Of course, there are more than just a few dozen poets who have settled or wandered in Shanghai. By the time the poetry meeting officially started, the number had exceeded eighty, and they were all well-known.
Zhou Hexuan is not the leader of the martial arts alliance, and he has not yet reached the level of being able to respond to everything.
Nearly a hundred poets came here this time. I can only say that they were given honor by their colleagues, or they were just out of curiosity and wanted to see what Zhou Hexuan was going to do.
Even writers like Lin Yutang, who are not keen on poetry, came to join in the fun today. According to Lin Yutang's original words: "Everyone among Chinese literati is a poet, or is pretending to be a poet, and five-tenths of the literati's collected works are
All contain poetry.”
The tables and chairs at the venue were arranged in multiple "back" shapes, and everyone faced the center. Some tea, water, and dried fruits were placed on the table, and some informal people had already sat down to eat.
"Snap, snap, snap!"
After Zhou Hexuan clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention, he said: "I am very happy to have so many poetic talents gathered at Chinachem Hotel today. Please come to the restaurant for lunch at noon, and I will be the host. I can't let everyone go hungry anyway."
"Beat the big capitalists!" Yang Sao suddenly shouted, cracking melon seeds in his mouth.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Everyone burst into laughter, even the wealthy Mr. Shao was amused.
Yang Sao, however, was content with himself, his face was not red, his heart was not beating, and he continued to crack melon seeds, as if he was going to use melon seeds to make Zhou Hexuan, a big capitalist, poor.
Live-in girlfriend Bai Wei couldn't stand it any longer, so she gently pulled Yang Sao's sleeve and whispered: "Go crazy again, respect Mr. Zhou! Also, stop eating, as if someone has starved you."
"You have the final say." Yang Sao threw the melon seed peel back.
In the Chinese poetry circle in the mid-1930s, there were generally three major factions, namely: the Left-wing Poetry School, the Crescent School and the Modern School.
The Chinese Poetry Society is an organization belonging to the left-wing poetry school. It does not have a specific style, but it advocates ideological and popular creation, that is, writing proletarian poetry and popular poetry.
Yang Sao is one of the founders of the Chinese Poetry Society, and his girlfriend Bai Wei belongs to the Creation Society writers (Guo Moruo, Yu Dafu's Creation Society).
Bai Wei's father is a veteran of the Tongmenghui. Although he is a new figure, he engages in arranged marriages. In order to escape from the marriage, Bai Wei ran away from home and went to school. Her parents chased her to the school and cooperated with the school to close the school and arrest people.
With the help of others, he escaped through the school wall and hid directly in Japan to study abroad.
In Japan, Bai Wei fell in love with Yang Sao at first sight, and then started a crazy pursuit. Wherever Yang Sao hid, Bai Wei chased her. After more than ten years of pursuit, Yang Sao still couldn't escape from Bai Wei's grasp.
Heart.
Both of them are considered disciples of Lu Xun and are the backbone of Shanghai's left-wing literary circles.
Dai Wangshu and Yang Sao were familiar with each other. They were both Symbolist poets in the past. Symbolism was very popular in the 1920s, but declined in the 1930s. Dai Wangshu joined the modern school, while Yang Sao joined the left-wing poetry school.
Dai Wangshu did not make a fool of himself. He looked at Pound sitting next to him and shouted: "Mr. Zhou, let Mr. Pound say a few words!"
Zhou Hexuan introduced with a smile: "This is the American poet Ezra Pound."
Pound stood up and waved, saying in Chinese: "Hello everyone, don't worry about me, I'm just here to listen."
It is always a rare Western scene for foreigners to speak Chinese. Even the left-wing poets were very interested and shouted for Pound to say a few words about poetry creation.
Pound could not refuse, so he could only say: "I think ancient Chinese poetry is the most beautiful poetry in the world. Poetry must have beautiful imagery, and the imagery beauty of Chinese poetry is unmatched by any other poetry."
