c i P oe t ry : long s ong ly riC s on ob j eC t s 303chun,” describing the experience of encountering a woman who looks like his be-
loved, Wu writes:
At the inn,
Suddenly I meet a courtesan
Who looks so much like my love—
Especially her wavelike glance!
[WMCCJS, 210–211]We can find descriptions similar to “Fishermen’s lamps scattered reflections in
the spring river where we spent the night” in several song lyrics as well. The recur-
rence of these images in Wu Wenying’s works indicates that they continued to be
poignant and important points of reference throughout his life. When a person is
in a mood for remembering and mourning, it is natural for such images to arise
in his mind. And in such reminiscing, the shifting from one image to another may
occur without following any logical or temporal order. Wu Wenying’s intermin-
gling of temporal and spatial dimensions demonstrates his skill at closely render-
ing his own inner emotional states. The lines in this part of the poem, recounting
how the lovers spent the night together on the river, parallel those at the end of the
second stanza, telling of their meeting. Toward the end of the third stanza, the poet
describes the wretchedness of parting in a straightforward manner. The “ruined
wall” (baibi) most likely refers to the present ruined condition of the wall on which
he had inscribed a poem on parting from his beloved. This concluding strophe
fuses past and present. Just as in the second stanza, this section consists mainly of
clusters of images from past experiences. There are three strophes about pain and
one about joy; this arrangement stands in precise opposition to that found in the
second stanza.
The final stanza focuses on the theme of mourning for the dead and so brings
the entire poem to a close. The first strophe of this stanza strongly parallels the be-
ginning of the poem, where the poet has shut his door to recollect the past. Here,
he ascends into a pavilion to “gaze [pensively] into the distance.” For Wu Wenying,
ascending into a pavilion, leaning against a building, or simply standing still to
gaze mournfully at the setting sun or into the distance is a distinct and recurring
topos. In the song lyric written to the tune “Sanshu mei” (Three Beautiful Women)
are the lines “Standing by the bridge for a long time, / About to leave, tears fill my
face in the setting sun.”30 Another lyric, set to the tune “Yehe hua” (Magnolia Pum-
ila) concludes with the lines:
Upstairs in my old friend’s house,
Who can I be with
to look at the wild grass in the setting sun?
[WMCCJS, 286–287]Again, I would argue that these phrases are not meaningless clichés; rather, they
constitute images from life experience that the poet felt compelled to return to
again and again.