Farewell Cambridge
Gently I left,
Just as I came gently;
I waved gently ,
Farewell to the clouds in the western sky.
The golden willow by the river
is the bride in the setting sun
The beautiful shadow in the ripples of light,
waves in my heart.
The green banana plant on the soft mud,
swaying oilily under the water;
In the soft waves of the Cam River,
I am willing to be a waterweed
The pool under the shade of the tree,
It is not a clear spring, but a rainbow in the sky
Crushed among the floating algae,
Precipitated rainbow-like dreams.
Looking for a dream? Take a long pole,
Walk back to where the grass is greener,
Load a boatload of starlight,
Sing songs in the colorful starlight
However, I cannot sing,
Quietness is the shengxiao of parting;
The summer insects are also silent for me,
The silence is tonight Cambridge!
Quietly I left,
Just as quietly I came;
I waved my sleeves,
I won’t take you away A cloud.
November 6
①Written on November 6, 1928, first published in "Crescent" monthly magazine, Volume 1, No. 10, on December 10, 1928, signed 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 "The Preface to the Collection of Tigers": 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 up the poet's soul and awakened the poet's destiny that had been stung 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") )
In 1928, the poet revisited his hometown. 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 "Cambridge Complex" runs through Xu Zhimo's poems throughout his life; and "Farewell to Cambridge" is undoubtedly the most famous one.
The first section writes about the long-lost students’ sorrow when they say goodbye to their alma mater. Using three "gently" in a row makes us feel as if the poet is standing on tiptoe, coming like a breeze and then blowing away silently; and the deepest love is actually illusive in the moment of waving. Became "the clouds in the western sky." Sections 2 to 6 describe the poet boating in the Cam River in search of dreams. The golden willows covered with sunset light, the green cattails on the soft mud, and the pools under the shade of the trees all come into view one by one. The two metaphors are quite cleverly used: the first one boldly imagines the "golden willows by the river" as the "bride in the sunset", turning the inanimate scenery into a living thing, warm and pleasant; The second one is to mistook the clear pool water for a "rainbow in the sky". After being crushed by floating algae, it turned into a "rainbow-like dream". It is in the midst of confusion and infatuation that the poet is like Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly, with two ambitions: things and myself. He directly feels that "the beautiful shadow in the waves / is rippling in my heart", and is willing to be a swaggering waterweed in the soft waves of the Cam River. . This masterpiece that combines subjectivity and objectivity is both an accidental achievement and the result of repeated efforts; in stanzas 5 and 6, the poet reveals a new artistic conception. Borrowing from "Dream/Looking for Dreams", "A boat full of stars,/Singing in the colorful starlight", "Singing,/But I can't sing", "The summer insects are also silent for me/Silence is Cambridge tonight" four This refrain pushes the whole poem to a climax, just like the water of the Cam River, with twists and turns! But his frenzied state of singing songs on his bare feet in a place where the grass is greener and the stars are bright has not yet come true. The silence and speechlessness at this time is better than so many love words! The last section uses three "quietly" to correspond to the loop of the first palace. Come in style and leave in style. Wave your sleeves, what is shaking off? No need to say more. Since you have experienced nirvana once in Cambridge, why take away a cloud? The whole poem is completed in one breath and is soul-stirring. It is the best description of Xu Zhimo's "poetic life". Hu Shi said: "His outlook on life is really a kind of 'simple faith'. There are only three big words in it: one is love, one is freedom, and one is beauty. He dreams that these three ideal conditions can be combined in one life." Here, this is his 'simple belief'. The history of his life is just the history of his pursuit of the realization of this simple belief." If this is the case, then the poet's wandering by the Cam River is not exactly the same. A microcosm of this pursuit? Xu Zhimo advocated artistic poetry. He deeply admired Wen Yiduo's poetic ideas of musical beauty, painting beauty, and architectural beauty, with particular emphasis on musical beauty. He even said: "...Only when we understand that the life of poetry lies in its internal rhythm can we appreciate the true interest of poetry; no matter how noble your thoughts are or how passionate your emotions are, you have to use them to understand clearly Only through the 'musicalization' (that is, poeticization) can we gain the understanding of poetry..." ("Poetry Magazine Holiday").
Looking back at this poem "Farewell Cambridge": the whole poem has seven stanzas, each stanza has four lines, and each line has two or three stanzas. , four rhymes, ups and downs, catchy. This beautiful rhythm ripples like ripples. It is not only the sound of devout students pursuing their dreams, but also fits the ebb and flow of the poet's emotions, giving it a unique aesthetic pleasure. The seven stanzas of the poem are arranged in an orderly manner, and the rhythm spreads out slowly, quite like a poet who is "white in robes, skinny on a cold island in the countryside". It can be said that it reflects Xu Zhimo’s poetic beauty.
