However, the rural ferry, originally not frequented by many pedestrians, is now completely deserted. Therefore, even the ferryman is absent, and all that can be seen is the empty ferry floating freely, indifferent and leisurely. The water is swift and the boat is horizontal; since the ferry is in the countryside, there are no visitors.
Had it been at a busy crossing, the evening rain would have raised the tide, making it the perfect time for the ferry, and it could not remain leisurely and empty. Thus, within this leisurely scene of swift water and horizontal boats lies a sense of helplessness and sadness, a feeling of being out of place and not being able to fulfill one’s purpose. In both the preceding and following lines, the poet employs a contrast technique and emphasizes with striking words like “lonely pity,” “swift,” and “horizontal,” which should be said to have a thought-provoking intention.From this perspective, the poem carries a certain sentiment. But why does the poet have such sentiments? In the early Middle Tang period, Wei Yingwu was a poet who maintained integrity and was also a good official concerned about the suffering of the people. In his official career, he often found himself in a contradiction between advancing in his career and retreating into seclusion, as he expressed in his poem, “I often think of the fields while suffering from many illnesses, and I feel ashamed of my salary while the people are in distress” (from “To Li Dan Yuanxi”). He was worried about the political corruption of the Middle Tang and felt guilty about the impoverished lives of the people, aspiring to reform but feeling powerless, wanting to retreat into seclusion but unable to do so, caught in a dilemma of advancing and retreating.