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【In-depth interpretation】
I. Literary imprints on epidemics
The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought back memories of similar outbreaks in history and has also re-read literature that reflects the pandemic. From the 14th century onwards, plagues were prevalent in the West and appeared in various ways in literary works. In English literature, for example, we see Geoffrey Chaucer referring to the plague that swept across London in 1348 in The Story of the Forgivener (The Canterbury Tales), and Thomas Nashe describing a character who died of the plague in 1592 in Sammer's Last Words, and the song he sang, "Prayer in the Time of Cholera," is well known. The plague that ravaged London in 1603 killed 30,000 people, including Shakespeare's son. The pandemic forced theaters to close, and Thomas Dekker had to abandon plays in favor of pamphlets. Ben Jonson's Alchemist also sets the scene in 1816, when cholera was rampant.
The worst plague in England was the Great Plague of London in 1665, which Daniel Defoe recorded in his Diary of the Year of the Plague (1722). The narrator, Henry, is a Londoner who, as an eyewitness, tells the story of what happened during that horrific year. Henry claimed that Britain's frequent trade with the European continent was responsible for the outbreak of the plague, which spread to Britain through trade. Despite the strict measures taken by health agencies, the outbreak is still spreading through the city like wildfire.
In Western literature, the writer's interpretation of the plague can be roughly divided into two types. First, the plague is seen as a punishment, and it is God who is using the plague to punish sinners. This interpretation can be traced back to Homeric epics and plays of ancient Greece, and the plague in King Oedipus is a typical example of God's punishment. Oedipus unknowingly killed his father and mother, violating the heavens, so the plague raged in his country. As Susan Sontag said in The Metaphor of Disease, in the past people used metaphors to interpret disease because people did not understand the nature of disease, so many motivational imaginations about disease were generated. In later Christian writings, this interpretation became more prevalent: plague was widely used to strengthen morality, condemn evil, and promote good deeds. During the Christian period, the plague was given moral, political, and religious significance.
Another literary interpretation of the plague is to see it as a warning to all of humanity. The 17th-century English poet John Donne's No Man is an Island is a classic example of this interpretation. Although this work is not a poem, but an excerpt from a sermon, it embodies most of the characteristics of the "metaphysical poetry" that Dunn represents. Hemingway once borrowed the famous phrase "For whom the death knell tolls" as the title of the novel, making it famous. If it is read as a poem, its core content is "human beings are continents, and individuals are isolated islands." He uses this metaphor to suggest that no one can exist independently like an island, that all life is intimately linked, as a whole as a continent.
What is emphasized in the work is solidarity: when we are threatened by terrible diseases, we are to strengthen ourselves with a larger collective, and human nature unites us. In other words, precisely because we are a whole, a man's death is not just his own death, but the death of a part of the whole. Dunn said: "The death of any one person weakens me because I am closely related to the whole of humanity. From this point of view, the poem shows that we are a whole that shares the same destiny. At a time when death has become a daily phenomenon during the pandemic, Dunn's emphasis on human solidarity is clearly a comfort to people who have lost loved ones. So Dunn said, "Don't ask who the death knell is for, it's for you." "Or rather, it rings for all of us.
Dunn's interpretation of the plague can be said to be a manifestation of a "sense of solidarity" or "collective consciousness," both of which are widespread in our poetry about COVID-19 today. They focus on the following aspects: 1) facing the threat of COVID-19 together; 2) maintaining social distancing and maintaining lockdown measures; and 3) passing on kindness and calling for selfless dedication. Among these poets were famous poets and professional poets, but more often ordinary people. They come from English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and also from other English-speaking countries such as India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Nigeria, etc. They may not usually write poetry, but the disaster of the epidemic has stimulated their imagination, making them feel and feel it. In a sense, these ordinary popular poets may be more representative of the feelings of the overseas public.
Second, the virus stirs up "surges of sympathy"
First, many poems see covid-19 as an "invasion" of a deadly virus, while fighting the pandemic as a "war" with this invisible killer. In his poem "Keep Safe," the English poet John P. Read warns people not to shake hands because this simple act can spread a deadly virus. "Just the simple touch of a hand / We are contaminated and injured." In his view, "our world is at war / although the enemy is invisible". He called on people to wash their hands and be hygienic, because "hygiene is our only protection." The war metaphor used here is to illustrate the severity of the epidemic and the arduousness of the fight against it. It calls on people to unite to win this war.
