Step on the solid ground
[India] Rabindranath Tagore
Come on, friend, come down and step on the solid ground,
Don't shrink back, don't collect dreams in the dark.
The storm is brewing in the sky, and lightning is striking our sleep.
Come down, come down to ordinary life.
The web of illusion is torn, take shelter in the stone wall.
(Translated by Wu Yan, selected from "Honghu Collection")
Appreciation
According to Tagore's student Aurobindo Bose, Tagore's " Most of "The Collection of Honghu" was written during the First World War, and many of its chapters truly reflect the thoughts and feelings of young people who returned from the European battlefields with scars - they were eager to transform the messed up world closer to them. wish, but in the face of ruthless reality, the fantasy was finally shattered.
Based on the poem "Stepping on Solid Ground", we can conclude that the "friends" here refer to the above-mentioned young people. Here, the poet first loudly calls on them to "come down and step on the solid ground", and then on the one hand encourages them to "don't shrink", and on the other hand he warns them "don't collect dreams in the dark". Reality is indeed cold as iron. "Storms are brewing in the sky and lightning is striking our sleep." In this situation, unrealistic fantasies are not only useless, but also harmful, because they will affect people's minds. of full sobriety. The poet once described his feelings when writing "The Collection of Honghu": "Through the war, a call came calling me to participate in a festival of brotherhood and friendship all over the world... I felt that human nature had reached a crossroads - —Behind us lies the past, the night is approaching its end, and through death and suffering, the red dawn of a new century is dawning." Perhaps it is based on this deep psychological connotation that he repeatedly calls "friends" back. Come to ordinary life, and use your own practical efforts to welcome the dawn of the future era.
The mood of this poem is exciting and revolving. The poetic meaning comes like a rolling wave, which is breathtaking to read.
(Cao Yuchuan)