GU Cheng: Two Poems

Two Poems by GU Cheng 顾城诗二首

　　　Experiment
　　　　　　　by GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
That woman is walking on a lawn
Her skirt lies by the feet
All her life she has been walking in blueness and ink

All her life she has been watching in a chemical classroom
Watching the lightning spurting out purple stamina and soaking stone slabs
All her life she has been watching the grey shadows on the grey floor blocks

The senescent have shattered the French windows of the night

She smiles as the glass panes fall
And together with someone or another
She disperses life around

Once she lit the flame of a boy


　　　　试验
　　　　　　　顾城
那个女人在草场上走着
脚边是短裙
她一生都在澄蓝和墨水中行走

她一生都在看化学教室
闪电吐出的紫色花蕊，淋湿的石块
她一生都在看灰楼板上灰色的影子

更年长者打碎了夜晚的长窗

在玻璃落下去的时候，她笑
和这个人或那个人
把生活分布在四周
　
她点燃过男孩的火焰


　　　Source
　　　　　　　by GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
The stairsteps of a springlet
On an iron chain the forest horse ambles along

All my flowers emerge from dreams

My flame
The bluish green of the sea
The strongest soldier in the clear sky

All my dreams emerge from water

The chain with link after link of sunshine
The air that wooden boxes bring in
The poses that fish and birds assume

And I whisper your name


　　来源
　　　　　　顾城
泉水的台阶
铁链上轻轻走过森林之马

我所有的花，都从梦里出来

我的火焰
大海的青色
晴空中最强的兵

我所有的梦，都从水里出来

一节节阳光的铁链
木盒带来的空气
鱼和鸟的姿势
　
我低声说了声你的名字

GU Cheng 2 Poems

GU Cheng 2 Poems


　　　　Sepulcher
　　　　　　　　　By GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
I know unstoppable disappearing has arrived and I have no grief
In the pine woods my wish is laid
The sea lies below and from a distance it looks like a water pool
Close behind me the afternoon sunshine inches along

Man’s time has drawn to an end but human world still drags on
I am caught in between and should take a rest
Passers-by say the boughs bend low
Passers-by say the boughs still grow


　　墓床
　　　　　顾城(1956-1993)

我知道永逝降临，并不悲伤
松林中安放着我的愿望
下边有海，远看像水池
一点点跟我的是下午的阳光

人时已尽，人世很长
我在中间应当休息
走过的人说树枝低了
走过的人说树枝在长



　　Melting Point
　　　　　　　by GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua

Sunshine at a certain altitude keeps men warm
Coins surge and subside
They will drown those dreams

Despondent bricks of orange color

Not a single flower can float forever off the ground
Not one hand Not any boat
Not any sound of a brook

Not a single bird can escape from daylight

Just as no one can avoid
Oneself
Or darkness



　　熔点
　　　　　顾城(1956-1993)

阳光在一定高度使人温暖
起起伏伏的钱币
将淹没那些梦幻

桔红色苦闷的砖

没有一朵花能在土地上永远漂浮
没有一只手，一只船
一种泉水的声音

没有一只鸟能躲过白天

正像，没有一个人能避免
自己
避免黑暗

GU Cheng in Amsterdam (June 1992) with lines from his poem on the truck

GU Cheng (1956-1993) was one of the key figures in the Misty poetry, a kind of new poetry with a strong sense of modernism as the Mao-Era was drawing to its end. He was an influectial figure during his life, and his murder of his wife led to a national debate about whether a poet could have a "poetic licence" to kill (an article about his days in Waiheke island in New Zealand). More details about his life can be found in a previous posting.

GU Cheng: 7 Short Early Poems

GU Cheng 7 Short Early Poems
顾城早期短诗七首

　Far and Close
　　　　　　GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
You
Look at me for a while
Look at clouds for a while

I feel you
So far away when you look at me
So close when you look at clouds
　　　　　(1980)

　　远和近

你
一会看我
一会看云

我觉得
你看我时很远
你看云时很近
　　　　　1980年


　　A Generation
　　　　　　GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
Dark night gives me dark eyes
And I use them to search for light
　　　　　(1979)

　　一代人
黑夜给了我黑色的眼睛
我却用它寻找光明
　　　　　1979年


　A Walk in the Rain
　　　　　　GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
Clouds, gray upon gray
Cannot be washed clean
We open our umbrella
Instantly spreading darkness over the sky

