Poem title: Moonlight Night
Author: Shen Yinmo
Poetry style: New poetry
Creation time: 1917
Source: "New Youth", Volume 4, No. 1, 1918
Original text of the poem:
Moonlight Night
The frosty wind is blowing,
p>
The moonlight shines brightly.
I stood side by side with a tall tree,
but not leaning against it.
Poetry Appreciation:
Shen Yinmo is one of the pioneers of modern Chinese poetry. In January 1918, New Youth published three of his poems, namely "Pigeon", "Rickshaw Driver" and "Moonlight Night" in Volume 1, Volume 4. Later, his "Moonlight Night" and "Three Strings" have always been praised by people as good poems. Kang Baiqing said: "The first prose poem that possesses the virtues of new poetry is Shen Yinmo's "Moonlight Night"" and believes that this poem "can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words." This shows that it attracted the attention of the poetry world as soon as it was published.
This poem is written about a winter night, when the north wind is howling and the frost is thick; the bright moon is shining high and the air-conditioning is blowing. The environment is desolate and the characters are lonely, which exactly reflects a certain social aspect of semi-feudal and semi-colonial China before the "May 4th" movement. Faced with such a world and such a situation, the poet showed his strong character and fighting spirit of independence: standing side by side with the tall tree, rather than leaning on it. Not compromising in the severe cold, not shrinking in loneliness, this shows the personality awakening of a generation of young people on the eve of the May Fourth Movement. Pursuing personal independence, pursuing freedom of thought and individual liberation, and thus arousing the awakening of the people and the nation, are the goals of the advanced young people there.
This poem has a vivid image and strong self-awareness, thus showing the revival of personality and the growth of independent spirit. At that time, although China had gone through the Revolution of 1911 and had overthrown the Qing Dynasty, it was still under the feudal rule of the Beiyang warlords, and the broad masses had not really awakened. Feudal ignorance, isolation and conservatism are still seriously harming our nation. Therefore, it is really important to arouse free thought and individuality awareness. Peking University, where Shen Yinmo works, is the cradle of this kind of democratic thought; the "New Youth" he participated in is the banner of advocating and promoting the New Culture Movement. "Moon Night" expresses the spirit of getting rid of the shackles of traditional ideas, the spirit of independence and the liberation of individuality, which is just a wave aroused by the trend of the times.
The concise and implicit artistic conception is the outstanding artistic feature of this poem. The four lines of the poem have a very broad meaning, and there is not a single word of preaching; the concise line drawing technique clearly shows the image of independence in the cold wind, which is expressive and freehand and has quite a charm. This is the ingenuity of the poem and the uniqueness of the poet. Shen Yinmo has a profound family background, is familiar with old-style poetry, and is good at absorbing its superb artistic expression techniques. He is fresh and simple, implicit but not explicit; he emphasizes artistic conception and temperament, and sees the spirit in the details. The poem "Moonlight Night" is a typical example.