Tu Fu Poems LRJ #5

Lynn Hodnett
Ms. Peifer
10IB English Hour 5
April 15, 2009

Tu Fu's "Night Thoughts Afloat" starts out with a calm, but lonely mood in the first two stanzas. This is shown when he says "By bent grasses/ in a gentle wind/ Under straight mast/ I'm alone tonight" (lines 1-4 Tu Fu). The use of the word 'gentle' and the image of grass creates a soothing and relaxed feeling. However, the mood changes in the third stanza and gives off a distinct air of being indignant. This is presented when the words "'Retired for ill health'" (line 12 Tu Fu) are in quotation marks and shows how annoyed the poet really is about his situation. In the fourth and last stanza, the mood changes again, only this time it rings with a calm loneliness edged with despair. The usage of the word 'drifting' carries a detached connotation and so that shows the author feels that he is disconnected from the rest of the world. This tone is reinforced with the image of the "single gull/ between sky and earth" (lines 15-16 Tu Fu). By using grass and a gull for the images, it creates clear, simplistic images that are easy to interpret.
Tu Fu's "Jade Flower Palace" has an overall mood of wistful remembrance and melancholy. This is shown when he says, "the pathos of/ It overcomes me" (lines 17-18 Tu Fu). It is also shown when he says, "The wind moans in/ The pines" (lines 1-2 Tu Fu). The entire poem consists of all these images that paint a picture of a once beautiful and bright palace that has fallen into disrepair and ruin. The image that echoes that especially is this: "His dancing girls are yellow dust/ Their painted cheeks have crumbled/ Away" (lines 11-13 Tu Fu). The use of the words 'dust' and 'crumbled' leave a vivid impression of age.