Valery also said: "In a strict sense, the main point of the so-called' poetry' is to use language as a means. As for independent poetry, we must note that it is a unique feature and a very commendable nature that is different from other human feelings; It often makes us feel the illusion of a world, or an illusion (the events, images, creatures and things in this world are very similar to those in the ordinary world, but they are closely related to our overall feeling). The objects and creatures we once knew have been "musicalized" to some extent-please forgive me for using this word; They sing to each other, as if in tune with our own feelings. After this explanation, the world of poetry is very similar to dreams, at least similar to the realm of some dreams. "
Mr. Liang, a China poet, scholar and translator who was deeply influenced by the eastern and western cultures, once defined the concept of "pure poetry": "The so-called pure poetry is to get rid of all objective scenery, narrative, reasoning and even sentimental sentiment, and only rely on the elements that constitute its basic form-music and color to produce a spell-like hint, thus arousing our senses and imagination, and becoming an absolutely independent and free world like music. The close mixing of its own phonology and color background is the internal reason for its existence. "
Mr. Liang is the inheritor of Valery's theory of "pure poetry". He met Valery while studying in France in his early years and forged a profound friendship. Liang's definition of "pure poetry" theory is an authoritative definition, and its theoretical source should first benefit from Valery. Liang talked about Valery's concepts of "pure poetry" and "pure poetry" many times, all with admiration and respect. "This pure poetic movement is actually behind symbolism, which originated in Baudelaire, France, was founded in Malarme and reached its acme in Van Lech"; "We can say that Brahma's poems have reached music, which is the purest and perhaps the highest artistic realm." It can be seen that Liang's definition of "pure poetry" is entirely based on his respect and research on western poetics.
Teacher Xue translated a large number of poems by famous western symbolism and surrealism poets and published them on some websites. Some netizens suggested that it is best to translate the essence of poetry in popular language, and also suggested: "No matter how great the work is, readers should read it." Xue replied: "There is a lot of understanding about popularity. As far as the sudden change of western poetry tide is concerned, the main avant-garde poets pursue an internalized professional language, that is, a symbolic expression that only a few people can understand. This is related to their views on poetry, literature and even the world outlook. Poetry is not mainly responsible for educating people. At this point, they are very clear and stubborn. "
From Valery and expert Liang's definition of "pure poetry" theory to Xue's understanding of western poetics, that is to say, what the poet pursues is only an aesthetic kingdom constructed by pure language, poetry is the essence of language extracted from rough ordinary language, and poetry is the extraordinary crystallization of language; Poets are magicians who have learned aesthetic spells, and their eyes will cross the boring horizon and point to the distant sky. In Valery's words, poets are keen on "an illusion or an illusion about a world" and "creating a reality with no practical significance". Influenced by western symbolism and surrealism, Xue's poems have obvious characteristics. I feel that her poems can be represented by the names of a group of her poems, that is, Love Songs Singing to the Sky. Her poems point to the distant sky. Reading her poems will make you feel "flying".
Some time ago, I saw a group of poems written by a poet named Tan Kuang on the same website, and a poem review written by Amethyst, the deputy editor-in-chief of the website. I was surprised when I first saw this group of poems, because his language is completely vernacular, which is a trivial matter that every one of us may encounter. If the sentence is not in an irregular arrangement, I will mistake it for a diary. I also read a poem review by Jingfa entitled "Singing through the Dust". After reading it carefully, I went back to read the teacher's poems and finally found some insights. Teacher Kukuang is a poet in Yimeng Mountain. He stepped on the soil of Yimeng Mountain and paid attention to the realistic livelihood and social problems. He writes in the vernacular so that ordinary people can understand what he wants to express. Look at the comments at the back of his poem. Some say, "Wang Yang is reckless, and sometimes mud and sand are everywhere", while others say, "What is presented to us is some confusion, complexity, some appearances of things, and the author's calmness, carelessness-and incisiveness". For this group of poems, the voices of praise and criticism are endless, and both sides hold their own words. In the end, they are all put an end to it because they are afraid of hurting each other.
For realistic poetry, under the free air of the current network, a hundred flowers blossom, a hundred schools of thought contend and colorful scenes are presented. Both professional poets and non-professional poets are actively creating, exploring and trying through the platform of network. I believe that these poets are not driven by any interests, nor are they intimidated by rights. Their poems are free and sincere from the heart. As an ordinary reader, we should only have the right to appreciate other people's poems, but we still have some standards in our hearts. We always expect to read poems that not only pay attention to social reality, but also retain a flying height of social imagination, while retaining all kinds of extraordinary wonders and shocking power in the language. Of course, this expectation is an ideal state, and it is also the eager desire of readers.
Regarding the standard of "pure poetry", Liang used vivid metaphors such as "paper flower", "vase flower" and "raw flower" in his letter to Xu Zhimo. He used these three kinds of flowers to express his basic views on the artistic level of new poetry at that time. Therefore, Liang hopes to "rebuild the stylistic consciousness of poetry" by emphasizing the artistic essence of poetry and the independent aesthetic effect of stylistic features, so as to "make the author of new poetry too practical". In a word, Liang attaches great importance to the purity of spiritual activities in his poetry creation and pursues a "pure poetry" world that pushes musicality, mystery and idealization to the extreme. But under the realistic and historical conditions of China, he had to make some corresponding compromises.
Although Mr. Liang highly praised Valery's theory of "pure poetry", he still let reality intervene in the world of "pure poetry" on the question of whether poetry should pay attention to reality or draw nutrition from it. Especially due to the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, poets are also members of society. In the face of national disaster, this is the choice that the poet must make, and he must shout loudly to arouse the people. At this time, Mr. Liang further emphasized the poet's sense of realistic mission in his "pure poetry" theory. In the second half century, China's poetry went further and further on the road of colloquialism. Although poetry reached the people, it lost its essence and only retained the form of "song". On the issue of "pure poetry" and paying attention to reality, it always seems to be twice, going to two extremes.
From this point of view, Valery pursues the extreme purity of poetry itself, hoping that "pure poetry" can reach "pure water" as physicists say, and only gives the poet how to "create a world, a system of order and relationship of things unrelated to the actual order." This idea is unrealistic, and Mr. Liang has to make corresponding compromises and concessions in the face of reality. Poets are human beings. As long as the poet lives in the real society, the word "pure" in the so-called "pure poetry" is always relative. The so-called "pure poetry" is just an ideal of the poet, an ideal realm that the poet will always pursue and never reach.