春蚕
[明]刘基
可笑春蚕独苦辛，
为谁成茧却焚身。
不如无用蜘蛛网，
网尽蜚虫[1]不畏人。
注释：
[1]蜚虫：飞虫。
The Silkworm
Liu Ji[1]
Why should the silkworm busy alone and forget
It will be boiled when its cocoon is made one day?
Why not imitate the spider spinning its net
To catch all insects, careless of what people say?
注释：
[1]The poet helped the first Ming emperor to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty and establish the Ming Dynasty. This won him an earldom, but a false charge brought about his death.
“Spring Silkworm” is a work by Liu Ji, a poet in the Ming Dynasty. This poem takes spring silkworms as its theme. By comparing spring silkworms with spiders, the author expresses his dissatisfaction with secular reality and praise for the spirit of freedom and independence.
The poem contains profound poetic meaning. First, spring silkworms symbolize people as individuals who endure hard labor and pressure in secular reality, but ultimately cannot escape their fate. The author uses “ridiculous” to describe spring silkworms, showing his disdain and irony for this reality.
Secondly, the poem mentions that spring silkworms voluntarily burn for cocoons, which can be understood as individuals sacrificing themselves for the benefit of others or society. This sacrifice is regarded as absurd and ridiculous by the author, implying the author’s view that individuals should pursue their own values and freedom.
Then, the author uses the metaphor of spiders and bees and butterflies to compare spring silkworms, highlighting the importance of the spirit of freedom and independence. The spider weaves a web to catch insects, which is a dependence and bondage to the outside world; while bees and butterflies fly freely without fear of human interference. Through this comparison, the author expressed his attitude towards the pursuit of independence and freedom, believing that individuals should stick to their independence like bees and butterflies, and not be afraid of hardships.
In general, Liu Ji’s “Spring Silkworm” reveals his dissatisfaction with secular reality and his praise for the spirit of freedom and independence through the comparison between spring silkworms and spiders. The poetic meaning in the poem reflects the author’s view on the individual’s pursuit of their own value and freedom, calling on people to bravely face difficulties and stick to their independence.
