆龟蒙

FAQ

Does the unknown author affect reading?
Only to a limited degree. Anonymity means the poem cannot be explained through the author's life, but it also reduces preconceived allegorical reading. Readers can focus more on the text itself and appreciate it through imagery, diction, and structure, which is in fact good training in close reading of classical poetry.
Is this poem suitable for beginners?
Fairly suitable. It is short with concentrated imagery, a light entry point into Tang poetry. Read it with annotations, clear up vocabulary obstacles first, then read it aloud repeatedly. Comparing it with familiar object poems makes it easier to appreciate its technique and flavor.
What should one pay attention to when reading object poems?
First see what features the object takes on in the poem, then see how those features connect to human feeling or circumstance. Object poems often use the object to convey meaning, but the allegory may be explicit or implicit; do not over-interpret, and stay within the clues the text provides.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.

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