Spring has arrived.
The peach blossoms in Longhua are in bloom.
It's open on those nights.
On those bloody nights.
There were no stars in those nights.
It was windy those nights.
Those nights listening to widows sobbing
This ancient land
Like a hungry beast at any time
Lick the blood of young people.
The blood of a tenacious man's son
So after a long winter.
After the ice and snow season
After infinite drowsiness and expectation.
These bloodstains. Blood.
On a mysterious night
In the dark of the east
Burst countless buds.
Spring is everywhere in Jiangnan.
People ask: Where does spring come from?
I said: from the tomb hole in the suburbs.
Spring is written in April 1937.
Ai Qing said: "This is written to commemorate the five martyrs of the Left Alliance. Hu Feng took it and published it in Life and Learning. "
Rou Shi, Yin Fu, Hu Yepin, Li Weisen and Feng Keng, five young revolutionaries, writers and poets, were brutally killed by Kuomintang reactionaries in Longhua. This important event in history shocked the whole country at that time.
Faced with this cruel and serious incident, revolutionary poets and writers are filled with indignation. As a young poet at that time, Ai Qing was also furious.
How can we express our feelings, expose the evils of the Kuomintang reactionaries, eulogize the revolutionary spirit of the five martyrs and arouse the people?
In order to reflect this event, the poet could have had many choices. You can express your mind directly, gush out like a dagger, directly and concretely describe the scene of the heroic sacrifice of five martyrs, or write a long poem about the revolution of five martyrs. However, the poet has no such choice. Perhaps the poet thinks that this writing will become a pure generalization, which is not enough to shake people's hearts. Therefore, the poet finally chose spring.
This choice is unique. Because this not only grasps the essence of the event at once, but also grasps the cut-in angle, which can express the theme more vividly and concisely. Choosing a good angle is half the battle, which is an important experience in poetry creation and other literary creation. Of course, choosing a good angle does not mean success. How to unfold and describe it is also important.
Poets always write "Spring" around "Peach Blossom". The image of "peach blossom" has become the key to the success of this poem. Let's see how the poet develops step by step.
At the beginning, the poet cut to the chase and named it "Spring" and "Peach Blossom":
Spring is here/the peach blossoms in Longhua are in bloom.
This is both real writing and imaginary writing. Fact: Five martyrs died in spring, spring, peach blossoms. Virtual writing: this "spring" and this "peach blossom" are symbolic, symbolizing the light and symbolizing the new society. Of course, just looking at these two sentences, you can't see this symbolic meaning. Only by using the following poems can you understand.
Only by reading these two sentences, it is difficult for readers to guess what the poet wrote next. After reading the following poem, you can't help but marvel at the poet's ingenious turning point, and this turning point is extremely natural.
The phrase "It blooms in those nights" points out the environment in which the peach blossoms bloom-at night, the poet seized this "night" and began to describe it: it pointed out that those nights were "bloody", "no starlight", "windy" and "listening to the widow's sobs". In our opinion, it is not only natural for the poet to write "peach blossom" but also an intention of the poet: the poet did not directly write the ferocious face of the executioner or their cruelty. Only these words have already revealed the cruelty of the executioner. What a shocking picture these words make! The poet's complaint, the poet's anger also arises spontaneously!
Then, naturally, the poet expanded this cruelty, this accusation and anger to further expand the connotation of the poem: "This ancient land is like a hungry beast/sucking the blood of young people/tenacious people".
Here, the poet skillfully put the pen on the description of "blood", which not only emphasized "blood" but also further emphasized the cruelty of "beast", further enhanced the power of accusation and anger, and paved the way for later poems.
"So after a long winter/a season of ice and snow/infinite expectations/these bloodstains/bloodstains/in the mythical night/in the dark night of the East/blooming countless buds/decorating Jiangnan with spring everywhere." These poems skillfully link "blood" with "peach blossom" and "spring", express the profound significance of the five martyrs' blood sacrifice in a very subtle way, write the poet's respect for the heroic sacrifice of the five martyrs, and also write the poet's confidence in the future-the blood of these martyrs will not flow in vain, and spring will surely come! Although we have to experience "the long winter", "the season of ice and snow" and "the expectation of infinite sleepiness", it will definitely come!
The poem begins with "Peach Blossom" and "Spring", which is not only complete, but also has a wide range of connotations, and the symbolic meanings of "Peach Blossom" and "Spring" are also understood by readers.
The connection between "peach blossom" and "blood stain" is the key to the poet's conception and the success of this poem.
The poem ended here. It could have ended. But the poet didn't stop there, and then wrote two sentences:
People ask: Where does spring come from? /I said: from the tomb hole in the suburbs. "
These two sentences are the crowning touch, condensed from the whole connotation of this poem and played an inspiring role. The arrival of spring has brought the heroic sacrifice of thousands of martyrs, and this kind of thinking is more concentrated.
The poet said, "In my years when I was not free, I sang freedom, I was an oppressed nation, and I sang liberation."