Appreciation of modern poetry

Xu Zhimo's poem Farewell to Cambridge

Farewell to Cambridge

Xu Zhimo

I left gently,

just as I came gently;

I gently waved,

saying goodbye to the clouds in the western sky.

The golden willow by the river

is the bride in the sunset

the gorgeous shadow in the waves,

rippling in my heart.

the green grass on the soft mud,

the oily grass is swaying at the bottom of the water;

In the gentle waves of the Kanghe River,

I am willing to be a water plant

a pool under the shade of a tree.

It is not a clear spring, but a rainbow in the sky

crushed among floating algae, and

a rainbow-like dream is precipitated.

dreaming? Hold a long pole,

wander to greener grass,

load a boat full of starlight,

sing in the splendor of starlight

But I can't sing,

Quietly is a farewell flute;

Summer insects are silent for me, too.

Silence is Cambridge tonight!

I left quietly,

just as I came quietly;

I waved my sleeve, and

I didn't take away a cloud.

Brief introduction of the poet:

Xu Zhimo (1897 ~ 1931) is a modern poet and essayist. Famous Zhang Yi, small print, later renamed Zhimo, pen names Nanhu, Yun Zhonghe, etc. Haining, Zhejiang. He graduated from Hangzhou No.1 Middle School in 1915 and studied in Shanghai Hujiang University, Tianjin Beiyang University and Peking University successively. In 1918, he went to the United States to study banking. In 1921, he went to study in Britain and became a special student at Cambridge University in London, studying political economy. Two years in Cambridge was deeply influenced by western education and romantic and aesthetical poets in Europe and America. He began to write new poems in 1921. After returning to China in 1922, he published a large number of poems in newspapers and periodicals. In 1923, he participated in the establishment of the Crescent Society. Join the literature research society. In 1924, he founded Modern Review with Hu Shi and Chen Xiying, and was appointed as Professor Peking University. Tagore, a great Indian poet, translated when he visited China. In 1925, he went to Europe and traveled to the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, France and other countries. In 1926, he was the editor-in-chief of the supplement of Morning News, Poetry Engraving, and launched the metrical movement of new poetry with Wen Yiduo, Zhu Xiang and others, which influenced the development of new poetry art. In the same year, he moved to Shanghai and became a professor at Guanghua University, Daxia University and Nanjing Central University. In 1927, he participated in the establishment of Crescent Bookstore. The following year, he was the editor-in-chief of New Moon after its publication. And traveled abroad to Britain, the United States, Japan and India. In 193, he was a member of the Chinese Cultural Fund Committee and was elected as a member of the British Poetry Society. In the same winter, he went to Peking University and Peking Women's University to teach. At the beginning of 1931, he founded Poetry Magazine with Chen Mengjia and Fang Weide, and was elected as the director of China Branch of Pen Club. On November 19th of the same year, I flew from Nanjing to Peiping. I was caught in a fog and hit a mountain near Jinan, and my plane crashed to death. I died at the age of 34 and died young. He is the author of poetry anthology Poems of Zhimo, A Night in a Freezing Jade, Tigers, Wandering, prose anthology Fallen Leaves, Scales of Paris, Self-Dissection, Autumn, novel prose anthology Roulette, drama Bian Kungang (co-written with Lu Xiaoman), and diary Ai Mei Xiao Za. His works have been compiled and published as Collected Works of Xu Zhimo. Xu Shi's poems are fresh, harmonious in rhythm, novel in metaphor, rich in imagination, beautiful in artistic conception, elegant in thinking, rich in variety, and pursuing put in order and gorgeous in artistic form, with distinctive artistic personality, and he is a representative poet of the Crescent School. His prose is also sui generis, and has achieved no less achievements than poetry. Among them, Self-Dissection, Want to Fly, Cambridge as I Know It, and Chatting in a Jade Mountain Residence are all handed down from generation to generation.

Creation background:

This poem was written on November 6, 1928, and was first published in New Moon, Volume 1, No.1, December 1, 1928, and signed by Xu Zhimo. Cambridge, the seat of the famous Cambridge University in Britain. From October 192 to August 1922, the poet studied here. The Cambridge period was a turning point in Xu Zhimo's life. The poet wrote in The Tigers? The Preface was written by Chen Dao: Before the age of 24, his interest in poetry was far less than that in the theory of relativity or civil contract. It is the water of the Kanghe River that opens the poet's heart and awakens the destiny of the poet who has been in his heart for a long time. Therefore, he later said with deep affection: "Cambridge taught me to open my eyes, my thirst for knowledge was aroused by Cambridge, and my self-awareness was given to me by Cambridge." (Smoking and Culture)

Cambridge is the seat of the famous Cambridge University in Britain. From October 192 to August 1922, the poet studied here. The Cambridge period was a turning point in Xu Zhimo's life. In 1928, the poet revisited his hometown. On November 6th, on his way home in the South China Sea, he composed this masterpiece. This poem was first published on December 1th, 1928 in New Moon, Volume 1, No.1, and later included in Tiger Collection. It can be said that "Cambridge plot" runs through Xu Zhimo's poems all his life; Farewell to Cambridge is undoubtedly the most famous one.

