"Farewell Cambridge" was written by the poet Xu Zhimo in 1928 on his way back from a trip abroad to Europe. I have compiled it below for everyone to read.
This poem was written on November 6, 1928, and was first published in the "Crescent" monthly magazine, Volume 1, No. 10, on December 10, 1928, signed by Xu Zhimo. Cambridge is the seat of the famous Cambridge University in the UK. From October 1920 to August 1922, the poet studied here. The Kangqiao period was a turning point in Xu Zhimo's life. The poet once stated in "Tiger Collection - Preface": Before the age of 24, his interest in poetry was far less than his interest in the theory of relativity or the theory of folk conventions. It was the water of the Cam River that opened the poet's mind and awakened the poet's destiny that had been dormant in his heart for a long time. Therefore, he later said with great affection: "It was Kangqiao who taught me to open my eyes, my thirst for knowledge that was stirred by Kangqiao, and my self-awareness that Kangqiao gave me as an embryo." "Smoking and Culture"
The poet revisited his hometown in 1928. On November 6, while on his way home in the South China Sea, he composed this masterpiece. This poem was first published in the "Crescent" monthly magazine, Volume 1, No. 10, on December 10, 1928, and was later included in "Tiger Collection". It can be said that the "Cambridge plot" runs through Xu Zhimo's poems throughout his life; and "Farewell to Cambridge" is undoubtedly the most famous one.
This poem was written by Xu Zhimo on his way back from his third trip to Europe. The time was November 6, 1928, and the location was Shanghai, China. One summer day at the end of July, after he stayed one night at the home of the British philosopher Russell, without informing anyone in advance, he quietly came to Cambridge to find his British friend. Unfortunately, none of his British friends were there. Only Cambridge, which he was familiar with, was waiting for him silently. Scenes of his past life unfolded before his eyes again... Since he was in a hurry at the time, he was in a hurry to meet him. Another British friend did not record this emotional activity. It wasn't until he took a boat from Marseille to return home, facing the turbulent sea and the vast sky, that he took out a piece of paper and wrote down his personal feelings about returning to Cambridge.
However, what Xu Zhimo left behind at that time was the English version of "Farewell Cambridge", which was translated by an unknown Chinese at the time.
Farewell to Kangqiao Poet Xu Zhimo’s Schooling History
When he was a child, he studied at home. At the age of eleven, he entered the Xiashi Kaizhi School and studied under Zhang Shusen, thus laying a foundation in ancient Chinese prose and achieving always good results. First in the class.
In 1910, when Xu Zhimo turned fourteen, he left his hometown and came to [1] Hangzhou. After being introduced by his cousin Shen Junru, he was admitted to Hangzhou Fuzhong School. In 1913, it was renamed Zhejiang No. 1 Middle School, now Zhejiang He was in the same class as Yu Dafu at the provincial Hangzhou Senior High School. He loved literature and published an essay "On the Relationship between Novels and Society" in the first issue of the school magazine "Yousheng". He believed that novels benefit society and "should be vigorously promoted." This was the first work in his life. At the same time, he is also interested in science. He also published articles such as "Radium Ingots and the History of the Earth".
In the summer of 1915, Xu Zhimo graduated from Zhejiang No. 1 Middle School, and then was admitted to Shanghai Baptist College and Theological Seminary, the predecessor of Hujiang University, now the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. In October of the same year, it was arranged by his family. Zhang Youyi, the daughter of Zhang Runzhi, a wealthy man from Luodian, Baoshan County, Shanghai, got married.
