1 Poem by A Long

No Title

Do not tread on dew —

Because someone wept in the night….

Oh, my dear one, I remember extremely clear,

I read hymns for you in the dawning light.

But do not pray for me this way, please don’t!

I’m guiltless, I will go to see God with this body of yours naked.

……

But do not count the space between one star and another,

Do not use light year; use gravity, or the flashlight.

Do bloom into a white flower —

Because I will claim like this: We are guiltless, and then we

    Fade.

                                  In my little room, Sept., 9, 1944

About the author:

A Long (1902—1967), originally named Chen Shoumei, his pennames S.M. Yi Men, etc. was a native of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. In his youth, he went to Shnaghai Gongzhuan University and Kuomintang’s “Central Military School” (the tenth session). He went to Yan’an in 1939. In 1946, he edited a magazine of literature and art Breath in Chengdu. After 1949, he was the director of the editorial department of Tianjin Writers’ Association. He was one of the major theoreticians of the “July” Poetic School, and was sentenced ten years of imprisonment because of Hu Feng Event in 1955. He died of disease in March, 1967. His major works include The Stringless Lute, No Title (collections of poems), People and Poetry, Poetry and Reality (three volumes) and What Is Poetry (monographs of poetics).

                                                             (Tr. by Yang Xu)

[The editor's note:: the above work is selected from 300 New Chinese Poems (1917-2012), a Chinese-English college reader published by Poetry Pacific Press in October 2013.]

阿垅

             无题

不要踏着露水——

因为有过人夜哭。……

哦，我的人啊，我记得极清楚，

在白鱼烛光里为你读过《雅歌》。

但是不要这样为我祷告，不要！

我无罪，我会赤裸着你这身体去见上帝。

……

但是不要计算星和星间的空间吧，

不要用光年，用万有引力，用相照的光。

要开着一支白色花——

因为我要这样宣告，我们无罪，然后我们

凋谢。

                                  1944年9月9日  蜗居

作者简介：

  阿垅（1902—1967），原名陈守梅，笔名S.M、亦门等。浙江杭州市人。青年时期，曾考入上海工专大学和国民党“中央军校”第十期。1939年赴延安。1946年在成都编辑文艺刊物《呼吸》。1949年后，任天津作家协会编辑部主任。“七月”诗派的主要理论家之一，1955年因胡风事件被判刑十年。1967年3月病逝。主要作品有：诗集《无弦琴》、《无题》，诗学论著《人和诗》、《诗与现实》（三卷）、《诗是什么》等。