The three conditions of vernacular poetry.
Yu Pingbo. Reading paves the way for the future
Reporter's Foot: Since "New Youth" advocated new literature, it has attracted social criticism, and I don't know how much. About half of it is unconscious. Of course, we should believe in what I am and do my best, and we must not be groundless, withdrawn, contemptible, and exactly like you. Among them, the new style of poetry is the most powerful to attract people's opposition. We should also deal with this kind of criticism of society separately. One is a half-informed person, who only knows that the ancient style of law and five words and seven words are considered to be the authentic style of Chinese poetry; The slanting sun and grass, spring flowers and autumn moon, such clichéd words are enough to decorate the façade; When they saw that the poems were made in the vernacular, they became terrified, thinking that the poems could be done so casually, and did not they insult their Doufang and celebrity faction? This kind of person is exactly what Qu Yuan said, "The barking of the Yi dogs is also strange." Why should we learn what they say? There is also a kind of criticism, but a little insight, that they are not fundamentally opposed to vernacular poetry, but they are just attacking it from an organizational point of view. I listened to this kind of comment from society, and I unconsciously aroused my opinion on vernacular poetry. No matter what kind of article, one side is the organization of words, and the other side is the meaning it represents. In general popular articles, you can pay attention to the essence, as long as the words are obvious, all kinds of words can be dispensed with. However, poetry is indeed a kind of literature that expresses a sense of beauty, and although it is mainly realistic, it must also strive for the completeness and beauty of its words. Because the carving is stale and the decoration is fresh. The words are vulgar and can never express noble ideals. This must not be easy. Now I have three random sketches of vernacular poetry for your discussion.
1) The words should be precise, the sentences should be elegant and clean, and the Anzhang should be complete.
This is something that should be paid attention to in all vernacular writing, especially in vernacular poetry. Because if there is no such restriction, what is the value of writing poems according to the tone of each person's voice, and there are dozens of poems a day? If you don't have a sense of beauty, how can you be moving? Writing poetry in the vernacular, giving full play to the beauty of life, although it does not need to be carved, is not the same as speaking directly. This is the first condition for making poetry of art in popular terms.
2) The syllables should be harmonious, but the rhyme at the end of the sentence is not limited.
This is also something that should be paid attention to when doing vernacular poetry. Because poetry is a kind of rhyme, whether it is Chinese or foreign, it is the same. The Chinese Chinese language is monophonic, phonological, and more rigorously analyzed. Although the rhyme is not used at the end of the sentence, the syllables in the sentence must strive for harmony. Isn't it a short piece of prose if you make a poem? How can we see that he is a poet? Those who do vernacular poetry, of course, do not have to dissect the palace business, but for the tone and tone of the voice, it should still be examined, and it must not be read lightly and written casually.
3) The reasoning should be thorough, the expression should be to the point, and the narrative should be flexible.
The first two are both superficial, and this is the essence. Any good essay is not only grammatically constructed. What it represents is the most important. And Shiyou is different from Wen. In the text, those who can speak directly, the poem must be painted as a song; The text can be complicated, and the poem can only be concise. Therefore, the reasoning, expression, and narrative of the poem are deeper than the prose. The words are correct, but the meaning is still the opposite. The words are partial, but the meaning is overshadowed by the whole. This is the same in the vernacular, and it is more difficult to use vernacular poetry. Because if you say too much and are too true, you will lose the face of poetry; It's too inclusive, and I'm afraid of being vague and unclear in meaning. Therefore, vernacular poetry that is truly valuable is much more difficult to do than a masterpiece by a certain student. If you don't have a good intention, you have to don't do it. In the literary world, I don't think he has much, not too much. But if there is a poem, there is a value of a poem, and the person who makes the poem is not in vain. My personal opinion is so, what do you think?
Yu Pingbo, October 16.
It has been four or five months since Yu Jun's letter was sent to me. I wanted to do a "study of vernacular poetry," so I left him with this letter to be published at the same time as my article. Unexpectedly, I went back to the south after the funeral, and for a few months, there was no shadow of my article. I'll have to post this correspondence first. I highly praise the three points that Yu Jun cited. I also have a few more opinions, and I don't have time to add people at this time, so I have to wait until my "study of vernacular poetry".
The two sentences I admire the most in Yu Jun's letter are "carving is stale, decoration is fresh". It's no wonder that these outside critics don't understand this. But we who do vernacular poetry must not forget this truth. Recently, I saw Yu Jun's own poems ("New Tide" No. 2), and I knew that Yu Jun could implement this principle.
March 8 Hu Shi