1. Overall understanding
Ai Qing is a singer of the land, and "land" is one of the two most common images in his poems (the other is "the sun"). "Land" symbolizes the troubled motherland that gave birth to him and raised him. The love for "land" is an endless melody in Ai Qing's works.
"I Love This Land" was written in November 1938, when the country was in crisis, and the vicissitudes of the motherland was once again trampled by the iron hoofs of the Japanese invaders. As a poet, Ai Qing firmly joined the torrent of the national liberation struggle and became the "trumpet blower" of the times. He said that he "wrote poetry as a singer of a miserable race striving for liberation and throwing off their shackles."
"If I were a bird", the whole poem begins with such an unexpected assumption, which makes the readers wonder what is the connection between the image of "bird" and the "land" that the author wants to sing. Woolen cloth?
The author explains this.
"I should also sing with my hoarse throat." At a time when artillery fire is raging and the national destiny is in danger, a seemingly insignificant bird has to fight hard and make an unyielding voice with its own singing voice. This reminds people of "everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of a country." The "hoarse throat" shows us that this is a bird that has suffered a lot, and its singing is made with its entire life.
The following four lines describe the four objects that birds sing about: land, river, wind, and dawn. Their core is "land." It is worth noting that the author added long modifiers in front of these four objects.
"This land battered by the storm" is a portrayal of a country that is being bullied by the Japanese invaders.
“The river of our grief and indignation is always raging.” The rivers on the land are rushing like the grief and indignation that has been stagnate in the hearts of the people for a long time.
"The endless and angry wind", the wind blowing over the land, symbolizes the anger in the hearts of the people against the atrocities of the invaders.
The "incomparably gentle dawn from the forest" indicates that the dawn of independence and freedom for which the people have fought and dedicated their lives will surely come to this land.
"Then I died/Even my feathers rotted in the earth." When the bird was alive, it sang for the earth with all its strength. After death, it threw its whole body into the embrace of the earth, including its feathers. All integrated with the land.
In the second stanza of the poem, the author shifts from the above description of the singer’s dynamics to a close-up of “I”. This is done in a questioning manner. "Why are there always tears in my eyes" and "Why are there always tears in my eyes" are such a static close-up, showing the sadness, anger and pain that linger in "my" heart for a long time. "Because I love this land deeply." Witnessing the reality of broken mountains and rivers and desolate people, the deeper my love for my motherland becomes, the stronger the pain in my heart becomes.
The last two sentences are the essence of the whole poem. They are the most sincere expression of love for the motherland by all patriotic intellectuals in that difficult era. This kind of love is unforgettable and lasts until death. It not only comes from the depths of the poet's heart, but also is the epitome of the universal patriotic sentiment of the entire nation. With these two lines of poetry, Ai Qing expressed the common aspirations of all Chinese people of that era.
2. Problem Research
1. "If I were a bird, / I should also sing with a hoarse throat." These two lines of poetry are the beginning of "I Love This Land". What kind of tone does it set for the whole poem?
At the beginning of the poem, the poet assumes "I" to be the image of a "bird", and this "bird" is a bird with a hoarse throat that has suffered a lot, making the reader immediately attracted by the poet's sense of worry. infected. This sense of urgency comes from our profound love for our motherland, which has suffered many disasters. Under this tone, the poem further develops the description of the objects the birds sing about, which are: land, river, wind, and dawn. Judging from the modifying words in front of the four singing objects, they are all images that have been hit by wind and rain for a long time, full of grief and anger, and struggling hard, which is consistent with the spirit of the birds dedicated to the land below, which strengthens the " The themes of "Love the Land" and "Love the Motherland".
2. How is the second verse of "I Love This Land" related to the first verse? How will the expression of the theme of the poem be affected if the second stanza is removed?
If the first section is a lyrical description of the theme of "Love the Land (Motherland)", the short and concise two lines of the second section can be seen as a highly condensed summary of the theme. If the second stanza is removed, the poetic meaning will not be refined and strengthened.