Doctor poet Elizabeth Mitchell's poem "Apocalypse" likens the fight against COVID-19 to what the Bible describes as the "final showdown." In the poem, a doctor prepares to fight this terrible disease by tying her yellow medical coat from behind and tucking her long hair all over her nurse's hat. Like a warrior about to fight a demon, she put on goggles that protect her mouth, nose, and eyes and went to the hospital. The opponent in this life-and-death battle is not Satan the Devil, but a more deadly opponent: bacteria. It is subtle, lurking on handles or sinks, and "waiting for an opportunity to invade our unsuspecting hands, mouths, and eyes."
Indian teacher poet Anne V.M. (Annie V.M.) likens the new colonizer to the new colonizer, because the novel corona and the novel colonizer in English are consonants. In "To the Neocolons," she says, the coronavirus is a vampire that "restricts our movements, takes away our jobs, hurts our throats, and turns some of us to ashes." For once colonized India, the cruelty of the colonizers may still be fresh in the memory. Another Indian teacher poet, J. Gina M. Jerlin Jeena even likened the onslaught of COVID-19 to an alien invasion. In Stellar Corona, she says the virus is "invading our country" and that its indiscriminate attacks "make no distinction between rank, creed, religion, rich and poor." People can't go to church, they can't go to school, they can't go to nine to five, they can't take public transportation, they can't travel, they can't fly, and so on, and there is still no safety guarantee.
Although the new crown virus comes from nature, people still have not figured out its source and host, and its transmission mechanism and mutation mechanism are still confused. As Sontag said in The Metaphor of Disease, in the face of these unknowns, people's imaginations are activated and released. Is it the wrath of God? Is it a punishment for humanity? Many COVID-19-themed poems ask such questions. From the titles of these poems alone, we can see their "metaphorical" interpretation of COVID-19. Is the epidemic the "wrath of the crown" or the "Trojan horse" of God? It is "both evil and sacred", whether it is "retribution or revenge", "gift or curse". More poets see it as "nature's revenge" because human actions have fed "Mother Earth enough" and humans "should hear the call of nature." Some people even write to the coronavirus, telling it that it is "unwelcome.".
Although the origin of the new crown virus is unclear, it can be said that it is certainly an "egalitarian", its attacks do not distinguish between race, class, gender and age, and it indiscriminately attacks everyone. Or rather, we humans face a common threat that we should face together, because as long as the last patient is not cured, COVID-19 will not disappear. This is a war between humanity and a common enemy, and this is the "sense of unity" and "collective consciousness" that the COVID-19 pandemic evokes in the hearts of poets.
In her poem "The Almost Apocalypse," the American poet Marsha Warren Mittman said that COVID-19, while disastrous, has also brought positive changes to the world. It unleashes a "surge of sympathy" in people's hearts, and a new spirit of cooperation, assistance and love. "People are on their wings," she said, "and they are united/helping each other, setting an example/inspiring spirit, offering hope." In this poem, COVID-19 is not so much a disaster as it is a clarion call to awaken "the inner goodness of each of us." It has changed the world dramatically, even "almost apocalypse." The poet argues that the pandemic is not "dividing us" or "destroying the planet," but connecting us more closely.
Third, collective consciousness dispels the darkness of reality
Perhaps the most significant change the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to people's lives is "social distancing". The Australian poet Glen Phillips used the embarrassment of men standing in a row when they go to the toilet to illustrate the importance of social distancing. In the poem "Social Distance," he expresses his admiration for the poets of the past who retreated into the mountains and forests, and longed to return to the paradise of nature, thus realizing the ideal of solitude. But ironically, when people are asked not to gather, not to move around, not to go to restaurants, not to go to bars, when the pandemic suddenly stops socializing, they begin to realize how important society and community are to them.
The poem "The First Lines of Emails Received While Quarantining," by the American poet Jessica Salfia, brings together several emails she received that showed: "A lot of people are struggling." While the title suggests that the poem is a "stitched poem" — made up of the first sentences of different emails, it's actually crafted around people during the pandemic and their living conditions. Life is characterized by distance education, food shortages and claustrophobia. As can be seen from the last point, "remote" creates "claustrophobic". While privacy and solitude used to be so important, isolation and inability to go out during the pandemic is even more intolerable. People have to adapt to this "new normal" on the one hand, and on the other hand, they long to meet again soon.
