Dead water
This is a ditch of hopeless stagnant water.
The breeze cannot blow any ripples.
It is better to throw away more scraps and scraps of metal,
Just throw in your leftovers.
Maybe the copper will turn green into jade,
A few peach blossoms will be embroidered on the iron can;
Let the grease weave a layer of silk,
The mold steamed up some clouds for him.
Let the stagnant water ferment into a ditch of green wine,
filled with pearl-like white foam;
The laughter of small beads turned into big beads,
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He was bitten by a mosquito that stole wine.
Such a ditch of hopeless stagnant water,
can only be said to be somewhat vivid.
If the frog cannot bear the loneliness,
The stagnant water will sing again.
This is a ditch of hopeless stagnant water.
This is by no means a place of beauty.
It is better to let ugliness reclaim it.
Look What a world he created.
At the back of this poem, there is a date of creation: April 1925. It was the eve of Mr. Wen Yiduo, who was studying in Chicago, the United States, and was preparing to return to China early. During his stay in the United States, Mr. Wen's emotions had two prominent aspects: First, because he suffered from racial discrimination in the United States, he felt angry and disgusted with the corruption and sin hidden under the prosperity of American society; infinite love and longing. Under the control of this emotion, he wrote many poems full of patriotic and anti-imperialist passion, such as "Lone Goose", "Sun Ridge", "Recording Ju", etc. This patriotic and anti-imperialist passion is more concentratedly reflected in the "Laundry Song", "Song of the Seven Sons", "Awakening", "Dead Water" and other poems he wrote on the eve of his return to China. As the poet said, these poems are " Over the years, foreigners have cried out for injustice due to the idleness of imperialism."
The poet describes the appearance of "stagnant water" like this: a pool of "green wine" with green "emeralds", red "peach blossoms", shining "knots" and brilliant " "Yunxia", "full of pearls", and "singing". The poet reveals the inside of "stagnant water" like this: There are "broken copper and iron" and "leftovers". These filthy things are moldy and fermented here; the emerald is the green of broken copper, and the peach blossom is rotten. The rust of iron is the greasy light, the clouds are mold, the green wine is the smelly water in a ditch, and the pearls are the foam on the smelly water. It can be seen that the external beauty of "stagnant water" is just the mold of filth and garbage.
Underneath the gorgeous exterior is filth and sin. Isn’t this kind of “backwater” the truest portrayal of American society?
The second meaning: Judging from the time when "Dead Water" was published, "Dead Water" symbolizes the Beiyang government.
Although "Dead Water" was created in Chicago in April 1925, its original intention is as mentioned above. So, in April 1926, Mr. Wen Yiduo, who was in Beijing, deliberately published it. What new meaning does it have?
On March 18, 1926, what Lu Xun called "the darkest day since the Republic of China", Duan Qirui's Beiyang government bloody massacred the patriotic students who petitioned, creating the March 18th massacre that shocked China and the world. . Mr. Wen Yiduo, full of indignation, supported the students' patriotic struggle. He chose this time to publish "Dead Water" precisely to express his deep hatred for the Beiyang government. In other words: this Beiyang government is already "a ditch of hopeless stagnant water" and "this place is definitely not a place for beauty", so let it go to hell;
"It is better to let ugliness take over." The attitude is so decisive and fierce!
The third meaning: Judging from the publication time of the poetry collection "Dead Water", "Dead Water" symbolizes the dark reality of China.
In 1927, the vigorous revolution failed. Mr. Wen Yiduo's beautiful hope for the motherland was shattered. He ended his career as a poet and entered the scholar's bookstore.
In 1928, he compiled his second collection of poems and published it under the name "Dead Water" as a farewell to the poetry world. He personally designed the front and back covers of the poetry collection, using all black paper. Only the top of the cover has a small gold sticker with the title and author written on it. The entire front and back pages exude a melancholy and dull atmosphere. When people see this collection of black poems named after "Dead Water", the poem "This is a ditch of hopeless stagnant water" will come to mind. At this time, the poem "Dead Water" and the book "Dead Water" have another layer of meaning.
At this time, in Mr. Wen Yiduo's mind, "stagnant water" symbolized the dark reality of China, expressing the poet's anger and disappointment with this reality, and also showing his relationship with the reactionary The uncooperative attitude of the rulers.