far and near
Gu Cheng
far and near
You,
Look back at me,
Watch the clouds later.
I think,
When you look at me from a distance,
You observe the clouds up close.
65438+June 0980
Far and near appreciation
(Note: This is a poem written by Gu Cheng/KLOC-0 in June, 980.
Gu Cheng is one of the representatives of famous poetry schools in China in 1980s. This kind of poetry pursues the symbol of the whole in form, and the images are opaque and vague. From the content point of view, the pursuit of self-worth often carries a sense of criticism and hardship to history and tradition. Generally speaking, misty poetry is precisely because of the opacity of its image itself and the fragmentation of its combination, which has produced many blank points and uncertainties, and also reserved a lot of imagination and thinking space for readers, making people often read and innovate.
With ordinary and simple images, simple language and short poetic structure, it shows readers the greatest imagination and gives poetry unlimited tension. )
The interpretation of Gu Cheng's "distance" has always been controversial. Many people can't understand it, but those who have made some clues often only focus on one aspect, such as reading it from the perspective of love, philosophy and historical reflection, and the results are often ignored. In my opinion, this is indeed a poem expressing love, but it is not only about love, but also contains the poet's strong spiritual sustenance and pursuit. The following is a concrete interpretation of this poem from the following three aspects:
First, simple and complex special feelings:
Judging from the construction of poetic lines, Gu Cheng's Far and Near has only two sections, six lines and twenty-four words. In such a short space, the word "you" is monopolized by one line and has to be noticed, thus playing a prominent role. "I think" is also exclusive. It echoes the first line of "you" in form, implying that all my inner activities and feelings are centered on "you". "I" read your heart from your movements and wandering eyes.
The last section mainly describes your actions objectively and shows your world, which is a free world. The next section mainly describes the inner feelings of "I" to "you", which is a completely independent and "I" world, which can also be said to be the subjective intervention of "I" to "you" world. The basic functions of poetry are "expressing emotion" and "expressing ambition", so the next section is obviously the focus of poetry.
Generally speaking, your actions are revealed through my eyes, which gives you all the actions in this poem. On the one hand, it shows concern for your every move, on the other hand, it also shows respect for your heart. Imagine if I were a complete stranger, could I care so much?
Therefore, this is a poem expressing love, full of feelings that are both simple and complicated.
Second, the contradiction between the two distances:
In this poem, far and near are both physical distance and psychological distance. Physical distance can be measured and fixed, while psychological distance is really fuzzy and unmeasurable. It is absurd and contradictory for the author to compare these two different and incomparable distances together. However, this is also the embodiment of poetry, because poetry often starts from a place that goes against common sense. Another manifestation of this contradiction is that the contrast objects "I" and "Cloud" are heterogeneous and unequal. "I" is an objective and real person, and "cloud" is an ethereal and illusory natural thing.
According to common sense, the distance between "you" and "cloud" is of course farther than "I", but "you" makes me feel that the distance between "you" and "I" is farther, which is a balance between physiological feeling and psychological distance. "You" facing "I" is so mysterious that I can't figure it out; In the face of "cloud" and nature, it is really so frank that I feel that there will always be an invisible barrier between "you" and "me", which will hinder the communication between our hearts.
The repeated use of two adverbs in the whole poem shows that your eyes are erratic, like dodge and deliberate; "hen" contains more and more meanings. Repeated use makes the sense of distance difference stronger and clearer, and brings endless aftertaste to the poem.
Third, the eternal conflict between spirit and flesh.
It is a tradition to express poetry with images. In this poem, "cloud" is the central image, the eye of the poem, symbolizing the fantastic life elsewhere. "I" symbolizes real life. However, people are always dissatisfied with reality and think that beauty is always far away. Just like "I" and "cloud" in poetry, they symbolize the conflict between reality and ideal, between this shore and the other shore, and between matter and spirit.
Goethe said that everyone has two spirits: one is to indulge in love and stubbornly cling to this dusty surface, and the other is to leave the dusty surface violently and fly to a lofty spiritual realm. The conflict between soul and body is an eternal motif in poetry, so in this poem, it can be said that "you" is actually looking at some fantasy in your heart, while "I" is looking at your actions, so "I" is looking at "you" and clouds, so "you" is actually some fantasy in my heart, and "you" is like a fantasy that I have never seen before.
To sum up, this poem is a poem about love, but it is not only about love, but also contains the author's spiritual pursuit and yearning, revealing an eternal contradiction and conflict in the world, that is, the conflict and opposition between soul and body.
Creation background
Time background
Founded in 1978, it is now the cradle of obscure poetry and the main position of obscure poetry school at that time. Around it, a large number of young poets such as Beidao, Shuting, forefinger, Munk and Duoduo gathered. Their poems express subjective feelings, and from the perspective of personal mind, they also widely use symbols, metaphors and synaesthesia in their expressions. 1In August, 980, Poetry magazine published an article entitled "Ambiguity of Forgetting Me", criticizing this kind of poetry as "unreasonable", hence the name "misty poetry".
