In the flourishing period of the Tang Dynasty, the poetical themes could be divided into two categories. One category was the borderland poems. The other category was the pastoral poems. The former category was represented by the poem of Gao Shi and Cen Shen. The latter category was represented by poem of Wang Wei and Meng Haoran. The two categories reflected separately the two ways of the life of the scholars, either taking up an official post or living in seclusion.
The borderland poems were fervent and impassioned reflecting the aspirations of the scholars for fame and position and for realization of their political ideal .The poems were forceful and magnificent. An example of such poems was the “Dirge at LiangZhou” written by Wang Zhihuan, as follows.
凉州行
黄河远上白云间，
一片孤城万仞山。
羌笛何须怨杨柳，
春风不度玉门关。
A Dirge for Liangzhou
The Yellow River runs into the white clouds,
The lonely castle lurks amidst numerous mountain ridges.
Futilely the “Qiang” flute plays in compassion for the willows.
For spring breezes never go beyond the Yumen pass.
Set off by a background of the cold, desolate borderland, the dirge mirrored the nostalgia of a soldier staying long at the frontier garrison.
Its scene was open and wild. Its sentiments were vehement and sad.
Another example is the poem by Wang Changling, as cited below:
从军行
青海长云暗雪山，
孤城遥望玉门关。
黄沙百战穿金甲，
不破楼兰终不还。
The Solider the Army
Drifting clouds darken the snow-capped mountains in Qinghai.
A lonely town city distant from the Yuman Pass.
I’ve fought a hundred battles in my golden armor in this yellow desert.
But I will not return home until Loulan is subjugated .
The poem reflected fully the valiance and resoluteness of the soldier .
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On the other hand , the pastoral poems merged the essences of poetry ,lyrics and painting and reflected the consciousness of the poets staying away from worldliness and craving for nature . One example was the poem by Men Haoran , as follows:
春晓
春眠不觉晓，
处处闻啼鸟。
夜来风雨声，
花落知多少。
Spring Dawn
In the morning of a spring day , I wake up late ,
Hearing birds chirp every where .
Rains fell and winds blew last night,
I wonder how many blossoms have fallen.
. The poem was a ditty hummed in the morning , reflecting the author’s mood like “an expanse of clear water”. Other examples were the poems by the great poet Wang Wei , which were graceful lyrical melodies , like delicate paintings of natural scenery , as follows:
鸟鸣涧
人闲桂花落，
夜静春山空。
日出惊山鸟，
时鸣春涧中。
Birds cry in Ravine
Men leisurely , osmanthus flowers dropped ,
Night quiet , hills empty .
Birds in hills scared by sunrise ,
Cry in the ravine .
. 山中
荆溪百石出，
六寒红叶稀。
山路元无雨，
空翠湿人衣。
In the Hills
Cobbles seen in brambly brooks ,
Red leaves scare in the cold.
Hill paths not rained on , but
Men’s clothes wetted by moisture in air.
Both the poems are lucid , implicit and charming , very tranquil but also very vivid . One can say , during the flourishing period of the Tang Dynasty , the Chinese landscape poems reached a perfect , fully matured level .
