"I've reported a long way to sunset, and I've learned some amazing lines in poetry." What does it mean?

"I report that the road is long and the day is dusk, but I have amazing lines in my poetry." It means that the lyricist laments that time is in a hurry, and that although he tries hard to learn poetry, he may not always be able to write amazing masterpieces, which expresses the pursuit and contradiction of life and art.

Source

This quote is from "The Fisherman's Pride," written by Li Qingzhao, a female lyricist of the Song Dynasty.

Excerpts from the original text

"The sky meets the clouds and waves and the dawn mist, and the river of stars wants to turn and a thousand sails dance.

It was as if my dreaming soul had returned to the emperor's place, and I heard the words of the sky asking me earnestly where I had returned to.

I will report to you that the road is long and the day is dusk, and that I am learning to write some amazing poems.

The winds of 90,000 leagues are lifting the roc. The wind will not stop, and the boat will be blown to the three mountains!"

Translation

The sky meets the sea like an alternation of clouds and thick fog, and the river of stars looks like a thousand sails dancing.

I felt as if I were in a dream, and heard the voice of heaven asking where I was going back to.

I told him I was going home, but it was a long way, and the hour was evening.

I struggled to learn to write poetry, but I had a hard time writing amazing lines. Thousands of miles away a gale blew the sailboat toward three high mountains.

Appreciation

This line conveys Li Qingzhao's life lesson: even though there are moments of loneliness and helplessness on the road of hard study and creation, one should not stop moving forward. In addition, through the word "tirade", Li Qingzhao also expresses her dissatisfaction that her poems are merely stunning and cannot be called true works of art.

Background of Composition

Li Qingzhao had accompanied her husband to Nanjing for a posting, and later, when he was relegated to the post of county magistrate, the two of them traveled south to Zhejiang together, having sailed at sea on the way. The song "Fisherman's Pride" is said to have been written after her southward voyage, so the descriptions and feelings in it are related to her actual experience.

Notes

"The road is long" means "the road is long. "tirade" means "merely" or "just".

Life Lessons

This sentence expresses the helplessness of time and the value of life. Time is as long as the road, people walk on the road, busy moving forward, but do not know when to reach the end. In the limited time we have, we must treasure every minute and every second, not to waste it, but should try to do what we want to do, keep learning and keep progressing. Learning poetry can help us express our emotions and thoughts and make our life more colorful. In life, we should also keep the attitude of learning, keep exploring new things, keep pursuing self-improvement and development, make ourselves better, and come out of a road of our own.