The main content of Ai Qing's poem "Selected Fish Fossils" is to introduce the formation process of fish fossils and reveal a natural law: life lies in movement. Warning to people: To advance in the movement, you must die meaningfully. It expresses the poet's own cherishment of life.
"Fish Fossils" is a new poem written by the modern poet Ai Qing in 1978. It is a unique song sung by the poet Ai Qing after his "return". As a poem about objects, it expresses the feeling of paying tribute and mourning for the lost life by describing the bloody fact that a creature was buried in the dust for no reason. The whole poem is evenly divided into verses, the verses are harmonious, the lyricism is natural, and the language has a simple beauty.
The whole poem has eight stanzas. In the first stanza, the poet uses relaxed and lively language to describe the mood of the fish swimming freely in the water, how lively the movements are, how energetic it is, jumping in the waves, and rising and falling in the sea. In the second stanza, the poet turns his pen and guesses The reason why a lively and free fish becomes a fish fossil is that unfortunately you encounter a volcanic eruption, or it may be an earthquake, and you lose your freedom and are buried in dust.
Anyone who knows Ai Qing’s experience will understand the symbolic meaning of this poem. In 1957, Ai Qing was unprovoked as a rightist and was forced to remain silent for twenty years. He lost the right to create, just like that line. The once free fish was buried in dust by a sudden accident.
After billions of years, the geological survey team found you in the rock formations, still lifelike. By chance, a fossilized fish was discovered. It seemed to be the same as before, but you were silent and didn't even sigh. The fins and scales were intact, but you couldn't move. However, the fish was as alive as ever. Without life, this is a ruthless display of life-destroying political struggle.
About the author
Ai Qing (1910-1996), formerly known as Jiang Zhenghan, also known as Haicheng, was born in Jinhua, Zhejiang. Modern writer and poet. In 1936, he published his first poetry collection "Dayan River" at his own expense. He is the author of poetry collections such as "The North" and "The Wilderness", and long poems such as "Towards the Sun", "He Died for the Second Time", "The Trumpeter", "Torches", etc.
Ai Qing's poetry creation in contemporary literature can be divided into two periods: the first period was his creation in the 1950s, and he is the author of the poetry collections "Cheers", "Gem's Red Star", "Spring" ", etc.; the second period was the creation after the end of the "Cultural Revolution", and he wrote poetry collections "Returning Songs", "Colorful Poems", etc.