The poem Rain Lane was written at the turn of spring and summer in 1927, when the poet was only 22 years old. Two years ago, Dai Wangshu studied in the French special class and law department of Shanghai Aurora University, and translated the poems of early French symbolist poets Wei Erlun and Baudelaire after school. When he wrote Rain Lane, he was mainly influenced by Wei Erlun's poetic theory which focused on musicality. Wei Erlun once argued that "in all things, music is the first". In addition, when Dai Wangshu began to write poetry, due to the lack of artistic tempering, the influence of the free school of poetry gradually decreased, and the metrical school became increasingly prosperous. The poet has an insight into the defects of liberal poetry, has a strong pursuit of poetic art, and naturally accepts some influences from the metrical school. Du Heng in Wang Shucao? The preface points out that Dai Wangshu's poems "pursue the beauty of melody and strive to keep the new poems as old as before." Of course it rhymes, even pay attention to the flat tone. This poem Rain Lane, praised by Ye Shengtao as "opening a new era for the syllables of new poetry", represents the peak of his pursuit of the musical beauty of new poetry. It can be seen that his early pursuit of musical things such as classical poetry in the form of poetry was an obvious tendency of his poetry creation at that time.
"Holding an oil-paper umbrella, I am alone/wandering in a long, long/lonely rain lane,/I hope to meet a girl as sad as cloves. //She is/lilac-like color,/lilac-like fragrance,/lilac-like sadness,/sadness in the rain,/sadness and hesitation ". The rhythm in the poem is very musical, the rhyme is even, the level and level arrangement is good, the repeated words and the structure of singing three sighs make the poem like running water, but it is tortuous, deep and sad, and there are also images of classical poetry. It draws lessons from Li Shangyin's "Banana does not show its lilac knot, but sorrow is in the same direction" and Li. The famous sentences such as "The bluebird doesn't spread the news outside the cloud, and the lilacs are sad in the rain" in "Biography of Huanxisha" have successfully shaped images such as lonely and long rain lanes and girls as sad as lilacs floating in their dreams, and enveloped the whole poem in the artistic conception of lilacs, which is as beautiful as lilacs but with a touch of sadness in the rain, which can be described as the ultimate beauty. From the poem Rain Lane, we can see that Dai Wangshu pursues the perfect integration of the artistic conception of classical poetry and the early French symbolism poetry theory, and even pursues the musicality of poetry in form.
It is true that the rhyme in Rain Lane is neat and delicate, syllables are repeated, and the image is beautiful and hazy, but is this perfection deliberate and natural? His reference to the rhythm and situation of classical poetry can be said to be impeccable, but he has not stepped out of his own pace. In fact, Dai Wangshu doesn't appreciate his masterpieces very much. Du Heng in Wang Shucao? The preface says: "Even Wang Shu didn't cherish the rainy lane as much as his later works. The reason why Wang Shu doesn't like Rain Lane is very simple, that is, when he was writing Rain Lane, he began to bravely resist what he said at the end of the poem. After Rain Lane, he took a new approach and boldly criticized the musicality of classical poetry. Finally, he made a major change in his view of poetry, and began to look for better ways to express "poetry" and strive to "make shoes that fit him best". "My memory is the first step of this new road.
The poem My Memory was also written in 1927, a little later than Rain Lane. However, it marks the finalization of Dai Wangshu's poetic art, from Rain Lane to another world. This poem is about memory: "My memory is loyal to me,/more loyal than my best friend. //It exists on a burning cigarette,/It exists on a pen painted with lilies,/It exists on a worn-out compact,/It exists on a fallen raspberry,/It exists on a half-drunk wine bottle,/It exists on a torn old poem, on a dried flower,/It exists on a gloomy lamp, on a calm water,/Everything with and without soul. //... It is trivial and will never stop,/unless I cry or sleep sadly; But I will never hate it/because it is loyal to me. " From the content point of view, he uses images to imply, pursues richness with simplicity, and pursues infinity with limitation, which has a hazy realm. Poetry is full of contradictory and complicated emotions. Although the language is objective and calm, it is full of affection. I wrote the poet's sad state of mind that he was immersed in this kind of memory, unable to forget when he was tired, and unable to let go. This poem has sincere feelings and is the poet's spiritual feeling. Compared with Rain Lane, it shows the poet's inner feelings more naturally and unpretentiously. Rain Lane has less originality and more sincere experience. From an artistic point of view, My Memory is a sign of the change of Dai Wangshu's early poetics. From here on, he completely abandoned the "old trick" of rhythm and decided to open up new grasslands. Ai Qing also said: "Dai Wangshu began to write poems that rhymed, but when he wrote My Memory, he changed it to spoken English, so it didn't rhyme. This is a new breakthrough he brought to new poetry and his contribution to the development of new poetry. "
Dai Wangshu's early poetic view is most concentrated in his most representative poetic article, Wang Shu's Poetics (later included in Wang Shu's Grass and renamed as Zero Zagreb's Poetics). This article was published in the June issue of Modern magazine, 1932, 1 1. Although it is later than my memory, it reflects Dai Wangshu's dominant poetic view when compiling Wang Shucao. In Wang Caoshu, the poet left My Memory instead of Rain Lane, which just shows that My Memory is an early masterpiece that can reflect his poetic view, and it also shows that the poet's poetic view has undergone an important change from Rain Lane to My Memory. When we put Wang Shu's On Poetry in the History of New Poetry Theory Criticism, it was written for the beauty of music, painting and architecture of poetry advocated by Wen Yiduo/KLOC-0 in the supplement of Morning News in May, 926. It can be said that Wang Shu's On Poetry is a refutation of Wen Yiduo's theory of "three beauties" and metrical poetics.
