[Author: Wei Jiajun | reposted from: masterpiece appreciation |
Zan is a lyric poem written by Mu Dan 194 1 year1February, when Mu Dan was still in Kunming, the rear area. As we can imagine, the scenes written in this poem all come from his wandering and bumpy life experience in the southern China after he started in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The title of this poem is Praise. What is he praising? It is the tenacity, perseverance, firmness and indomitable character of the Chinese nation in the fierce war years, and the peasants in the poem are the representatives and epitome of the working people in China.
However, when reading this poem, we need to understand that the poet does not show the sufferings of the people in front of the readers by describing the real and objective situation, as we often read those realistic poems, in order to gain readers' sympathy for the suffering compatriots described by the poet; Nor do they directly express their feelings from real life, but pour out their thoughts and feelings in rational lyric language, thus directly infecting readers and arousing the feelings of readers and poets. Poets only resort to their own perceptual and even intuitive observation and experience, so that readers and poets can feel life together and accept the poet's emotional edification. Therefore, when we read and appreciate this poem "Praise", what we need is to mobilize our perceptual experience of life from the characteristics of the means of expression of the poem, to generate rich imagination and association in the process of reading, and to experience the poet's feelings in the real and touching picture depicted by the poet in real life.
First of all, we need to sort out the lyric clues of the poet in this poem, and start with this lyric clue to grasp what the poet is praising. How to praise? Only in this way can we further understand the lyrical context of the whole poem, deeply understand the poet's concern for the fate of the motherland and the nation, and respect and praise the indomitable spirit of the broad masses of people who fought bravely for national liberation in the most difficult times in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
The whole idea of this poem is based on the poet's walking on the land of the motherland as a dynamic process to express his feelings. At the beginning of the poem, we seem to follow the footsteps of the poet, walk on the land of the motherland, follow his eyes and think: Is this our motherland that has experienced vicissitudes and sufferings?
Rolling mountains, rivers and grasslands,
In countless dense villages, chickens bark and dogs bark,
In the once desolate land of Asia,
The dry wind whistling in the boundless weeds,
Singing the monotonous water flowing eastward under the low-pressure dark clouds,
There are countless buried ages in the melancholy forest.
They hugged me quietly:
Endless stories are endless disasters, silent.
It is love, it is an eagle soaring in the sky,
Dry eyes look forward to tears,
Moving gray ranks crawl in the distant sky;
It seems to be using the "empty lens" technique in the movie to scan the disaster-stricken motherland in all directions. We can imagine that the poet is a member of the "unshakable gray ranks" of "crawling in the distant sky". He used his eyes full of worries and brooded gloomily. From the gloomy sky to the cloudy land, scan the scenes covered by disasters: mountains, villages, forests, rivers ... and even the eagle flying in the sky, he only sees the desolation everywhere: "the desolate land of Asia", "boundless weeds" and "low-pressure dark clouds". Poets not only see with their eyes, but also listen with their ears. In that vast space, time seems to have stopped again. Except for the whistling dry wind and the monotonous east water, everything is silent, dead silence. Looking at all this, the poet's eyes dried up and even tears could not flow out. At that time, the poet saw people living in this miserable land in an empty background:
I have too many words, too long feelings,
I want to use desolate deserts, rugged roads, mule carts,
I want to take a trough boat, wild flowers in the mountains, rainy days,
I want to hug you with everything, you,
People I see everywhere,
People who live in shame, crooked people,
I want to hug you with bloody hands.
Because a nation has risen.
This is the people everywhere. They "live in shame" and are bent over with unbearable labor. However, although they faced many hardships such as alien invasion, national disaster and difficult living environment, they were not crushed by the disaster. We can see from them that "a nation has risen". In front of our eyes, it seems that those peasants who once struggled stepped forward when the national disaster came, listened to the call of the times, saved the motherland from the ravages of foreign countries and resolutely embarked on the road of war. Although the poems reveal deep and sad emotions, we can still see the high spirit of the times and the vitality nurtured by the great nation. "A Nation Rise", an affectionate tribute, expresses the fearless national spirit and great strength produced in the most difficult historical stage of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
In the second paragraph of the poem, the poet's observation angle is like a shaking lens, from the empty natural environment to the people who thrive in this land:
A farmer, his rough body moving in the field,
He is a woman's child, the father of many children,
How many dynasties rose and fell around him?
Bring him hope and disappointment,
He always spins silently behind the plow,
Digging up the soil that dissolved his ancestors,
Frozen on the roadside is the same image of suffering.