This poem was written by Xu Zhimo on his way home from his third European tour. The time is November 6, 1928, and the place is the Sea of China. One summer at the end of July, after staying at the home of the British philosopher Russell for one night, without any notice in advance, a man quietly came to Cambridge to find his English friend. It's a pity that none of his English friends are here, only Cambridge, whom he is familiar with, is waiting for him silently. Scenes of the past life are presented in front of his eyes again ... Because he was faster at that time and was in a hurry to meet another English friend, he didn't record this emotional activity. It was not until he left Marseille by boat on his way home that he saw the vast sky in the face of the turbulent sea that he developed a paper and wrote down his personal feelings of returning to Cambridge this time.

Appreciation of works:

(1)

This article was written on November 6, 1928, and was first published on December 1, 1928 in New Moon Monthly, Volume 1, No.1, signed by Xu Zhimo.

Cambridge is the seat of the famous Cambridge University in Britain. From October 192 to August 1922, the poet studied here. The Cambridge period was a turning point in Xu Zhimo's life. The poet once came from Chen Dao in the Preface to the Tiger: Before the age of 24, his interest in poetry was far less than that in the theory of relativity or civil contract. It is the water of the Kanghe River that opens the poet's soul and awakens the destiny of the poet who has been stung in his heart for a long time. Therefore, he later said with deep affection: "Cambridge taught me to open my eyes, my thirst for knowledge was aroused by Cambridge, and my self-awareness was given to me by Cambridge." (Smoking and Culture)

In 1928, the poet revisited his old place. On November 6th, on his way home in the South China Sea, he composed this masterpiece. This poem was first published in No.1, Volume 1, New Moon on December 1th, 1928, and later included in Tiger Collection. It can be said that the "Cambridge complex" runs through Xu Zhimo's poems all his life. Farewell to Cambridge is undoubtedly the most famous one.

Section 1 writes about thousands of parting worries of long-lost students when they leave their alma mater. The use of three "gentle" words makes us feel as if the poet came on tiptoe, like a breeze, and swung away quietly; And the deepest affection, unexpectedly in the wave, became a "western clouds." Verses 2 to 6 describe poets boating in the Kanghe River in search of dreams. The golden willow covered with the sunset glow, the green grass on the soft mud and the pool under the shade of the tree all come into view. The two metaphors are quite accurate: the first one boldly imagines the "golden willow by the river" as the "bride in the sunset", which makes the inanimate scenery turn into a living thing, warm and pleasant; The second is that the clear pool water is suspected to be a "rainbow in the sky", but it has become a "rainbow-like dream" after being crushed by floating algae. It is in crazy in love that poets, such as Zhuang Zhoumeng Butterfly, are interested in both things and me, and feel that "the beautiful shadows in the waves are rippling in my heart" and are willing to be a swaying aquatic plant in the soft waves of the Kanghe River. This good structure of the unity of subjectivity and objectivity is both a wonderful hand and a painstaking effort; In verses 5 and 6, the poet turns over a new artistic conception.

Borrowing four overlapping sentences, "Dream/Dream", "Full of a boat full of splendor,/Singing in the splendor of splendor", "Singing,/But I can't sing" and "Summer insects are silent for me/Silence is Cambridge tonight", the whole poem is pushed to a climax, just like the water of the Kanghe River, full of twists and turns! And his madness of singing in the greener grass and the splendor of the stars has not been achieved. At this time, silence and silence are better than many love words! The last section corresponds to the first loop with three "quietly". Come smartly and walk smartly. With a wave of your sleeve, what does it shake off? Needless to say. Since I was once in Cambridge nirvana, why take away a cloud? The whole poem is in one go, which is the best description of Xu Zhimo's "poetic life".

Hu Shi said: "His outlook on life is really a kind of' simple belief', which contains only three big characters: one is love, the other is freedom, and the other is beauty. He dreams that these three ideal conditions can meet in one life, which is his' simple belief'. The history of his life is only the history of his pursuit of the realization of this simple belief. " (In memory of Xu Zhimo) If so, isn't the poet's wandering by the Kanghe River a microcosm of this pursuit?

Xu Zhimo advocates artistic poetry. He deeply admired Yiduo's poetic ideas of musical beauty, painting beauty and architectural beauty, and < P > paid special attention to musical beauty. He even said, "... only when we understand that the life of a poem is in its Internalrhythm can we appreciate the true interest of a poem;": No matter how noble your thoughts are and how passionate your emotions are, you have to use them to be thoroughly' musicalized' (that is, poeticized) in order to gain an understanding of poetry ... "("Poetry Publishing Holiday "). On the other hand, this poem "Farewell to Cambridge": the whole poem consists of seven sections, four lines each, two or three meals each, which is eclectic and rigorous, rhyming strictly with two or four rhymes, cadence and catchy. This beautiful rhythm ripples like ripples, which is not only the sound of pious students seeking dreams, but also conforms to the ebb and flow of poets' feelings and has a unique aesthetic pleasure. The seven verses are arranged in a patchwork manner, and the rhythm spreads slowly in them, which is quite a poet's temperament of "white robes and thin suburban islands". It can be said that it embodies Xu Zhimo's idea of poetic beauty. (Wang Chuan)

(2)

Farewell to Cambridge is a lyric poem about scenery. What is it about? To sum up in three sentences: it is a feeling of nostalgia, farewell and sentimentality after disillusionment. It means subjective thoughts and feelings; Context is the objective scenery described in the poem. What is artistic conception? It is a perfect combination of subjective thoughts and feelings of characters and objective scenery, and forms an artistic picture with personality, which is called artistic conception. Of course, we appreciate Xu Zhimo's poems just like other poems, and we need to mobilize our accumulation of life and knowledge, and then we will talk about this poem one after another.

