Postal kisses
Author: Liu Dabai
It's not that I can't tear it with my fingers.
It's not that I can't cut it with scissors.
Just slowly
Gently
Very carefully picked out the purple letter lips;
I know that inside this letter lip,
Hide her secret kiss.
From the solemn fold of her bottom,
I put that pink letterhead,
Very solemnly unfolded.
I wrote her very solemnly,
Word by word, line by line,
Line by line, word for word
Read it very solemnly.
I don't love that corner of the vague stamp,
I don't love that delicate pattern,
Very carefully lifted the green postflower;
I know what's behind this postflower,
May 2, 1923, in Shaoxing
(Originally published in the Republic of China Daily, May 27, 1923, Enlightenment,
Excerpt from "Postal Kiss", published by Enlightened Bookstore in December 1926)
Appreciation:
The poem chooses letterhead as a keepsake of the chant, and the letterhead is used as a medium for conveying information and a keepsake of love throughout the poem. The poem does not directly express those sweet whispers, nor does it describe the thoughts caused by seeing the letter, but adopts the method of side description, does not write the content of the letter, and leaves it to the reader's imagination. The poet strives to show the poet's complex and sensitive emotional world through the detailed actions of opening letters, exhibiting letters, and reading letters. The poet's mentality is presented by a series of typical movements, which in turn are expressed through individual verbs. For example, "tearing" and "dissecting", the negation of these two actions, highlight the poet's cherishing and caressing of the letterhead with the meaning of the symbol of love. Corresponding to "tearing" and "sectioning" is a "picking" action. This gentle provocation doubles this cherished feeling. The action of reading the letterhead reflects a solemnity and piety for love; and the action of "revealing" the post-flower sets off the desire to explore the secret of love.
In terms of structure, the poet uses overlapping chapter and sentence arrangements and slowing down the rhythm to match the main line of emotional development, such as the overlap of "not" sentences and the echoes of the first and third verses, all aimed at prolonging emotions to achieve the purpose of emphasis. Another example is "slowly" and "gently" forming a gentle and harmonious auditory effect on the syllables, and at the same time cutting it into two sentences, which strengthens and prolongs the feeling effect of gentle harmony in hearing and vision to render the persistence and depth of love; a series of overlapping repetitions of "solemnly" and "word by word and line" are again expressing a sense of the sacredness of love; in addition, like "not... Just", "I know..." The repeated use of sentences is also very powerful for expressing euphemisms and twists of mental activity. Through these foreshadowings, the emotion of love is pushed to a climax one at a time: the reason why she is so careful and cautious is because the letter "hides her secret kiss."
Poet Profile:
Liu Dabai (1880-1932), Chinese poet, originally known as Jin Qingtang, later changed his surname to Liu, name Jing, the character Dabai, alias Baiwu. People from Shaoxing, Zhejiang. He is a good friend of Mr. Lu Xun, a famous modern poet and literary historian.
He traveled east to Japan and south to Indonesia to accept advanced ideas. He has taught in Zhuji Provincial Middle School, Zhejiang First Normal School, and Shanghai Fudan University for more than ten years. In 1919, he was hired by Heng Yi to reform the education of the Chinese first division in Zhejiang with Chen Wangdao, Xia Junzun and Li Cijiu, and became known as the "Four Great Kongs". Later, he served as secretary of the Ministry of Education, executive secretary, and secretary of the Central Political Conference. In the 1920s, he visited and lectured at the school.
In 1925, he wrote lyrics for the school song of Fudan University. The lyrics of fudan school song are between literary and vernacular, and they have the advantages of both, and have been sung by Fudan teachers and students to this day.