Poetry
Red Candle
紅燭
Wen Yiduo · 1923
Synopsis
The collection brings together one hundred and three poems: an opening piece that gives the book its title, in which the red candle represents, according to China Daily, a youth that perseveres towards the light, then five sections, Li Bai, Rainy Night, Youth, Lone Goose and Red Bean Seeds. The first were written at Tsinghua, the last two in the United States. It includes a Song of the Sun and a Memory of the Chrysanthemum, in which the poet wishes to praise the flower of his homeland, as well as a Sword Case that had remained unpublished until then.
Context
The collection appeared in September 1923 from Taidong, in Shanghai, through the good offices of Guo Moruo, while the author was studying art in the United States. Wen Yiduo had designed the cover and planned illustrations, which he had to give up for lack of money: the book appeared under a blue, white and red cover, with a calligraphed title. According to Renditions, in 1928 he brought together in a second collection most of the poems written since his return. A selection of his poems appeared in English in London in 1972, under the title of the first collection.
Who it is for
One hundred and three poems in six sections, to be read in the order they were written, from Tsinghua to the United States.
Prizes and reception
First book of a poet who later defended, with the Crescent Moon group, a poetry attentive to form.
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