The poem "I left gently, just as I came gently, I waved goodbye to the clouds in the western sky" can be summarized in a few words: slow rhythm, light movements, lingering affection, and at the same time with a touch of sadness. Also, let's add a sentence, as a farewell to the clouds in the western sky, the rosy clouds in the western sky give us an impression that they have laid a gorgeous color for the description behind, and the whole scenery is reflected by the sunset. So this sentence is used to summarize and set a tone for this poem.

"The golden willow by the river is the bride in the sunset, and the beautiful shadow in the waves is rippling in my heart". This poem is really about the beauty of the Kanghe River. At the same time, the willow "willow"-"stay" in ancient poems has the meaning of farewell, which has left a deep impression on the poet, and the care is expressed very vividly with "rippling in my heart". Of course, his technique is comparable (personification and imitation), which, combined with the third sentence, says, "The green grass on the soft mud is oily and swaying at the bottom of the water; In the gentle waves of Cambridge, I am willing to be an aquatic plant. "This poem highlights the quiet and free state of Cambridge, and freedom and beauty are what Xu Zhimo pursues. At the same time, it shows a kind of love, and the water grass seems to welcome the arrival of the poet. Thirdly, I think it is not completely divorced from the artistic conception of China's poems. It has something in common with China's ancient poems, that is, the unity of things and me. The second sentence is to change the guest into the main, and the third sentence is to change the host into the guest, so as to blend the two and make things unforgettable. These two poems just show the close relationship between Xu Zhimo and Cambridge. These are the three aspects we talked about earlier: determining the ideal, stepping into the poetry world, and expressing your feelings in the wonderful scenery. The three are closely linked and express their feelings through concrete images. And we appreciate poetry from the image, to gradually accept the poet's mind. The fourth quarter is the turning point, "that pool under the shade of elm is not a clear spring, but a rainbow in the sky, crushed in impetuousness, precipitating a rainbow-like dream:" This poem uses the combination of reality and fiction. "Reality" is the description of scenery, and "emptiness" is the use of symbolic techniques. A pool of water is very clear, and the glow is reflected. "It's not a clear spring, it's a rainbow in the sky." It's a red light, and it's a real writing. However, a lot of algae floated on the pool water, blocking part of the glow, bits and pieces, some red, some green, like soft water, very vivid. This "kneading" is well written, and it is also the disillusionment of my dreams. So how does this dream make us feel? This reminds me of a poem written by Mr. Wen Yiduo to commemorate the death of his eldest daughter. He used a metaphor "like a dream in summer, like a bell in a dream". As we all know, the dream is beautiful, the bell is melodious, but it is short-lived, so the rainbow-like dream is beautiful and short-lived. In 1927, his dream was shattered, and he was at odds with Lu Xiaoman, so he was depressed.

In the fifth section, since we are talking about dreams, are you coming to Cambridge and your alma mater this time to seek dreams? " Looking for dreams? Support a long pole, slowly trace back to the greener place of the grass, load a boat full of splendor, and sing songs at the gorgeous place of splendor. "This poem is Xu Zhimo's memory and nostalgia for his past life. He lived in Cambridge for two years, leisurely and leisurely. At that time, he had his own ideals, his life was full, and he had hope for tomorrow. Therefore, he used "a boat full of stars" to describe life at that time, which was symbolic.

the best poem is the third poem. The past has become history, and it is still sad to return to reality, so "silence is the sound of parting, and summer insects are silent for me. Silence is Cambridge tonight." "This poem is the climax of emotion, which fully shows Xu Zhimo's feelings for Cambridge and focuses on the sadness of parting. This poem needs to be understood in connection with other poems, including ancient poems. " Quietly is the sound of parting "is a metaphor. For example, Su Shi's "Poem on the Former Red Cliff" describes that Xiao Sheng is sad and the flute is joyful, so "Xiao" is used as a metaphor to illustrate the poet's mood. Therefore, the "quiet" action has the poet's feelings, and then "Xia Chong is silent for me, and silence is Cambridge tonight. "Poetry pays attention to conciseness. Why do you repeat" silence ","quietly "and" gently "again and again? This is not a waste of language, but it is precisely his point.

Combining the three, Xu Zhimo pursues "seeking change in the whole, seeking difference in the uneven", which shows the crescent-like characteristics and personality, so I summarize it as: soft and melancholy artistic conception, fresh and elegant style.

Farewell to Cambridge is a beautiful lyric poem, just like an elegant and pleasant light music. In the autumn of 1928, the author went to England again.