English version Saying Good-bye to Cambridge Again --- by Xu Zhimo
farewell to Cambridge Again by Xu Zhimo
Very quietly I take my leave
As quietly as I came here;
Quietly I wave good-bye
To the rosy clouds in the western sky.
The golden willows by the riverside
Are young brides in the setting sun;
Their reflections on the shimmering waves
Always linger in the depth of my heart.
The floatingheart growing in the sludge
Sways leisurely under the water;
In the gentle waves of Cambridge
I would be a water plant!
That pool under the shade of elm trees
Holds not water but the rainbow from the sky;
Shattered to pieces among the duckweeds
< p>Is the sediment of a rainbow-like dream?To seek a dream? Just to pole a boat upstream
To where the green grass is more verdant;
Or to have the boat fully loaded with starlight
And sing aloud in the splendour of starlight.
But I cannot sing aloud
Quietness is my farewell music;
Even summer insects heep silence for me
Silent is Cambridge tonight!
Very quietly I take my leave
As quietly as I came here;
Gently I flick my sleeves
Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away
Introduction to Xu Zhimo:
Xu Zhimo (1896-1931) was born in Haining, Zhejiang. In 1920, he studied in England. In 1923, he joined the Crescent Society and became a representative poet of the Crescent Society poetry school. "Zhimo is a butterfly, not a bee. He cannot get the benefits of a woman, but he sacrifices the disadvantages of a woman." - Bing Xin
Appreciation of "Farewell Cambridge":
" "Farewell Cambridge" is a beautiful lyric poem, like a piece of elegant and beautiful light music. In the autumn of 1928, the author visited England again. Revisiting the old place, he became inspired by poetry. He turned his life experience into strands of emotions, which were integrated into the beautiful scenery of Cambridge he described, and also galloped in the poet's imagination.
The whole poem starts with "gently", "walking", "coming", "waving" and "farewell to the clouds", and then uses the technique of alternating virtual and real to depict flowing pictures one after another, which constitutes every part of the poem. The wonderful artistic conception meticulously expresses the poet's love for Cambridge, his longing for the past life, and his helpless sorrow of separation in a sincere, rich and meaningful way.
This poem shows the poet's high artistic skills. The poet combines specific scenery and imagination to form a vivid and vivid artistic image of the poem, and skillfully integrates the atmosphere, emotions and scenes into the artistic conception, so that there is emotion in the scenery and scenery in the emotion. The structure of the poem is rigorous, neat and well-proportioned. The whole poem has 7 stanzas, each stanza has 4 lines, forming two parallel steps; lines 1 and 3 are slightly shorter, lines 2 and 4 are slightly longer, with each line ranging from 6 to 8 words. The poet seems to intentionally combine metrical poetry and free verse. The forms are combined to make it a new form of poetry, rich in nationalization and modern architectural beauty. The language of the poem is fresh and beautiful, the rhythm is gentle and euphemistic, harmonious and natural, and with the ups and downs of emotions, it is like a sweet and slow rhyme, light and graceful, touching the heartstrings of readers.
The poet Wen Yiduo advocated the "beauty of music", "beauty of painting" and "beauty of architecture" in modern poetry in the 1920s. The poem "Farewell to Cambridge Again" can be said to possess the "three beauties" , can be called the swan song in Xu Zhimo’s poetry.
In the history of modern Chinese literature, Xu Zhimo left a very profound impression on people. His chic appearance, elegant grace, passionate personality and his romantic poetry have infected countless lovers. It is a pity that he suffered an air crash in his youth. As he wrote in the poem "Farewell to Cambridge": "Quietly I left, just as quietly as I came, I waved my sleeves and did not take away a single cloud. "At the age of thirty-four, he left...
Xu Zhimo is an idealist and romantic. Hu Shi once said: "His outlook on life is really a simple belief. There are only three big words in it: one is love, one is freedom, and one is beauty. He dreamed that these three ideal conditions could be combined in one life, This is his pure belief." Perhaps because of this pure belief, Xu Zhimo's love suffered setbacks in his life. While studying in the UK, he pursued Lin Huiyin hard, but Lin Huiyin was unclear about him. After returning to China, he pursued a married woman, Lu Xiaoman, but was scolded by Liang Qichao. However, this emotional frustration created Xu Zhimo's literary brilliance. I think the most fundamental reason lies in the lyric poems he left behind: they are "poetry that comes from the warmth of the soul." I feel sorry for Xu Zhimo's naivety. He indulges in fantasy and is unrealistic about love. Sometimes he even goes astray and gets a bloody head. But there is no doubt that I have some good feelings for him. Passionate, courageous and persistent pursuit of things, with deep respect. It's just that literary aesthetics often exceed reality, and Xu Zhimo was too radical for this kind of detachment.
