Ai Qing Selected Poems (EN)
Translated by Robert Dorsett
Ai Qing Schnee fällt aus Chinas Erde Gedichte (DE)
Aus dem Chinesischen übertragen, kommentiert und mit einem Nachwort versehen von Susanne Hornfeck
Ai Qing (1910- 1999)
Ai Qing is a Chinese poet that I respect, but his writing style is not necessarily my favourite. There are still some of his poems that I really like. I am going to introduce his poems alongside his life stages.
1929-1932 He studied in Paris, where he started to write poems.
1932 He went back to China. Shortly after, he went to jail due to seditious activities. Here he wrote “Dayanhe- My Wet Nurse” that made reputation. Released from jail in 1935.
1937 Expanded Japan invasion forced Ai Qing and his family moved to the North of China. The poems that written during the years have unique scenery, painted with coldness and melancholy. The representative work – “Snow falls on China’s Land” , excerpt:
Snow falls on China’s land;
Cold blockades China …
I write on a night, without the glimmer of light,
This powerless poem.
Can it give you warmth?
December 1937
1941/1945 The scholars could not agree with the year when Ai Qing joined the communist party. His hope for a new China through a new government was reflected in his poems like “The Sun’s Words”. As the years went by, the freedom of speech was threatened, or he had been mistaken, or both led to a penalty. Between the year 1957 – 1979 he exiled to the north and forbidden to write.
1979 His penalty lifted. After 22 years, to me, his rebirth poem is a gem. Tranquil, serene, shimmering without bitterness after has suffered all these injustice treatments. In this poem “Tiger Cowry”, my favourite poem that brought me to tears. He sketch lightly about his exile with “despair’s sea”, and wrapped up with a thankful heart. He was thankful for “a chance wave” that brought him into sunlight again. Indeed, many poets at that time never have that chance again.
“On a Chilean cape” – To Pablo Neruda
This is another Ai Qing’s poem that I hope to introduce to you but it was not translated and collected in this book.
Pablo Neruda (1904 – 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and was awarded with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Neruda visited China in year 1951 and in year 1957. Ai Qing visited Chile in year 1954. The two poets understood each other very well and went on become as close as brother. The poem “On a Chilean cape” – To Pablo Neruda was an expression of meeting friends through poetry and shared opinions.
Ai Qing’s biography
Only in German version, there is an epilogue written by the translator Susanne Hornfeck, she introduced the biography of Ai Qing. Her thoughts on Ai Qing is definitely worth to read.
“Mountain Spring”
Ai Qing’s poem that I never knew but totally love it.
In correspondence to the poem, there is also an Ai Qing’s quote about Singing. Which I would end this post with the words:
I live: I sing…
Whenever in the heart’s core lies torment, hatred, passion, indignation, or grievance – don’t hold it back.
Ich lebe, also singe ich …Haben sich im Herzen Schmerz, Haas, Leidenschaft, Empörung oder Unrecht angesammelt – bleibe nicht stumm.
Ai Qing