The meaning of First to Know the Warmth of Ducks in Spring River is that the ducks playing in the water are the first to notice the warmth of the river in early spring.

From Su Shi's "Two Songs on the Evening Scene of the Spring River in Huichong" in the Song Dynasty, the original text reads: "There are three or two branches of peach blossoms outside the bamboo, and the ducks are the first to recognize the warmth of the water in the spring river. Piper betel artemisia is full of reed buds short, it is the river dolphin wants to go up. Two by two, the returning goose wants to break the flock, and it still looks like the returnees from the north. I know that the desert is full of wind and snow, so I'm waiting for the half-monthly spring in the south of the river.

Translation: Two or three peach blossoms are blossoming outside the bamboo forest, and the ducks playing in the water are the first to notice the warmth of the river in early spring. The river bank is full of Artemisia vulgaris, and the reeds have sprouted short new shoots, while the river dolphins are just about to swim upstream from the sea back into the river.

The geese flying north are like the people returning to the north, reluctant to give up, almost falling out of the group. Thousands of miles away already know that the desert in the north more wind and snow, or spend half a month in the south of the river in the spring time it.

Poetry Appreciation

These two poems were inscribed by Su Shi on the painting "Spring River Scenery" by Huichong. The original painting by Huichong has been lost, and some versions of this poem were titled "Dawn Scene of Spring River", which is now unattested. Paintings with distinctive images give people a concrete visual experience, but it can only show a specific picture, which has certain limitations.

A good poem, although there is no visual image, but can use figurative language to attract readers to enter a poet's unique conception of the formation of the beauty of the realm, in order to make up for some of the picture can not be expressed things.