Confession
I won’t lie to you, I am not a poet,
Even though I love Shiraishi’s steadfastness,
Qingsonghe In the sea, crows carry the setting sun on their backs, and the dusk is woven with bat wings.
You know that I love heroes and mountains.
I love a national flag fluttering in the wind.
From goose yellow to bronze chrysanthemums.
Remember my food is a pot of bitter tea!
But there is another me, are you afraid? ——
Thoughts like flies crawling in the trash can.
What is an "oral confession"? A person who has lost his freedom states his words and deeds, and explains his motives and intentions to the criminal prosecution authority. This is the so-called "confession". Therefore, "oral confession" has two meanings: "confess" unavoidably, and "confess" honestly.
So, why did Wen Yiduo have to "confess"? This is related to his changes in thinking at that time. During the "May Fourth" period, Wen Yiduo once burst out with such high-spirited youthful enthusiasm and such magnificent life fantasies. Although he always endured the stimulation of dirty reality, he never gave up the pursuit of adolescence and the self-confidence of young people. In his passionate pursuit of aestheticism and the goal of "art for art's sake", we can clearly see that Wen Yiduo firmly believes that there are some great, glorious and holy things in this world that are worthy of our pursuit. Struggle, pursue, and even sacrifice your precious life. And the poet himself is, of course, a man of high moral character and high spirit. He is willing to use his "fat" to "continuously flow to the world, / cultivate flowers of comfort, / and bear fruits of joy!" Break the prison of the world and rescue those trapped souls ("Red Candle") Preface poem) "Ah! 'I have devoted my whole life and died:' / I have truly become a martyr of art! / The dead soul of a loyal martyr!" ("Loyal Minister of Art") But all of this has the feeling of being new to life. The unique purity and immaturity of young people, because after all, they are the wishful thinking of a scholar enclosed in school. At this moment, he does not have the conditions to experience and understand the reality of Chinese society more truly, and at the same time, he still lacks serious self-reflection and analysis. In China, the success of a great thinker must be based on these two aspects. After graduating from Tsinghua University, Wen Yiduo immediately went to the United States to study. In this industrialized Western land, he showed extremely strong national emotions and national self-defense psychology, so that he always adopted an "incompatible" attitude with American society. A stance of alienation. This special state of mind also made him particularly defend his "pureness" and "nobility", comparing himself to "Tao Yuanliang, the soul of poetry in the East" (see "Recalling Chrysanthemums"), so he had to make a profound "self-reflection" "Repent" is also simply impossible. Fortunately, Wen Yiduo is not the kind of artist who is stagnant. His thoughts can continue to expand and deepen with the progress of the times and the increase in life experience. The period from 1926 to 1928 when "Dead Water" was created was when the poet had extensive contact with real life and rethought himself. Years ago, Wen Yiduo was introduced by Xu Zhimo, ended his "semi-reclusive" life in the countryside, and went to Beijing Art College to serve as the dean. At the beginning of the year, he returned to Xishui and brought his family to Beijing, truly having his own independent "home". At this point, the real life facing Chinese society has completely unfolded. Similar to the thinking habits shown in "Red Candle", all the poet's life experiences begin with the experience of himself. (This may be a distinctive feature of modern Chinese intellectuals.) In actual life encounters, the poet's subtle understanding of his inner world stubbornly entangled his soul, making him surprised and sighing, and the poet couldn't help but feel unhappy! This may be the origin of "confession". As for "being honest", this is naturally Wen Yiduo's consistent attitude towards life.
What did Wen Yiduo “confess”?
It’s surprising to get straight to the point: “I won’t lie to you, I’m not a poet.” Where do you start talking about this? He is obviously a famous poet who once shocked the modern Chinese poetry world with his "Red Candle"; he is also obviously an artist who loves this field. For poetry and art, he would even sacrifice his life; besides, Before and after the "oral confession", he also devoted himself wholeheartedly to the editing and organization of poetry publications such as "Shiji" and "Crescent Moon". On the one hand, there is love and persistence that is beyond ordinary people, but on the other hand, it is a decisive confession. What is going on? Is it a gentlemanly and humble statement? No, in China, pretentious humility often contains some disgusting psychological consciousness. Wen Yiduo does not belong to such a person. The "poet" here should have its own special meaning and special requirements. Wen Yiduo believes that he has not met such "requirements" and does not have such "connotation", so he is "not something". poet".
The word "even though" brings out a series of interests, ideals and sentiments, which all seem to be the characteristics of so-called poets. To sum up, there are five characteristics:
First, the ambition is pure, elegant and unswerving, which is the so-called "white stone's steadfastness" in the poem.
Second, he has rich imagination and is good at creating beautiful artistic realms. This realm is described in the poem: "Green pines and the sea, crows carrying the setting sun on their backs, / The dusk is full of bats. wing".
The third is the personality ideal of heroism. "I love heroes, and I also love mountains."
The fourth is the feeling of nationalism: "I love a national flag fluttering in the wind, / from goose yellow to bronze chrysanthemums." Wen Yiduo was a lover of chrysanthemums. He once regarded the sight of chrysanthemums in bloom as a symbol of the prosperity of the motherland ("Recalling Chrysanthemums"), and the word "chrysanthemum" here is also understood in this way.
The fifth is a life attitude of being willing to be lonely, "My food is a pot of bitter tea."
The spiritual characteristics of these five aspects are all those of the "poet", because they are all so elegant, noble and even somewhat "sacred". As Wen Yiduo said in "Red Candle·Poet", the poet has a super-utilitarian "super-worldly spiritual value", and his ideal goes straight to the heaven deep in the white clouds. At that time, what he understood as a "poet" was generally It is consistent with these five characteristics. However, today, in addition to continuing to be infiltrated by these spirits, the poet also becomes aware of another side of the inner world, shockingly showing a terrifying "I": “Thoughts like flies, crawling in trash cans. "Some critics believe that this is a description of reality, writing that "Old China was dark and disgusting. Describing it as a 'trash can' is a deep curse, just like saying 'a ditch of desperate stagnant water.' Same. "I think this still fails to fully realize Wen Yiduo's self-reflection and self-anatomy intention in this poem. Since it is a "confession", it should first be closely related to personal thoughts and behaviors. The poet not only highlights his own belonging The "poet" side also depicts the "dark" corner deep in one's heart. Don't blame it for its ugliness, and don't laugh at the poet for being so filthy, because it actually represents the essence of all human nature: greatness and smallness, The wonderful combination of beauty and obscenity, but others dare not face it or admit it, but Wen Yiduo has this amazing courage!
I am afraid that only thinkers who dare to face people's own weaknesses can do so! He is a truly great thinker, and only a poet who dares to express people's own weaknesses is a great poet. Wen Yiduo uses self-anatomy as the prelude to "Dead Water", which is meaningful in the rhythm of the poem. Formally, "Oral Confession" also opens up a new path for "Dead Water". The sentence structure of this poem is generally neat, and the rhymes change every two sentences. Although it is still relatively flexible, the overall rhythm is harmonious and catchy, and it is consistent with "Dead Water". Most of the free verse poems in "Red Candle" are quite different.