Xu Zhimo, who was active by nature, did not finish his studies at Baptist College in peace. In the autumn of 1916, he left Shanghai and went north to study law at the preparatory course of Beiyang University in Tianjin. The following year, the Law Department of Beiyang University was merged into Peking University, and Xu Zhimo also transferred to Peking University. During the two years he spent at university in the north, new content was added to his life and new factors were injected into his thinking. In this institution of higher learning, he not only studied law, but also studied Japanese, French and political science, and dabbled in Chinese and foreign literature, which rekindled his interest in literature. During this period, he made many friends and became acquainted with celebrities. Introduced by Zhang Junmai and Zhang Gongquan, he worshiped Liang Qichao as his teacher and held a grand apprenticeship ceremony. Liang Qichao had a great influence on Xu Zhimo's life, and his position in Xu Zhimo's mind was very important. Although Xu Liang has a close master-disciple relationship, the ideological differences between them still exist. Xu Zhimo, who has accepted the ideas of bourgeois democracy and freedom, desperately pursues his ideal life at the risk of his own life. He wants to fight for marriage and love. free.
When he was in college in the north, he personally experienced the scenes of warlords fighting and witnessed the tragic massacre of innocent people. He hates this society that "wipes the purple sky at dusk in Xishan, nor can it wipe away the shame of a man turning into an animal." Implement the "ideal revolution" in his mind.
Xu Zhimo left Peking University with the patriotic enthusiasm of "making good use of what he learned to benefit our country." He set off from Shanghai to study in the United States. In his first year of studying abroad, he entered Clark University in Uster, the United States. He entered the history department and took courses such as sociology, economics, and history, hoping to become a Chinese "Hamilton" in the future. He graduated ten months after enrolling and received a bachelor's degree and a first-class honors award. But he was not satisfied with this. That year he transferred to graduate school at Columbia University in New York and entered the Department of Economics. Xu Zhimo gained extensive knowledge of philosophical thought and political science.
That year, the wave of the "May 4th" revolutionary movement also spread to Chinese students studying in the United States, far away from home. Xu Zhimo was also driven by patriotism and participated in patriotic activities organized by local foreign students. He often read "New Youth" ", "New Wave" and other magazines. At the same time, his interest in learning gradually shifted from politics to literature, so he obtained a master's degree in literature.
Xu Zhimo stayed in the United States for two years, but he was tired of the madness, greed and material gain of the bourgeoisie in American capitalist society. He was also attracted by the British philosopher Russell , finally got rid of the temptation of a doctorate from Columbia, and bought a boat to cross the Atlantic. Unexpectedly, unexpected changes occurred in Russell's personal life, which prevented him from fulfilling his long-cherished wish to study with Russell. As a result, he "spent half a year at the London School of Economics and Political Science." When he felt bored and wanted to change his way, he met Lin Changmin and his daughter Lin Huiyin, and through Lin Changmin's introduction, he met the British writer Gosworthy Dickinson. Due to Dickinson's introduction and recommendation, Xu Zhimo entered the Royal College of Cambridge University as a special student.
Xu Zhimo also lived in the UK for two years. This period of life in the UK, especially in Cambridge, had an important impact on his life's thinking and was a turning point in the development of his thinking. In Cambridge, he deeply felt that "the beauty, tranquility, and harmony of nature are unexpectedly submerged in your soul in the tacit understanding of starlight and waves." Xu Zhimo: "The Cambridge I Know". Xu Zhimo forgets his love for Cambridge and is addicted to nature because he thinks that the real society is ugly and life is painful. Only nature is pure and beautiful. In order to save this society and people and heal the dryness of current life. Embarrassed, the best way is: to leave the fallen civilization and return to the simplicity of nature. Only by getting closer to nature can human beings regain their childish nature, and there is hope for alleviating social ills.
He received a bourgeois aristocratic education in Cambridge and accepted the "smoking culture". He admired Britain so much and was so nostalgic for Oxford and Cambridge. He liked to associate with British celebrities, and he extensively read the masterpieces of various famous people in the world, and also came into contact with various schools of thought. During this period, his political concepts and social ideals were nurtured, and his self-awareness - idealism - was born. , he himself wants to become an "unteachable individualist." The environment in Cambridge not only contributed to and formed his outlook on society and life, but also stimulated his thirst for knowledge and triggered his creative ideas. He began to translate literary works. He translated several short stories by the British writer Mansfield, the German novel "The Children of the Dike" by Fugou, a French medieval story "Wu Jiarang and Ni Alan", and the Italian writer Denon Snow. Wu's "City of the Dead" and Voltaire's "Candide". At the same time, he flourished in poetry and wrote many poems. His "furious tide of spiritual revolution washed over both sides of the charming river you pointed to at Cambridge." Xu Zhimo: "See You Again at Cambridge." The idols he admired were no longer the American Hamilton, but the British Shelley and Byron. He "changed his path" and entered the ranks of poets.
