Wang:
China readers' love for adonis begins with the first selected poem My Loneliness is a Garden published by Yilin Publishing House in 2009. There is a circle on the black cover that is a total solar eclipse. What does this mean?
In daily life, in his own poetry creation, adonis expressed his disappointment with the Syrian motherland and the present situation of the Arab world where he lived, and was pessimistic about the future and destiny of the entire Arab nation, so he fell into darkness.
But Mr adonis didn't despair in pessimism. He has always had a glimmer of hope for his motherland and nation, which is why he has such a total solar eclipse cover.
The cover of the second book of poetry, My Anxiety is a Spark, is a total eclipse of the moon, and its whole creative idea comes down in one continuous line, while the red cover is dark and dull, which is consistent with the anxiety in our topic.
Next, I would like to ask Mr. Zhao, do the designs of these two books conform to your understanding of adonis's poems?
Zhao:
I like the cover designs of these two books very much, and they also convey adonis's poetry writing style, thoughts and emotions well.
He searched for light and truth in such a chaotic world. Although this light is far from nothingness, he is still looking for it. The hidden light of the sun and moon is not dazzling, but it can penetrate people's hearts. I think this is a very good cover.
Wang:
Mr adonis said that he liked the cover of My Loneliness is a Garden. Can you tell me why?
Adonis (Xue Qingguo):
First of all, I am very grateful to Mr. Qian, to Yilin Publishing House for making arrangements for the publication of my new book, and to all my friends sitting here quietly, because there are many ways for me to express my feelings, one of which is silence. In fact, I'm sitting here writing a quiet poem for all of you.
Such a grand occasion as ours today is rare in the world, especially when people come here from all over the world for poetry, that is, to explore the truth.
Because when philosophy and science feel that there are no answers to many questions in this world, poetry still has a lot to express to this world, so I think poetry is the meaning of our existence in this world.
Then I want to thank my good friend Mr. Zhao again for giving me this sculpture. Just now, I thought of a French poet, Valdi. Verdi once attended a report meeting, and someone gave a report on Valdi's poems. Then someone asked the poet, do you think this report is correct? I don't know whether his report is correct or not, but he really touched me. So I don't know if this statue reflects me, but from an artistic point of view, I like it very much.
Wang:
Our first book of poetry, My Loneliness is a garden. How did this book of poetry come from? In the world, only Yilin Publishing House published this collection of poems called My Loneliness is a Garden, which was selected by Mr. Xue Qingguo from 17 collections of poems written by Mr. adonis for more than 50 years.
At that time, we considered how to choose the title of the book, and then asked Mr. Xue Qingguo to choose two poems from the middle. In the middle, I also chose two poems, and invited poetry lovers from Yilin Publishing House to choose. Everyone's choices are very consistent, and they all choose loneliness as the garden. In order to make everyone feel replaced, I added mine to the front. Many people say that I like this collection of poems, and I am attracted by the title.
The key word in the title, loneliness, is actually a very common psychological state of many people in our society today. Even if we are crowded in the vast sea of people, we may feel lonely ourselves.
Then I want to ask Mr. Zhao, after reading adonis's poems, did you find loneliness in them? What kind of loneliness do you think?
Zhao:
Perhaps living in this world, each of us will feel lonely, and you will feel lonely, but you are so lonely that you have lost contact with this world that you feel that there is no place in this world worthy of communication and nostalgia except you. That must be a very sad thing. Adonis's loneliness, I say, is a very rich and great loneliness, because behind it is a garden. A lonely man is in the garden. He is not alone.
Adonis, I think he's a lone ranger. From this perspective, his views on the world, human nature, his time and their Arab history are really lonely.
But he's not alone. Adonis is inextricably linked with the world. I think he is a very excellent poet. He said he was lonely, but his thoughts contained everything. He can put clouds, the sun and the moon, all natural landscapes and everything on the earth in his poems at will.
This kind of loneliness, I think, is a great loneliness. Behind this loneliness is a garden, where we can see the richness of the world, the beauty of human nature and the world worth living.
Wang:
Mr. Xue Qingguo is the person who has the most contact with Mr. adonis in China. He has recently observed adonis at close range and knows adonis best. So I want to ask Mr. Xue Qingguo, did you find his loneliness during your contact with adonis?
Xue Qingguo:
Is Mr adonis lonely? We can't see his apparent loneliness. In my impression, adonis is always smiling, very kind and has many friends, just like adonis in front of everyone.
However, I quite agree with what Teacher Zhao said just now. His heart is a great loneliness. Because his loneliness comes from his profound views on his motherland, nation and even the whole world.
This view is full of expectation, but at the same time it expresses deep dissatisfaction, anxiety and sometimes anger, which we usually can't see, but he hides this feeling in his heart and puts it into action. This makes us feel the beauty of his poems and the power of thought.