Beneath this slow floating night
Two pairs of double stars
Appear to have no fixed orbits
Now close by, now apart
　　　　　　　(1980)

　　雨行
云　灰灰的
再也洗不干净
我们打开雨伞
索性涂黑了天空

在缓缓飘动的夜里
有两对双星
似乎没有定轨
只是时远时近
　　　　　1980年

　　Arcs
　　　　　　GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
Birds in strong wind
Suddenly turn directions

A kid bends
To pick up a coin

Vines extend their antennae
Of filament, to touch fantasy

Sea waves ebb
And arc up their ridges
　　　　　(1980)

　　弧线


鸟儿在疾风中
迅速转向

少年去捡拾
一枚分币

葡萄藤因幻想
而延伸的触丝

海浪因退缩
而耸起的脊背
　　　　　1980年


　A Small Alley
　　　　　　GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
A Small alley
Winding and long

No doors
No windows

I hold an old key
Tapping the thick wall
　　　　　(1980)

　　小巷
小巷
又弯又长

没有门
没有窗

我拿把旧钥匙
敲着厚厚的墙
　　　　　1980年


　A Snap
　　　　　　GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
Sunrays
After a flash in the sky
Are buried again by clouds

Storm develop
The negative of my soul
　　　　　(1979)

　摄


阳光
在天上一闪
又被乌云埋掩

暴雨冲洗着
我灵魂的底片
　　　　　1979年

　Awakening
　　　　　　GU Cheng (1956-1993)　tr. Fan Jinghua
Gum from trees
Slow teardrops dripping
Glue together the shards of my heart

What locks us in love
Is not the joy in an orgy
But the pain we share

　　悟
树胶般
缓缓流下的泪
粘和了心的碎片

使我们相恋的
是共同的痛苦
而不是狂欢

　　　　　　GU Cheng and his wife XIE Ye in New Zealand home

　　GU Cheng (1956-1993) was one of the five key figures in the Misty poetry with Bei Dao, Duo Duo, YANG Lian and SHU Ting. While Bei Dao yelled “I DO NOT BELIEVE” at the end of Mao-Era, GU spoke with a quiet but determined voice in his most applauded two-line poem “A Generation” (written in 1979). GU was the son of a privileged arm-poet GU Gong, and he spent four years in the remote countryside during the Cultural Revolution when he began writing poetry. Then he became increasingly experimental, and produced the first most representative “Misty” poems (meaning “obscure” and “ambiguous” compared with the outcry propaganda poetry before or during the time). I first listened to his reading in 1985 and bought there a small signed book by him and SHU Ting (published in 1982). Among his poems, I loved such poems as “Arcs,” “A Walk in the Rain” and “A Small Alley,” different from almost all the poems I could get access to at that time. Later, he became increasingly disillusioned with everyday mundane life, and moved to New Zealand, staying at a small island. He did not speak English, almost unable to survive without his wife. However, he believed that he was desperately in love with another woman LI Ying, and his wife managed to immigrate LI to their home, where the three tried to live under one roof. Later, Li Ying left. He hanged himself after axing his wife to death on Oct. 8, 1993. His posthumous book Ying’er was a record of his life there. GU’s published books include Black Eyes (1986), Collected Poems (1995), Complete Poems (1998) etc.
顾城（1956-1993），出版的诗集包括有《黑眼睛》（1986）、《顾城诗全编》（1995）、《顾城的诗》（1998）等。

第一次听到顾城的朗诵，应该是1985年吧。那时候我在北师大，记得是在教七的阶梯教室。秋天。当时最流行风衣，通常是米黄色的，到小腿肚之下，但顾城穿的风衣比一般人的或者说是市面上常见的要短一些，到膝盖上一点，有点本白色带一点浅浅的淡蓝色。他开始讲座，说他记得的最早的诗歌经验是在幼儿园。一天早晨，他隔壁床上的男孩对他说，他昨夜没有睡着，因为他看到了窗外很大很圆很亮的月亮。于是，他就知道夜里不睡会看到很美的东西。听他这么说，当时还觉得他很假兮兮的。不过，他真的给人一种很纯净的感觉。因此，对于他后来的行为似乎没有感到多么意外。那天，买了他和舒婷共同出的一本小册子诗集《舒婷顾城抒情诗选》，出版于1982年。