I love this land.
Author: Ai Qing
I love this land, Ai Qing.
If I were a bird,
I should also sing with a hoarse throat:
This land hit by the storm,
This river of sadness and anger will surge forever,
This endless wind,
And the gentle dawn from the forest ...
And then I died,
Even feathers rot in the ground.
Why do I often cry?
Because I love this land deeply. ...
1938165438+10/7
English
If I were a bird,
I should also sing hoarse:
This land hit by the storm,
It is always a river full of our sadness and indignation,
Blowing the violent wind endlessly,
Then from the soft dawn ......
-And then I died,
Even the feathers rotted in the ground.
Why are there tears in my eyes?
Because I love this land so much. ......
1 1 month 17, 1938
Brief introduction of the author
Ai Qing
Ai Qing (19 10 ~ 1996) is a contemporary poet. Formerly known as Jiang Zhenghan,No. Haicheng, pen names Ai Qing, E Jia, Ke A, Lin Bi, etc. Jinhua, Zhejiang I was raised by a poor peasant woman until I came home at the age of five. 65438-0928 entered the painting department of Hangzhou National West Lake Art College. The following year, I went to France to work and study. /kloc-returned to China at the beginning of 0/932, joined the China Left-wing Artists Union in Shanghai, engaged in revolutionary literary and artistic activities, was arrested soon, and wrote many poems in prison, among which Dayan River-My Nanny caused a sensation and became famous at one fell swoop. 1935 was released from prison, and the first book of poetry, Dayan River, was published the following year, which showed the poet's deep feelings of loving the motherland, with a strong earthy atmosphere, a heavy poetic style and a melancholy and sentimental mood. After the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Ai Qing devoted himself to the anti-Japanese national salvation movement in Hankou, Chongqing and other places, and served as the editorial board of Literary Standpoint and the head of the literature department of Yucai School. 194 1 went to Yan' an to be the editor-in-chief of Poetry Magazine. Deeply influenced by the spirit of the times, he learned poetry from the anti-Japanese bonfires in various places. The Anti-Japanese War was the climax of his creation, and he published nine poems, including North, Towards the Sun, Yuan Ye, Torch, Dawn Notice and Thunder Drill. Poetry pours out the sufferings of the nation, praises the struggle of the motherland, permeates the atmosphere of the times, and is bold, magnificent and high-spirited. This is an obvious change in creative style after Yan 'an. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he served as the vice president of the School of Literature and Art of North China United University, in charge of administrative work. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Ai Qing served as the deputy editor of People's Literature and a member of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. He is the author of poetry anthology Red Star of Gem, Black Eel, Spring and On the Cape. 1957 was wrongly classified as a rightist. He once lived and worked in Heilongjiang and Xinjiang, and his creation was interrupted for 20 years. It was not until 1976 that he started writing again and another creative climax appeared. After his rehabilitation from 65438 to 0979, he served as the vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association and the International PEN Center, and visited many countries in Europe, America and Asia. He has created poetry collections, colorful poetry collections, and foreign collections, and has published Selected Poems of Ai Qing Narrative, Selected Poems of Ai Qing Lyrics, and various versions of Selected Poems of Ai Qing and Complete Works of Ai Qing. The collection of poems "Song of Return" and "Snow Lotus" won the National Excellent New Poetry Award of the Chinese Writers Association. Since 1936, Ai Qing has published more than 20 poems, including Poems Essays, New Literature and Art, Ai Qing's Talks on Poetry, and 1 prose and translated poems. His works have been translated into 10 languages and published abroad. In the history of the development of China's new poetry, Ai Qing is another world-renowned poet who has promoted the poetic style of a generation, exerted an important influence after Guo Moruo and Wen Yiduo. 1985, France awarded Ai Qing the highest medal of literature and art.
Writing background
I love this land was written in 1938 after the beginning of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. At that time, the Japanese invaders successively occupied vast areas in North China, East China and South China, and went crazy everywhere in an attempt to destroy the China people's will to resist the Japanese war. The people of China rose up and waged an indomitable struggle. The poet wrote this impassioned poem at the critical moment of national decline and national peril, with love for the motherland and hatred for the invaders.
Overall appreciation
Ai Qing is a singer of the land, and "land" is one of the two most common images in his poems (the other is "the sun"). "Land" symbolizes the troubled motherland that gave birth to him and raised him. Love for "land" is an inexhaustible melody in Ai Qing's works.
If I were a bird, the whole poem begins with such an unexpected assumption, and readers can't help asking, what is the connection between the image of "bird" and the "land" that the author wants to praise?
The author explained this.
I should also sing with a hoarse voice. At the critical moment when the fire is raging and the national luck is at the head, a seemingly insignificant bird has to fight hard and make an unyielding voice with its own voice. This reminds people that "every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world." "hoarse throat", let us see that this is a bird that has suffered a lot, and its singing is made with its life.
The following four lines describe four objects that birds sing: land, river, wind and dawn, and the core is "land". It is worth noting that the author added long modifiers in front of these four objects.
