Rules and forms of classical poetry creation
Free verse, born out of the shackles of old-style poetry, strives for liberation in style, syllable and language, showing new characteristics: First, it breaks away from the stereotyped classical Chinese and adds lines to the vernacular. In particular, it advocates using simple and friendly common words and common sayings close to common spoken language instead of difficult rhetoric in classical Chinese, writing about social situation and expressing sincere feelings and brand-new ideas. Secondly, in syllable rhythm, we should get rid of the rigid bondage of old-style poems, such as rhyme, meter and even allusion. , and pay attention to the nature of music and not stick to rhyme (My Opinion on New Poetry by Kang). The syllables of poetry should be prioritized and cadenced according to the natural ups and downs of the poet's own emotions and the natural rhythm of the tone.
express
In addition, in style, I intend to pursue a kind of unrestrained free expression. Poems are not bound by meter and rhyme, and they pour out their thoughts without scruple. They are neither branched nor rhymed, even if the branches are randomly arranged according to the content of the works, thus forming the main characteristics of the artistic form of free verse. The most striking feature of new poetry in ideological content is that it shows deep sympathy and concern for the tragic fate of the oppressed and enslaved lower class workers and peasants. With an unprecedented amount of space, it shows their real life sufferings, thus revealing the sharp opposition between the rich and the poor in the old society and the essential characteristics of feudal autocracy. Another notable feature is that the theme of spiritual imprisonment and bondage of various old traditional ideas against feudal autocracy contains more meaning of longing for freedom and independence of personality. This feature is embodied in the creation of free poems on love and marriage represented by Wang Jingzhi and Feng Zhi. They expressed the desires and demands of young men and women in love naked, sang their youthful love freely and wantonly, poured out and revealed the deep yearning for freedom and the demand for personality liberation of the May 4th youth who were not bound by traditional moral concepts, showed their contempt for the old ethics and their rebellious attitude towards the eager yearning for freedom of marriage, and truly showed the theme of the May 4th era demanding self-liberation of personality. There are also some works that praise the significance of labor, praise the fine quality of working people and express their yearning for an ideal society and a bright future. These works are especially valuable because they often reveal the anti-feudal theme and optimistic, clear and enterprising tendency in their praises, reflecting the new spirit of the times. There are quite a few short lyric poems, such as those of Bing Xin and Zong Baihua, which are poetic and beautiful. Although they are not as touching as those poems that reveal the tragic fate of the working people, praise the pursuit of love freedom and resist the old feudal ethics, their exploration and exploration of the meaning of life, and the resulting distress, confusion, sadness and resentment, also reflect the projection of the times, which is particularly sincere, delicate and novel in the expression of thoughts and feelings and has special significance.
deficient
The shortcomings of free verse are also very obvious: on the one hand, the language and form of poetry are free and open, lacking due constraints, free and smooth, and always appear straightforward and unobstructed. This shortcoming, which is too straightforward and lively, not only makes the poem itself lack artistic conception and rich and profound feelings, but also loses the aesthetic feeling of the poem from the overall composition, which damages the reputation and status of the vernacular new poetry that has emerged and developed on the basis of breaking the shackles of old-fashioned poetry. On the other hand, too much reasoning in poetry leads to more thoughts than emotions, which also reflects the poet's superficial experience of life and his naive grasp of the lyric characteristics of poetry. In connection with this, the realistic techniques of those poems describing the tragic life of social life are also superficial, and most of them are piled up with a bystander's attitude and some life appearances, lacking detailed observation and deeper analysis of the real society. These are the common problems of free verse.
representative works
Goddess by Guo Moruo, Starry Sky, Bottle, Dayan River-My Nanny by Ai Qing.