In the autumn of 1920, Xu Zhimo arrived in the UK. I was originally planning to go there to become a student of Russell at Cambridge University. But when he arrived in the UK, he learned that Russell was no longer in the UK and had gone to China to give lectures. Furthermore, Russell was expelled from Cambridge University for his opposition to the First World War. Later, Xu Zhimo was introduced to Cambridge University by the British writer Dickinson. During this time, Xu Zhimo met Lin Changmin, the Chief Justice of the Beiyang Government, and his daughter Lin Huiyin, and he began to pursue this beautiful and talented young woman. For this reason, Xu Zhimo terminated his marriage to his ex-wife Zhang Youyi. But unfortunately, Lin Huiyin later married Liang Qichao's son, Liang Sicheng.
As a result, the song "Farewell to Cambridge" fully demonstrated Xu Zhimo's warm, sincere, gentle, delicate and slightly elegant romantic personality, leaving a very profound impression on future generations. Impression:
Gently I left, just as lightly as I came; I waved gently to bid farewell to the clouds in the western sky. The golden willows by the river are the bride in the sunset; the beautiful shadows in the waves are rippling in my heart. The green banana-plant on the soft mud wave slippery in the bottom of the water; I would willingly be a waterweed in the soft waves of the Cam River! The pool under the shade of elm trees is not a clear spring, but a rainbow in the sky. Crushed among the floating algae, a rainbow-like dream precipitated. Looking for a dream? Take a punt and row upstream to where the grass is greener; load a boat full of stars and sing in the colorful starlight. But I can't sing, quietly is the shengxiao of parting; the summer insects have been silent for me, silence is tonight's Cambridge; quietly I leave, just as quietly as I came; I wave my sleeves, not taking away a single cloud .
This is how Xu Zhimo perceives love with a mimosa-like touch and a baby-like emotion. It is his simple view of love that injects a romantic atmosphere into his poems. Although this kind of romance cannot become a reality, Xu Zhimo's fiery and delicate emotions flow quietly with the Kang River in his poems.
As the first artistic feature of Xu Zhimo’s poetry, it is the painstaking management and somewhat deliberate pursuit of poetic imagery. He is really good at capturing images in life, and is also good at discovering poetic interest in life, and integrating the images of life and the interest of poetry into his works, thus forming a higher aesthetic realm.
As images in poems, "clouds", "golden willows", "colored shadows", "green water plants", "water plants", "rainbow", "dreams", "artemisia", etc. appear in "Farewell to Cambridge". Images such as "starlight", "shengxiao", "summer insects", "Cambridge", "sleeves", etc. are all emotions that the poet treasures deep in his heart. The emptiness of these images is related to the reality of the poet's heart. , contrasting with each other, one piece and one piece combined, all reveal the tension of the image. Through emotionalization, the objective objects are endowed with emotional color, making these images from ordinary to extraordinary, so that the whole poem becomes more elegant and spiritual. Therefore, "Farewell Cambridge" has become a famous poem written by Xu Zhimo from the depths of his soul.
Looking at the "golden willows by the river" and the "glorious shadows in the waves" in the poem, they not only "fluttered in his heart", but also had a dreamlike and magical power that made his mind soar. , the fantasy of "carrying a boat full of stars and singing in the starry sky". The composition of a series of images shows that Xu Zhimo at that time had accepted the influence of British Romantic poetry and absorbed the characteristics of European Symbolism and Impressionism poetry. In addition, each stanza of "Farewell to Cambridge" has four lines, and the rhyme scheme strictly follows two or four rhymes, and each line has two or three beats. The whole poem has even lines and sonorous rhymes. However, in order to express the emotion more appropriately, it does not Stick to the "uniformity of sentences". The sentence "Looking for a dream? Hold a long pole" is like ripples on a calm lake, making the whole poem full of life. The rhythm of the whole poem matches the ups and downs of the poet's emotions. The whole poem is ups and downs, catchy, and lingering after reading, giving people a unique aesthetic pleasure. This also shows that Xu Zhimo on the one hand absorbed the charm and rhythm of the British Romantic poets, and at the same time gradually developed his poems into the prototype of a new poem based on the characteristics of Chinese vernacular.
The artistic achievements of Xu Zhimo’s poetry lie in three aspects: spirit, imagery, and rhythm. It can also be said that his poetry has these three major artistic characteristics. Moreover, these three are actually inseparably unified in his poems: spirituality needs to be reflected to a large extent through imagery, and imagery also needs to be completed through the important aspect of musical beauty. Together, they constitute the whole of Xu Zhimo's poetic art, which not only enables his poems to enjoy a higher status in art, but also brings some universal artistic experience to the development of new Chinese poetry and makes some other poets Failure to contribute.