Writing "a farmer" is not only a farmer he saw, but also a microcosm and symbol of China workers, because this farmer, like every Chinese, has his own family, his wife and children, and his body embodies the whole history of our nation. Like our ancestors, he endured all the sufferings of the people of China for many years. But despite this, he followed the plow without complaint, turned up the same piece of soil that dissolved the blood and sweat of his ancestors, and stood on the roadside with the image of "suffering together" with his ancestors. No complaining sigh and sadness, no shouting and struggle. However, these hard-working peasants are burdened with the hope of national survival. Therefore, when our Chinese nation suffered a deep disaster, he did not flinch and did not have any rhetoric. He just silently "put down the ancient hoe" and threw himself into the cruel battle of national liberation without hesitation. Even if he "watched himself dissolve into death", even if "the road was infinitely long", he "could not shed tears". Because such a nation is strong and unyielding: "He did not shed tears because a nation has risen."
The first paragraph of this poem is about the affected land, but the second paragraph is about people who have suffered greatly. Moreover, in these two paragraphs, the poet not only limited his vision to what he saw in front of him, but also truly described the real scene he saw. Instead, we should raise the immediate scene we directly feel to a rational height, reflect on the sufferings of our nation from the depth of history, and put the sufferings of the earth, the destiny of the nation and so on. For example, "There are countless buried years in the melancholy forest", "How many dynasties have risen and fallen beside him", "He turned over the same soil that dissolved his ancestors" and "He only put down the ancient hoe". These poems poetically associate and sublimate the scene in front of him, blending with the deep suffering experienced by our nation, thus containing rich historical implications.
In the third paragraph, the poet drew his eyes back to the real world and wrote down the hard times of farmers in China that he saw at this moment. This is the life of a hungry farmer. Although it is surrounded by mountains, the weather is clear, and the changes of festivals are the same as those in other places, the metabolism of the four seasons, spring ploughing and autumn harvest, but the life of farmers is so hard:
Surrounded by mountains and under the blue sky,
When passing by his house in spring and autumn,
Hidden in the deep valley is the most subtle sadness:
An old woman is pregnant with children, and many children are pregnant.
Hunger, patience in hunger,
The roadside is still a dark hut.
The same is the unknown fear, and the same is true.
Natural soil that erodes life,
He walked away and never looked back to curse.
Here, "an old woman is looking forward to her children, and many children are looking forward to/hungry, but they are patient in hunger", taking care of the "he is a woman's child and the father of many children" written earlier, and writing the great pain suffered by a farmer when he embarked on the anti-Japanese journey without hesitation. Just as he went to the front to fight for the survival of the nation, his family went hungry in the rear. The poet had a painful association with the scene before him. Aren't the families of those soldiers who bravely killed the enemy on the front line of the Anti-Japanese War as hungry and cold as this particular family? However, they did not give up their national responsibilities because of family difficulties. Such soldiers dedicated to national liberation are the backbone of our nation. So "I want to hug everyone for him" is a tribute, but at the same time, I feel deeply guilty, because we can't bring them any "hug comfort" and "we can't give happiness", so the poet expressed his respect for these warriors who fought in the front line of the Anti-Japanese War with deeper sorrow: "Cry, let's cry at him,/because a nation has risen." It is with such loyal soldiers that we can show the irresistible great strength of our nation.
But the situation at that time was that War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was still in the most difficult stalemate stage, even far from the final victory. What awaits us is a long and unremitting struggle. Therefore, we need to see that the future will be more difficult. Facing the difficult years ahead, the poet is fully aware that we need to go on in the future. With his tired and stumbling steps, we can see the difficult road ahead:
It is also the wind of this long age,
Also scattered from this sloping roof.
Endless groans and cold,
It sings on the top of the withered tree,
It blows through barren swamps, reeds and insects,
It is also the voice of this flying crow.
Taking care of the first paragraph at the beginning is still devastated and desolate. The wind is calling, crows are moaning, huts are falling, trees are dying, and the poet is still mobilizing his vision and hearing, writing the ruined scene of the earth in front of him, creating a strong, heavy and sad lyrical atmosphere. But he is not sad or disappointed, and he is still full of confidence in the future of the nation. Although his pace is slow and hesitant, looking at this dilapidated scene is almost "standing on the road", and this hesitation, because our nation has a history of humiliation for many years, does not mean that we have no hope of victory, but only need to "wait in this vast mountain river", even if "we have too much silent pain." At the end of the poem, the poet repeatedly used two sentences: "However, a nation has risen", which conveyed his infinite confidence in the fate of the nation and his optimism that this arduous war will eventually win.
After such combing, we can see that the lyric clue adopted by the poet is "earth-people-future". He closely combines the two clues of space and time, and takes "people" as the link. Through the description of the hard life of the peasants at the bottom of rural areas in China, we get the association of the fate of the Chinese nation, and in this peasant, we see the hope of the nation. Taking "praise" and "a nation has risen" as the lyric theme of the whole poem, a hymn of national spirit was sung in the most difficult era of Chinese resistance to Japanese militaristic aggression.
