virtually synonymous with “Western”) and Chinese, a feat, he contends
in the introduction to a collection of Zheng’s, that was unprecedented
before Zheng emerged on the poetry scene (Yang 1974: 11). Few
would try to make the case that his poetry is not unique and none can
gainsay his crucial place in Chinese literary history. The sustained
attraction that his work holds can be attributed to the fact that his
verse, particularly of the early period, represents a return to the vivid
imagery reminiscent of traditional Chinese poetry combined with an
adherence to the internal rhyme schemes of modern Western free
verse, tightly crafted yet unregimented prosodic structure. Zheng is
among a distinguished coterie of émigré poets who emerged in Taiwan
in the decade after the War of Resistance, certainly one of its most
important exponents precisely for his enchanting ability to rescue the
lyrical, the melodious, and the musical for modern Chinese verse:
30 Christopher Lupke
Error
I’m coming over from the
Yangtze Valley
That seasonable countenance-
like lotus blossoms ready
to fall
No east wind, the willow catkins
aren’t flying
Your heart is like a tiny,
lonely town
Just like the cobblestone street
approaching evening
Muted footsteps, March’s
spring blinds aren’t opening
Your heart is a tiny, tightly
closed shutter
The clickety clack of my
horse’s hooves is a lovely error
I’m not returning, I’m a
passerby
我打南
在 的 !如#$的%&
東()*, +月的-.)/
012如33的45的6
恰8青:的街道向>
?@)A, +月的春C)D
012E33的F扉HI我達達的KLEMN的
我)EOP, EQR。。。。。。(Zheng [1954] 2003: 8)Although “Error,” so famous it is said to be “seared on everyone’s
lips” T炙PV(Jiao 1999: 289; He 1981: 257), is written neither
according to the regulated idiom of traditional Chinese prosody nor to
established conventions from the Western tradition such as iambic
pentameter with systematic end rhyme as practiced by many poets of
the Republican Era, it nevertheless is mellifluous and resonant. Its