create opportunities
Gu Cheng saw the inaugural issue of Today posted at the end of the external wall of Xidan Gymnasium 1978, and he was moved by the poem above. 1April, 980, Gu Cheng published several short poems in Today for the first time in the name of "Ancient City". In June+10 of the same year, Gong Liu published an article entitled "Talking from Several Poems of Comrade Gu Cheng" in the Star, and praised the poems published by Gu Cheng in Dandelion. Since then, Gu Cheng has made his mark in the field of poetry, and has been mentioned as a representative poet of the obscure poetry school in various articles. At the end of 1980, Poetry Magazine published two poems by Gu Cheng, one of which was Far and Near. [4]
works appreciation
"Far and near" expresses specific psychological and aesthetic interests, and its expression is subtle, refined and profound. The first section is about "you" looking around. Section-2 is a unique feeling of writing "I" and an illusion of superficial form. Because since you can see me, it means that the distance between the two sides is not far, and the "cloud" is in the sky, out of reach with people. The poet reveals a psychological distance through appearances. Although people are close at hand, there are various psychological barriers and insurmountable gaps, so they feel "far away". However, people and clouds, people and nature can exchange feelings, so they feel "close"-close and harmonious. The poet used symbolism to show the disharmony between psychological distance and physical distance, and expressed his pursuit and yearning for a good relationship between people.
Poetry is concise, which makes people easily associate with personal life experiences, and its beauty is hidden in abstract lines. But savoring carefully and taking it easy implies an eager expectation and calls for a kind of interpersonal relationship of mutual understanding, mutual trust and harmonious coexistence. However, because the poet hides the cause of hallucination, he deliberately leaves a big blank and arouses the reader's imagination. This kind of imagination will vary with readers' psychological factors.
Judging from the delicate feelings expressed in the poem, this work is like a monologue of a shy boy's mind. He loves a girl, but he is ashamed to confess, and even dare not look at the girl. He can only sneak a look at the girl when she looks away. In the hungry wait-and-see, he sadly found himself so timid, helpless and inferior. The fiery flame of love failed to burn his inner shyness, and he dared not let his eyes reveal his inner anxiety. "When you look at me, it is far away, and when you look at the clouds, it is very close." So suffering is so dull, so anxious and so hesitant, and there is a moist atmosphere between the lines.
The eyes of poetry are "far" and "near", and a word "very" makes the distance between far and near to the extreme. It takes considerable efforts to alleviate and change this situation. Emotional closeness is not wishful thinking, and sometimes it is not even consensual. It needs just the right atmosphere, cheerful mood, fearless courage, long-term persistence, and especially wisdom. Although the existence of distance makes people toss and turn, anxious and at a loss, in the illusory love imagination, the silhouette image of the sweetheart is the most beautiful, which stimulates people's inner yearning for love, which is probably the most magical stage of love.
A distance, a near, triggered a variety of thoughts about man and nature, matter and spirit, body and soul, existence and nothingness, and also brought many associations to readers and aroused the voice of * * *. Its short and pithy ectoplasm is wrapped with rich connotations, and there are a thousand "I" and "you" for a thousand readers. [5]
Famous comments
Zhang Deming, a professor at the School of Humanities, Zhejiang University, wrote a classic introduction to a century-old new poem: Far and Near is an unpublished work before. By comparing the distance between "I" and the cloud, there is a profound philosophy. Although this poem has only two sections and six lines, it contains a profound "fallacy": in your eyes, the distant clouds in the sky seem very close, but the "I" in front of you seems very far away. What is the poet's intention in writing like this? Careful readers can easily find that Gu Cheng wants to tell readers a meaningful truth about the relationship between man and nature. When people are separated from each other, people can better feel the kindness and closeness of nature. It can be seen that this "fallacy" in poetry, although not in line with the common sense of the physical world, is in line with the truth of the psychological feeling world. This is the poet's unique life discovery and artistic creation. "Far and Near" is concise and has a prominent theme, and it is indeed a subtle work. [6]
Li Chaoquan, Associate Research Fellow of Chinese Writers Association, A Hundred Years' Classic of Poetry: Distance is Relative. Everything in the world, emotion and psychology are relative. The clouds on the horizon are far away, but they are closer than me standing in front of you. This is a psychological dislocation, a spiritual barrier. I was in front of you, but you turned a blind eye. This is the farthest distance. Between people, it is possible to become out of reach because of alienation. The relationship between people may also be the opposite from losing everything and falling to the ground without helping. This is the sadness of society, or the essence of our own loneliness. This poem is full of profound meaning and philosophy of life, and can be interpreted in many ways. [7]
Li Na, Associate Professor of Xianning College in Hubei Province, The Most Beautiful Poetry: This is a short poem with concise semantics and concentrated expression. It is this reverse contrast that poets use to express the gap between people. Although they are close to each other, they are emotionally distant and indifferent. Although it is near, it is not as kind as the distant clouds. At a deeper level, even between close people, there is a problem of distance, that is, the spiritual distance between people. The distance in nature, no matter how far away, is also measurable, but the psychological distance between people is sometimes far from measurable. [8]
Brief introduction of the author
Like Gu Cheng (1956— 1993), the author was born in Beijing in 1956. 1969 transferred to Dong Zhong Commune, Changyi County, Shandong Province with his father for five years. After returning to Beijing, I worked as a sugar worker and porter. 1987 was invited to visit European and American countries for cultural exchanges and lectures. 1988 went to New Zealand and was hired as a researcher by the Asian Language Department of Auckland University. After his resignation, he lived in seclusion on Rapids Island. 1992 revisited Europe and America, 1993 10 killed his wife and committed suicide. He left behind a large number of poems, calligraphy and paintings, and published The Complete Works of Gu Cheng, the novel Yinger and many essays.