Under the historical background at that time, the poet faced a very painful realistic picture. Half of China fell under the iron hoof of Japanese militarism, and the national disaster was deep and the people were in dire straits. Especially in the vast rural hinterland of China, farmers are hungry and struggling in extreme poverty. However, it is they-the vast majority of farmers in China-who have become the most important force for the people of China to resist the Japanese invaders. The poet did not take an empty optimistic attitude, nor did he fall into deep pessimism in front of the tragic scene. Instead, he dedicated his praise to these greatest and most ordinary farmers with firm belief and full confidence, which not only showed his noble conscience, but also showed his keen insight and perception as a poet.
One of the important expressive techniques adopted by Mu Dan in this poem is to create a deep and warm emotional atmosphere based on the real life scenes he saw with his own eyes and with the help of dense image group. In the first paragraph of the poem, we can see that he does not hesitate to splash ink on the scene in front of him, capture images from the real world and carefully combine those colorful images. Sometimes in complex images, we need to carefully understand the rich and complex emotions hidden behind the images. For example, "I want to use desolate deserts, bumpy roads, mule carts,/I want to use trough boats, wild flowers in the mountains, rainy weather,/I want to hug you with everything, you,/the people I see everywhere", these lines seem rather inexplicable, but if you understand them carefully, you can understand that this is what the poet sees before his eyes.
The general scenery of rural life is closely linked with the ordinary living conditions of farmers in China, conveying that you are the most ordinary people, but you are the most commendable people!
In the choice of images, the poet not only attaches importance to intuitive observation and perceptual experience, but also does not stop at describing the superficial phenomena of the real world. Instead, the personal perceptual experience is transformed into an image with profound philosophical connotation, so as to realize the integration of sensibility and intellectuality, and make the image in the work have strong penetration, expressiveness and rich ideological power. In the second paragraph of the poem, the realistic living conditions of farmers in China are closely combined with the tragic fate of history. It is not only written in front of him that "his rough body is moving in the fields", but also written that "how many dynasties have risen and fallen beside him/and pinned their hopes and disappointments on him,/and he always rotates silently behind the plow,/turning up the same piece of soil dissolved by his ancestors, and the same image of suffering is frozen on the roadside".
In particular, we can still feel the poet's compassion in this poem. Although the poet is based on praising the broad masses of the people as the representative of the national spirit, he did not sing a hymn that looks high and optimistic, and it also seems vague and powerless in our usual high notes. In front of such people, poets neither comment aloof nor praise condescendingly, such as Guo Moruo, Jiang Guangci and Yin Fu in the history of modern literature in China, calling and inspiring with high-spirited spirit of the times; I don't express my emotions like Xu Zhimo and Dai Wangshu. What he expressed was the confusion and guilt of the inner world of "incomplete me", and with a calm mood and a realistic attitude, he showed the resolute and tenacious strength of the people of China who were deeply affected by the immediate disaster. Significantly, the poet used "people talking, shouting and being in high spirits on the road" to describe the farmers' firm and calm attitude: "He only put down the ancient hoe" and "melted into the love of the public", "Firmly, he watched himself dissolve into death, * and the road was infinitely long * and he couldn't shed tears", and the feeling of praise came into being. As the keynote of the poem, this deep and sad emotion seems to be an elegy, but it implies deep and strong love, which shows the poet's sincere admiration for the great spirit of the people.
This tragic style also comes from the influence of the mood and style accepted by poets when translating English romantic poems such as Byron and Shelley. In the choice of poetic images, Mu Dan also absorbed the meticulous realism of British poet Keats in describing natural scenery. However, we can clearly see that Mu Dan's acceptance of Byron and Shelley's style is his own independent creation. He sublated Byron's nihilistic attitude towards life and pessimistic depression, sublated Keats' weakness of escaping from reality, and at the same time absorbed Shelley's positive spirit and optimistic feelings. Starting from the reality of China, he focused on thinking about the national destiny. Although compared with some modern poets at that time, it seems that there is no dignified "self" style that pretends to be a national spokesperson, and there is no such "tragic" self lament. So in his poems, although he still retains the basic style of English romantic poetry, he can see the historical trend of China people's inevitable victory in the realistic picture of rural poverty in China at that time, which makes us vaguely feel that he is putting Shelley's "Winter is coming, can spring be far behind?" (ode to the west wind) That positive and optimistic mood turned into his own victory prediction that "a nation has risen".
Finally, we need to understand that this poem is a pure free verse. Poets pay attention to writing their strong feelings about real life with dense images, expressing their deep thoughts in front of realistic pictures, and do not pursue the harmony of rhythm in the external form of poetry, such as neat sentence patterns, symmetrical syllables and sonorous rhymes. , thus highlighting the poet's melodious and euphemistic inner feelings, mobilizing readers' emotions and making them pay more attention to the poet's emotions. Although this reflects the poet's acceptance of western poetry, it also shows the poet's unique artistic sensibility and expressive force.