2. In 1950s, the poems that directly expressed the new life and builders alienated the existing artistic personality and looked dull, but kept the original poetic thinking mode. Based on foreign materials such as Vienna and Travels of South America Atlantic, realism and symbolism infiltrated each other, and their imagination and sensibility were unique, which made them outstanding at that time.
After his comeback in the late 1970s, his poems were full of thoughts, such as Ode to Light and Battlefield of Ancient Rome, all of which were carefully composed. A large number of poems are short and pithy, and their themes continue the emotional clues of 1930s and 1940s, with great extension. They are more profound, dignified and wise, paying attention to grasping the meaning beyond physical images and moving towards symbols.
Simple, concise, rich imagination, unique images and emphasis on philosophy are the consistent characteristics of Ai Qing's poems. Ai Qing's works generally describe symbolic things such as the sun, torches and dawn, showing Ai Qing's hatred of darkness and terror in the old society and his yearning and pursuit of dawn, light and hope. Judging from the poetic style, before liberation, Ai Qing cursed the darkness and eulogized the light with deep, intense and unrestrained brushwork. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he continued to praise the people, praise the light and think about life. His songs Return are more extensive in content, deeper in thought, deeper in emotion, more diverse in techniques and more sophisticated in art. His poems published after the founding of the People's Republic include Cheers, Red Star of Gems, On the Cape, Spring, Song of Return, Colorful Poems, Exotic Poems, Snow Lotus and Ai. Ai Qing became an outstanding person with his singing style full of artistic individuality, and practiced his poetic aesthetic proposition of "simplicity, simplicity, concentration and liveliness".