This Land Attacked by Storm is a portrayal of this land being bullied by the Japanese aggressors.
"The river that always surges with our grief and indignation", the river on the land symbolizes the long-term depressed grief and indignation in people's hearts.
"The wind of anger is endless", the wind blowing across the earth, symbolizes the people's anger at the atrocities of the invaders.
"The incomparably gentle dawn from the forest" indicates that the dawn of independence and freedom for which people struggle and devote themselves will surely come to this land.
"Then I died/even my feathers rotted in the ground." When the bird was alive, it tried its best to sing for this land. After death, it throws its whole body into the embrace of the land, and even its feathers are integrated with the land.
In the second paragraph of the poem, the author turns from a dynamic description of the singer to a close-up of "I". This is done by asking questions. A static close-up of "Why do I often have tears in my eyes" and "Tears in my eyes" shows the grief and pain that has been lingering in my heart for a long time. "Because I love this land deeply", witnessing the reality that mountains and rivers are broken and people are wiped by charcoal, the deeper my love for my motherland, the stronger my pain in my heart.
The last two sentences are the essence of the whole poem, and they are the confession of all patriotic intellectuals' sincere love for the motherland in that miserable era. This kind of love will never die, not only from the poet's heart, but also from the patriotic feelings of the whole nation. Ai Qing used these two poems to express the voice of the Chinese people in that era.
Seize the theme
Pointing out complex
Appreciate the first two sentences: "If I were a bird,/I should also sing with a hoarse throat." The poet's love for the land has reached the point where he doesn't know how to pour it out. So he can only abandon people's thinking language and pour out his love in the simple and simple language of birds. In the poet's view, this simplicity and simplicity are often the most sincere and warm. The adjective "hoarse" can no longer sing beautiful and clear love songs, but this "hoarse" song can express the sincerity and persistence of the land without hesitation. So the exciting song of land complex sounded. Patriots who write "screaming at the top of their lungs" convey grief and poetry that are synchronized with the times. If we use the word "harmony", we can't understand the ups and downs, grief and indignation and deep love for the motherland and the people experienced by the poet.
Pour out complex
The first verse of this poem can be divided into four layers.
The first layer: metaphor of human suffering. This land hit by the storm, this river of our grief and indignation will surge forever. The images in "The Storm" and "The River of Sorrow and Anger" tell us that the land that Ai Qing dreamily loves is a land full of pain, and there is too much sadness in his body. At that time, the Japanese invaders successively captured vast areas such as North China, East China and South China, and they were crazy everywhere, regardless of their lives. Ai Qing has a similar description in Snow on the Land of China: "Snow falls on the land of China,/the cold is blocking the wind in China,/like an old woman who is too sad,/following/sticking out cold fingers/pulling the skirts of pedestrians,/using words as old as the land/whispering constantly ..." The poet used it. These two poems were written at the same time, both of which show the poet's deep concern for people's sufferings.
The second layer is a metaphor for human resistance. The phrase "this annoying wind blows endlessly" symbolizes the indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation in the war of resistance. China has nurtured the Chinese nation and its indomitable national spirit. "Endless life" means the inheritance of the spirit of resistance, "scraping" and "provoking" indicate strength, and the poet's land complex deepens from lamenting the suffering of the land to praising the land.
The phrase "incomparably gentle dawn from the forest" on the third floor can be regarded as a symbol of the prospect of struggle, or more truly, a symbol of the vibrant liberated areas and a symbol of the great national liberation war. In short, the poet's feelings changed from sadness and praise to longing, showing a firm belief in winning and reaching a new level.
On the fourth floor, "-then I died, and even my feathers rotted in the ground." The poet did not indulge in the appreciation of the "gentle" and quiet "dawn", and made the solemn choice to leave this land forever for his love. This dedication can be interpreted as: I come from the land and finally return to the land, so that love can be sublimated and eternal. What an extraordinary, tragic and noble land complex it is!
In the Q&A in the second section of Sublimation of Land Complex, the poet changed from borrowing birds to expressing his feelings directly: "Why do I often have tears in my eyes?" Because I love this land deeply, my love for the land is too "deep" and too strong, which makes it difficult for poets to resort to language and can only condense into crystal tears. Tears show the author's deep love for the country, which is worrying, and there is more stubbornness that does not admit defeat. The word "deep" may not reach the expression intensity corresponding to the actual feelings, so the six heavy ellipsis behind it, as if surging with the passion of underground fire, beat the reader's heart more heavily and arouse the reader's continuous * * * sound. The whole poem reached its climax in this question and answer, and its warm and sincere patriotic feelings left endless aftertaste.
The tone of the article
At first, the poet assumed that I was the image of a bird. This sense of hardship comes from a broad and deep love for the troubled motherland. In this tone, the poem further describes the objects that birds sing: land, river, wind and dawn. Judging from the modifiers in front of the four singing objects, they are all images of long-term suffering from wind and rain, grief and indignation, and struggling hard, which is in line with the spirit of the birds dedicated to the land below and strengthens the theme of "loving the land" and "loving the motherland" that the poet wants to express.