The first article in Wang Shu's On Poetry, "Poetry should not rely on music, but should have no musical elements at all", shows that he does not agree that poetry must emphasize "musical beauty". In Wang Shu's On Poetry, the second article "Poetry should not rely on the merits of painting" and the third article "It is not the characteristics of poetry to combine only beautiful words", which shows that he must emphasize "the beauty of painting" when opposing poetry. In Wang Shu's On Poetry, article 7 "rhyming and neat words will hinder or pervert poetry" and article 9 "The so-called form is by no means the superficial arrangement of words, nor the accumulation of new words", which shows that he must emphasize "architectural beauty" when opposing poetry. This is a targeted refutation of Wen Yiduo's "three beauties" from his actual creation. Later, he further discussed that "free verse is a pure poem that doesn't depend on music in general", "the mood of poetry is ever-changing, and it can't be put on just by a few sets of uniforms in form and rhythm", and "every poem should have its own inherent integrity and can't transplant its own inherent form and rhythm." From the above discussion, Dai Wangshu has completely drawn a line with the metrical school, and has a relatively mature independent thinking on the "free poetics" or "liberalization" of China's new poetry.
Dai Wangshu's opposition to poetry must emphasize the principle of "three beauties", not that poetry should have rhythm. He believes that every poem has its own "inherent form and rhythm". If you use a fixed style like classical poetry, everyone will fill in their own feelings and ideas when writing poetry, and it is impossible to make a good poem. So he put forward the highest realm of free verse: making the shoes that fit best. Article 7 of Wang Shu's On Poetry says: "If the artistic conception of poetry adapts to the plain and superficial law, it is like putting your own feet on other people's shoes. Stupid people cut their feet to fit their shoes, and wise people make the most suitable shoes for themselves. " He realized that "poetry is ever-changing", so the style of poetry can never be fixed, and it is impossible to "put on a coat" for rich and changeable poetry and poetry with "just a few sets of forms and rhythms". Look at the poem My Memory, which is all spoken, with different sentence lengths and multiple lines in each paragraph, showing the true beauty of spoken language, without the musicality of poetry, and showing the pursuit of prose beauty in poetry. It can be seen that the poet walked out of the neat rhythm and form of the rainy lane and went to a free world where he could fully express his "poetic feelings".
Although My Memory can't be said to have reached the highest position in Dai Wangshu's poetry, it has a milestone significance in his poetry creation, which he has always insisted on in his later poetry creation. Since the poem My Memory was written, the poet gradually got rid of the influence of early French symbolism poetry style and metrical poetry school at that time, re-examined the musicality of poetry, jumped out of the barriers of neat rhythm and form, began to pursue and explore "poetry", strutted on the road of liberalization of new poetry, and finally became a modernist leader in modern poetry.
References:
1, edited by Liang and edited by Dai Wangshu [C] Hangzhou: Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House 1989.
2. Pan Songde and China 40 Modern Poetics [M] Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing House 199 1.
3. On the Evolution of China's New Poetry in Longquan in the Ming Dynasty [M] Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House 1999.
4. Longquan Ming and Zou Jianjun's modern poetics [M] Changsha: Hunan People's Publishing House 2000.
5. Yang Siping, the mainstream of China's new poetry in the 20th century [M] Hefei: Anhui Education Press, 2004.
Liao, a teacher of Chinese Department, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Central South Branch.