The American poet Charles Bernstein's "Covidity" also describes the loneliness and pain that isolation causes to individuals. The narrator in the poem wears a large mask and maintains social distancing. He "felt like a loner." What people call social distancing is, for him, "the pain of the soul," and this pain is "too heavy a burden." The word "coronavirus status" does not exist in English, it is a new word created by the author. For him, isolation is the most painful feature of survival under COVID-19. In a state of loneliness and helplessness, the narrator tries to call "you"—"you" seems to be his last reliance and hope in this terrible crisis, but "you" is out of reach because the phone is not connected. The metaphor of the "lone ranger" portrays the narrator as a fugitive who is being hunted down by bad guys. He hid everywhere, "hiding under the covers, hiding in the halls." This fear of being discovered and killed echoes through the poem: "The coronavirus will find me/Sooner or later"—which puts enormous psychological pressure on the narrator and brings him to near collapse. If someone is around to provide support, this lonely narrator may have more strength and courage to fend off fear.
While solitude is important, companionship is an instinctive need that has been amplified and deeply felt during the pandemic. Especially in the time of parting between life and death, companionship is even more indispensable, because death is a more painful isolation. In his poem "Time of Death: 7:19 pm.", the physician poet Craig Spencer documents the death of a patient alone without relatives and friends. Surrounded only by doctors and nurses, and they are still busy rescuing other patients, companionship has become a distant luxury.
But in the poem, the natural compassion and empathy of doctors and nurses is awakened at this time. When "the infusion stopped and the ventilator was turned off," doctors and nurses spontaneously stood around the dying patient. A nurse couldn't help but sob, and someone began to pray. Although "it is not our job," the poet said, we are still "guarding and waiting." They are exercising their responsibilities and obligations on behalf of the patient's family, giving him a last touch of dignity before he dies. It also reminds us of John Dunn's famous quote that the death of one person "weakens" all of us, and that the death knell rings not only for the dying, but for all of us.
Fourth, self-sacrifice worth remembering
In Western political thought, collectivism is considered a feature of Eastern society, and individualism is considered a characteristic of Western society. Therefore, western philosophical debates about "collectivism" often oppose the collective to the individual, thus giving a negative meaning.
However, the West's failure to respond to COVID-19 has prompted a rethinking of "individualism" while also promoting a "collectivist" spirit of self-sacrifice. Simon Armitage's poem "Lockdown" tells the story of the village of Im in central England in 1665 during the Great Plague. The terrible plague spread to the village through cloth purchased by the tailors from London, causing panic among the villagers. Some wanted to flee, but were stopped by the village priest. The pastor said that we should not spread the virus, but should spread kindness. Led by the priest, the entire village began to implement self-isolation, the so-called "blockade". The lockdown has disrupted movement within the village and cut off communication with the outside world. It was because of their self-isolation that they succeeded in keeping the plague within the village and preventing it from spreading to the rest of England, but more than 300 villagers in Iem paid with their lives.
The story has now become a legend in the history of the UK's fight against the epidemic, seen as an example of altruism and self-sacrifice. A couple of lovers in the story can't see each other because they're isolated until the girl comes to the end of her life. The touching stories of the lovers highlight the great suffering experienced by the villagers and the tragic circumstances brought by the plague. But it also highlights the great act of individual self-sacrifice for the sake of the collective.
Armitage did not write the poem to satisfy curiosity, and the poem itself is more than just anecdote. The word "lockdown" was designated as the "word of the year" by many countries in 2020, and the choice of it as the title indicates that the poem is not concerned with history, but with the current epidemic. The global pandemic has indeed had a huge impact on lives, but defeating the pandemic will require us all to come together and work together. When people take to the streets to protest lockdown policies and the emphasis on individual rights, should people also look back at history and learn some lessons? Can we make a little personal sacrifice for the good of the collective? Although this is not a point directly stated in poetry, this layer of meaning is obvious.
Therefore, "collective thinking" is a big-picture thinking, and it is also a real need under the new crown pneumonia epidemic. "Collective consciousness" is a more profound wisdom that means seeing others as part of ourselves, as friends, rather than as threats. "Collective thinking" – if I may call it that – is a way of promoting unity and harmony in the world, embodied in the poetry of John Dunn in the 17th century, and in the poetry of poets such as Simon Armitage and Charles Bernstein in the 21st century. This "collective thinking" is different from the "confrontational thinking" prevalent in Western geopolitics and parliamentary politics. The latter will only amplify differences and divide the world, thus creating a polar confrontation. In a sense, we don't just need "collective thinking" in the face of a massive disaster like COVID-19, we need it all the time.
(Author: Zhang Jian, Professor, Beijing University of Foreign Chinese)