Dú Chang
我是誰
wǒshì shuí
我是瀑布的孤魂
wǒshì pù bù de gūhún
一首永久離群索居的
yí shǒu yǒng jiǔ lí qún suǒ jū de
詩
shī
我的漂泊的歌聲是夢的
wǒ de piāobó de gēs hēng shì mèng de
游蹤
wóu zōng
我的唯一的聽眾
wǒ de wéi yīde tīng zhòng
是沉寂
shì chénjì
Glossary
|
CHARACTER
|
PINYIN
|
DEFINITION
|
POSSIBLE SYNONYMS
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 唱 | chàng (v.) | make music with voice | sing, croon, chant |
| 沉寂 | chénjì (n.) | quietness, not speaking | silence, stillness, peace |
| 的 | de (prep.) | indicates possessive | of |
| 獨 | dú (adj.) | without the help or company of others | alone, unaccompanied |
| 歌聲 | gēs hēng (n.) | set of words sung | song |
| 孤 | gū(adj.) | remote, alone or lonely | solitary, forlorn, lost |
| 魂 | hún (n.) | spirit remaining after death | ghost, spirit, soul |
| 居的 | jū de (intrans. v.) | reside | live in, dwell in, inhabit |
| 離 | lí (prep.) | regardless, contrary to | apart from, despite, away from |
| 夢 | mèng (n.) | sequence of mental images during sleep | dream, vision |
| 漂泊 | piāobó (v.) | to be carried along | drift, wander, glide, coast |
| 瀑布 | pù bù (n.) | river water falling over steep place | waterfalls, falls |
| 群 | qún (n.) | people gathered together | crowd, mass, throng, multitude |
| 詩 | shī(n.) | piece of written verse | poem |
| 是 | shì (v.) | conjugations of verb to be | is, am, was |
| 誰 | shuí (pron.) | introduces question | who |
| 首 | shǒu (adj.) | before the rest in order | first, initial, primary |
| 索 | suǒ(adj.) | remote | isolated, alone, inaccessible |
| 聽眾 | tīng zhòng (n.) | people watching performance | audience, spectators, viewers |
| 唯一 | wéi yī(adv.) | solely, indicating condition | only, merely, simply |
| 我 | wǒ(pron.) | first person singular | I, me, myself |
| 我的 | wǒ de (adj.) | belonging to me | my |
| 游蹤 | wóu zōng (n.) | trip somewhere | journeys, voyages, passages |
| 一 | yí (indef. art.) | indicates type | a, one, single |
| 永久 | yǒng jiǔ(adv.) | for all time | forever, eternally, evermore |
Background
Poetic Form
Free verse is a literary device that can be defined as poetry that is free from limitations of regular meter or rhythm and does not rhyme with fixed forms. Such poems are without rhythms and rhyme schemes; do not follow regular rhyme scheme rules and still provide artistic expression. In this way, the poet can give his own shape to a poem how he/she desires. However, it still allows poets to use alliteration, rhyme, cadences or rhythms to get the effects that they consider are suitable for the piece.
Bio
Born in Hunan Province in China, Huang Xiang has been writing poetry since 1950 and is considered one of China’s greatest modern poets. In1978, he started an underground writers’ society and a literary magazine, both named Enlightenment. Ten years later he was arrested for his pro-Democracy activities and sentenced to three years in a labor camp. Ultimately, Xiang served twelve years in prison where he spent many hours in solitary confinement. Huang Xiang and his wife have lived in exile in the United States since 1997. He and his family now live in New York. To this day, Xiang’s work remains banned in China.