I once translated a Chinese poem into English, called "Liu Che", for everyone to enjoy: The rustle of silk is no longer heard/dust is flying in the palace courtyard/no footsteps can be heard, and leaves/are rolled into piles,
Still/she, the joy of my heart, sleeps beneath/a damp leaf clinging to the threshold.”
This poem "Liu Che" was recited in English and sounded very charming. However, the Chinese poets present were a little confused because they could not guess which ancient poem Pound was translating.
"Is there a poem called "Liu Che" in ancient China?"
"I haven't heard of it anyway."
"This foreign devil is talking nonsense."
"Actually, the writing is pretty good."
"..."
Zhou Hexuan was also a little puzzled and said: "Mr. Pound, please recite the original poem in Chinese."
"Ahem!"
Pound cleared his throat and recited in broken Chinese: "The robes are silent, the jade skirts are dusty. The empty room is cold and lonely, and the fallen leaves cling to the heavy branches. Looking at that beautiful girl, I feel peaceful in my heart.
Still not at peace?"
"puff!"
Yang Sao squirted out a sip of tea and looked at Pang De dumbfounded.
"Cough cough cough!"
The poet Pu Feng also choked on his tea and quickly covered his mouth, his cheek muscles twitching as he tried to laugh.
"Well, let me say something." Someone at the back raised his hand.
Zhou Hexuan nodded and said, "Please speak."
The man adjusted his glasses and said: "American poetry has never been taken seriously by us. Mr. Pound's "Liu Che" is a masterpiece of American poetry and one of the representative works of European and American Imagist poetry. Especially the sentence 'falling leaves',
It is called a model of image superposition method."
"Who is this gentleman?" Zhou Hexuan asked.
The man replied: "Xie Danru."
Xie Danru, a member of the Lakeside Poetry Society, a close friend of Lu Xun, Qu Qiubai, Feng Xuefeng and others. Although he did not join the Communist Party, he has been engaged in underground secret work for a long time and helped deliver many secret documents. He often hid in his house when the underground party was being hunted down.
Home.
Zhou Hexuan applauded and said: "Thank you sir for your advice!"
"I dare not take it seriously." Xie Danru acted extremely modestly.
Xie Danru's statement is very correct. This specious poem "Liu Che" is indeed a masterpiece in the history of American poetry. The "Falling Leaves Sentence" has even become a famous allusion in the history of American poetry. Of course, the status of this poem is not that high now.
It would take another few decades before he would be elevated to the altar by an American poet.
American poetry is now in the modernist period, but it is a tragedy.
The leading figures are undoubtedly Eliot and Pound. However, although these two were born in the United States, they have lived in Europe for a long time. Eliot even became a British citizen, so that they are automatically regarded as European poets.
.
The remaining Stevens, Moore, Cummings and others are very famous in the United States, but few people in China know them, and they are far less famous than Whitman, who has been dead for decades.
The United States is a desert of culture and art. Even music is looked down upon, let alone more powerful poetry. "Liu Che", which is not amazing, can become a classic of American poetry. This shows how many people they have there.
horrible.
The real rise of American poetry will have to wait until the end of World War II. After all, it has its own aura of hope for mankind.
However, the poem Pound recited was a good start for today's poetry meeting. Following this topic, everyone began to talk about European and American poetry, and then turned to the creation of contemporary Chinese poetry. Left-wing poets quarreled with other poets.
It's overwhelming.
In fact, as poetry developed into the 1930s, poetry creation not only in China but also around the world was moving closer to modernism, and would more or less learn from and integrate some modernist techniques.
The works of China's left-wing poetry school also have many modernist characteristics, and some are simply modernist works.
However, the left-wing poetry school advocates popular poetry and the popularization of poetry. However, many free poets are keen to express themselves and like to write obscure poems. The two parties have a fierce quarrel over the content and intention of poetry creation.
Zhou Hexuan watched the good show for a while, smiled and clapped his hands and said: "Everyone, be quiet. Can I say a few words?"
