Victoria Collins

New Years Watch 

By Su Shi

Soon now, we'll mark the year's end that approaches,
It's like a snake that crawls into a hole.
Already half its scaly length is hidden,
What man can stop us losing the last trace?
5 And even if we want to tie its tail,
No matter how we try, we can't succeed.
The children make all effort not to sleep,
We laugh together, watching through the night.
The cockerels should not cry the dawn for now,
10 The drums as well should give the hour respect.
We sat so long the lamp's burnt down to ash,
I rise and see the Plough is slanting north.
Next year, perhaps, my span of years could end,
My fear is that I've just been marking time.
15 So exert ourselves to the utmost here tonight,
I still admire the exuberance of our youth!

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&q=time&tbs=sur:fmc&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=FTpFJkbUx-HQKM:

1. This image of a clock represents time. The image connects to the poem because the poem talks about time and using a snake shedding its skin as an example of growth. Snakes shedding its skin can also be compared to people changing when New Years comes around which is when most people consider changing their ways.
2. Su Shi once wrote a poem about, Wang Anshi, an economist. His father and his brother were both famous in literature. His most famous piece of calligraphy is called "The Cold Food Observance", this piece explained his loneliness and utmost disappointment while living on a farm in Huangzhou. When he was governor he wrote a memorial complaining about economic conditions. After he died, he started to gain popularity and people started to pick up his pieces of art and they also made a shrine in his honor.  http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/calligraphy-su-shi.php
3. The poem "New Years Watch" is about time passing and going into a new year but during the time of New Years everyone should celebrate it and be grateful that they lived through another year. The poem starts off by talking about how easy it is for a snake to shed its skin and be fine with it and then talks about how hard it is for humans to go into another year without carrying something with them or growing. The speaker has a very strong opinion about going into a new year and that everyone should celebrate it because you only live once. The speaker also stresses the fact that most humans have a hard time going into a new year. The figurative language makes an impact in the poem by comparing a snake shedding and people coming into a new year. In the second line, there is a simile that says "Its like a snake that crawls into a hole". In line 4 there is a rhetorical question that says "What man can stop us losing the last trace?" The comparison between a snake and a human is growth. The form of the poem starts off by talking about a snake shedding. Then the author says that if a snake can do it then a person can move into another year in lines 15-16.  The tone starts off calm and then it gets straight forward. The author first talks about a snake growing and saying that humans don't choose to grow throughout the year only when New Years comes. Then the author gets real and says that humans are too scared to grow and they should stop worrying about New ears and grow while they are young. The theme of the poem is to celebrate living and growth as much as you can until you can't grow anymore.