Dear, I hope we are Bai Niao on the waves!
We are tired of looking at the light that the meteor hasn't flown!
At dusk, blue stars shine in the sky.
In my heart, dear, it evokes eternal sadness.
Lilies and roses exposed in my dreams cause me sadness;
Oh, dear, don't dream of the light of a meteor.
When the dew falls, the blue starlight hangs low on the horizon;
I wish we were Bai Niao in the waves: us!
Countless islands and coasts often wander in my heart,
There, we no longer know the years and sadness;
Honey, if we can follow Bai Niao's example,
We can avoid the anger of lilies, roses and starlight!
(translated by Zhao Li)
Ye Zhi (UK)
This poem has both abstract rational significance and strong perceptual characteristics. Therefore, its structural features have multiple meanings, and it symbolizes surreal philosophical light and shadow in the empirical description of perceptual reality. That is to say, when expressing a well-known emotional experience, the poet not only wrote its form, described its image, but also tapped its spirit and rhythm, making the abstract essence and spirit behind the image looming. "I hope we can become Bai Niao on the waves" is only the bottom meaning of this poem's structure, and there is a higher meaning on it. Here, the poet associates with a deeper life experience through an emotional experience that ordinary people may get: abandoning brevity and pursuing eternity!
The image of "Bai Niao" is the soul and body of this poem. It is not a dispensable metaphor, but a synthesis of the poet's thoughts and emotions in an instant. Without this image, there would be no poetry with the poet's feelings as its soul and permeated with the poet's mood, fantasy and desire. This tangible symbolic meaning is multi-layered: it is a clear expression of lasting love and a faint manifestation of eternal life.
On the semantic level, the poet's conception is still based on the common life phenomena in nature: "passing meteor", "shining star" and "lily and rose stained with dew", which constitute a profound image in his poems, with symbolic color, and often make people have a reflective aesthetic association: time is fleeting and youth is short, thus "evoking eternal sadness" in the poet's heart. It is worth noting that the poet has repeatedly rendered and described the images of "starlight" and "meteor", which has profound implications and can make people think deeply and for a long time. Wandering in the poet's mind is "countless islands and beaches", and the sea is flowing, which means endless life; The island is solid, symbolizing an eternal and lasting spirit. Therefore, the poet hopes to turn himself into "Bai Niao on the waves" and spread his wings and "soar" in the waves. Because only Bai Niao can get close to the endless sea and whisper to the eternal island, "We no longer know the years and sorrows there". It can be seen that the poet wants to turn himself into Bai Niao, but in fact he wants to identify with and understand the sea and islands. The communication between the poet and them shows that he can transcend the short time, "get rid of the restrictions of lilies, roses and starlight", be integrated with the sea and islands, and be as broad, infinite, tenacious and inclusive as them. While he had a tacit understanding with the sea and islands, the poet's life was also stained with their eternal colors!
With this high-level symbolic meaning, the practical experience of this poem also has an unusual meaning, which makes readers feel as if they are in the realm of truth and symbol. The "truth" and "illusion" overlap and dissolve: the low-level figuration gives people a concrete and sensible perception, while the high-level symbols are like wandering sounds, which affects and regulates the connotation and emotional appeal of the whole poem and gives people an abstract and far-reaching philosophy. Ye Zhi's poems "emphasize the expression of abstract philosophy with rich images, with bright colors and high tones, but contain multi-level complex meanings". (Yuan Kejia: Selected Works of Foreign Modernism, Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, 1980) From this poem, readers can see that.