Description
Book SynopsisA seminal work from the second wave of Chinese modernism. So great is Ya Hsien's influence on younger generations of Taiwanese and Chinese writers that he is sometimes referred to simply as "The Poet." Yet he never wrote a second book after Abyss appeared in an expanded edition in 1971. This single book's variety and virtuosity have made it a modern classic and the poet something of a legend. A new documentary, "Ya Hsien: A Life that Sings," was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2015 Taipei Film Festival. Under the Barber Pole The barbers sing Always it's the same wheat-harvest festival Always an abundance of rye without ears Always it is reaped, reaped On the land of inspiration A small southern path leads to ears of grain And it's also a kind of horticultural school A kind of beauty A kind of agricultural reform A kind of taste for something other than Greek sculpture The barbers sing Ya Hsien's poetry runs the gamut from realism to surrealism, incorporating elements of folksong and modernist poetics, expressing a wide emotional range, and deftly capturing the critical spirit of the times. The sixty poems are divided into seven sections that present differing styles and themes, including "Wartime," "Songs without Music", and "Wild Water Chestnuts." The pen name Ya Hsien (his given name is Wang Ching-Lin) means "mute string." Ya Hsien lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Award-winning translator John Balcom lives in Monterey, California.
Table of ContentsABYSS: Table of Contents Anatomy (prefatory poem) Wild Water Chestnuts: Book1 Spring Days Autumn Song A Woman Ringdove Wild Water Chestnuts Melancholia Song 1980 Funeral Parlor The Snake’s Clothes Under the Barber Pole Dawn Wartime: Book 2 Temple of the Earth God Mountain God War God Beggar Capital City Red Corn Salt Wartime Songs without Music: Book 3 Sensations of the High Seas Voyage of Death Ship-Board Rats A Song without Music Sailors, a Romance Afternoon in a Bar A Night in Kuling Forest Collection of the Broken Columns: Book 4 On the Streets of China Babylon Arabia Jerusalem Greece Rome Paris London Chicago Naples Florence Spain India Profiles: Book 5 Professor C The Sailor The Colonel The Nun Opera Actress The Late Governor of a Province The Circus Clown The Forsaken Woman The Mad Woman Khrushchev Weeds: Book 6 For My Wife For R. G. In Memory of T. H. Burning Incense as an Offering for T. H. For a Surrealist Lips Thinking of a Friend Setting Out from Sensations: Book 7 Setting Out Andante Cantabile Afternoon Spontaneous Nocturne Nocturne So It Is When Night Falls The Courtyard Easter A Common Song Setting Out from Sensations For H. Matisse Abyss Afterword