Farewell Cambridge poet Xu Zhimo's introduction
Xu Zhimo had no family connection or personal preference for poetry. However, when he was studying at the University of Cambridge in England, he was different from usual. , if he didn't write, he would stop writing, which formed an explosive period of his poetry creation. Although he wrote so many poems during this period, only 20 to 30 poems have appeared in some newspapers and magazines today, and most of them have been lost. However, from the limited poems that can still be seen, we can also get a glimpse of the status of Xu Zhimo's early poetry and the imprint of his thoughts.
Why was Xu Zhimo writing poetry like a man possessed at this time? How did he burst into poetry?
First of all, it was related to the living environment in which he lived at the time. The environment in Cambridge where he lived triggered his poetry and ignited his desire to create. He said: "My days in Cambridge were so happy, and I was deeply afraid that I would never get such a sweet baptism in my life." "Smoking and Culture". Therefore, during this period, he created works such as "Summer" and "Summer Field". At this time, his personal life "illuminated a strange moonlight."
In the autumn of 1921, he met Lin Huiyin, a "talented woman" who was "as beautiful as a flower". Xu Zhimo had a close relationship with her, and then they fell in love and talked about marriage. Therefore, Xu Zhimo filed for divorce from Zhang Youyi in March 1922, believing that they should not continue to live a married life without love and freedom. Free divorce can end pain and herald happiness. This is Xu Zhimo's simple idealism. He is pursuing an ideal life. He feels that life seems to be "shocked by great power". He wants to express his feelings. Songs, therefore, poems expressing love and ideals of life, such as "Love Death", "Listening to the Musical Instruments on a Moonlit Night", "Youth's Miscellany", "The Breeze Broken the Dream of Spring", constitute an important part of his poetry in this period. . Furthermore, the reason why he prefers branching writing is that he has been exposed to a large amount of British literature and art, and the works of Byron, Shelley, Keats, Hardy, etc. fascinated him. He was blowing this "strange wind" - the European wind, and he walked on their path, so he used the form of poetry to express his thoughts and feelings in a "strange" way.
Therefore, Xu Zhimo was particularly nostalgic for his life in Cambridge, England. He was filled with emotion and excitement. He wrote a lot of poems. The scene of his poetic passion at this time is reflected in his poem titled It is reflected in a long poem "Dewdrops on the Grass".
This is the earliest poem of his that we have seen so far. This poem not only expresses his ambitions and interests at that time, but also vividly conveys the turbulent state of his poetic mood, the fountain he opened to create, the fountain he released. He sings in his throat, so he wants to be a poet. These early poems are generally fresh in tone and high in emotion, reflecting "the call of youth, igniting hope" Xu Zhimo: "Spring". At the same time, they also began to explore the forms of new poetry in various ways. The poetry styles are quite diverse, but they have not yet been finalized. There are free verse, new metrical verse, Western verse, and even unpunctuated poetry, but they pay attention to rhyme, rhythm, and the symmetry and neatness of the format. , requiring "fluent and pleasant tones, light and soft forms", which is what Xu Zhimo has always pursued in his poetry.
Although he was fascinated by life in Cambridge, England, he was haunted by homesickness and nostalgia for his country, so he left Europe in August 1922 and set out to return to China. On the way back to China, he stopped briefly in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. After a two-month journey, he arrived in Shanghai on October 15.
After returning to China, Xu Zhimo started another life. The turmoil of real society disturbed his inner balance, and sometimes he felt mentally depressed and anxious. So he expressed his feelings and experiences in writing and began his literary creation career.