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太阳

The Sun (Taiyang)

艾青

Ai Qing

现代诗Modern Poetry 太阳意象The Image of the Sun 象征Symbol 抗战前夜The Eve of the War of Resistance

从远古的墓茔，从黑暗的年代，从人类死亡之流的那一边，震惊沉睡的山脉，若火轮飞旋于沙丘之上，太阳向我滚来。

From the ancient graves, from the dark ages, from the other side of the stream of the death of mankind,
Startling the sleeping mountain ranges, like a wheel of fire whirling over the dunes, the sun rolls toward me.

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Meaning

Ai Qing's poem written in the spring of 1937, on the eve of the full-scale outbreak of the War of Resistance. 'From the ancient graves, from the dark ages, from the other side of the stream of the death of mankind'—the three 'from' clauses laying out the road of the coming of the sun: from the ancient graves, from the dark ages, from beyond the stream of the death of mankind, the birthplace of the sun pushed open layer on layer, from the concrete graves to the abstract dark ages to the symbolic other side of the stream of the death, the space ever more grand and the meaning ever deeper—the sun is not rootless, it comes from the deepest of the history, from the very end of the death and the suffering, and precisely because of this, it is the hope of the new life. 'Startling the sleeping mountain ranges, like a wheel of fire whirling over the dunes, the sun rolls toward me'—the arrival of the sun: the 'startling' wakes the sleeping mountains, the 'wheel of fire' writes the whirl of the sun over the dunes, and the 'rolls toward me' the sun coming directly toward the self, the personal and the warm contact of the sun and the poet, the hope of the new age rushing toward the awakening poet, the eve of the war of resistance the poet's call for the light and the dawn.

太阳从远古的坟茔中升起，从黑暗的年代里升起，从人类死亡的激流的那一边升起；它震醒了沉睡的山脉，像一轮火轮在沙丘之上飞旋着，太阳正朝着我滚滚而来。

Appreciation

The art of the poem lies first in 'the parallel of the imagery and the force of the verbs.' The whole is only six lines, the first three 'from' clauses laying out the road of the coming of the sun—'from the ancient graves,' 'from the dark ages,' 'from the other side of the stream of the death of mankind': the three 'from' clauses like the three waves, pushing open the birthplace of the sun layer on layer, from the concrete graves to the abstract dark ages to the symbolic other side of the stream of the death, the space ever more grand and the meaning ever deeper. Then 'startling the sleeping mountain ranges, like a wheel of fire whirling over the dunes, the sun rolls toward me' the arrival of the sun: the 'startling' the subject-verb of the waking of the world, the 'wheel of fire whirling' the image of the whirl of the sun, and the 'rolls toward me' the key of the whole poem—the one 'rolls' character writes the power of the coming of the sun with the weight and the speed, and the 'toward me' the personal and the warm contact of the sun and the poet; the 'startling' and the 'rolls' two verbs with the force of the thousand, the coming of the light written to the full.

【白话串讲】艾青写《太阳》：“从远古的墓茔，从黑暗的年代，从人类死亡之流的那一边”——“震惊沉睡的山脉，若火轮飞旋于沙丘之上，太阳向我滚来”——他写太阳的力量与希望。【意象与手法】全诗以「太阳」为核心意象，以「从……从……从……」的排比铺陈其来路，以「震惊」「飞旋」「滚来」三个动词写其威力，由远及近、由静到动，意象层层推进，气势磅礴。诗歌采用自由体，不押韵而以内在节奏行文：三个「从」字句如浪潮连涌，「震惊沉睡的山脉」「若火轮飞旋于沙丘之上」如闪电劈空，「太阳向我滚来」如惊雷落地，一句重过一句。象征与写实交融：太阳既是自然的日轮，更是光明、真理、民族新生的象征。【情感与主旨】此诗写于1937年春，抗日战争全面爆发前夕。在民族存亡的黑暗时刻，艾青以「太阳向我滚来」宣示：光明必将到来，新生必将降临。太阳穿越死亡与黑暗而来，正是民族历经苦难而必获新生的隐喻；「向我滚来」更写出诗人与光明的亲密——个人与民族命运在太阳的照耀下融为一体，充满对未来的热烈信念。【名句点睛】「太阳向我滚来」五字收束全诗，是神来的警句：一个「滚」字，把太阳写得动态十足、声势赫赫，如巨石滚过大地，不可阻挡；「向我」二字，把遥远的光明拉到眼前，仿佛伸手可及。全诗的磅礴气势，尽在这五字的雷霆之音中完成。

Background

Ai Qing (1910–1996), originally named Jiang Zhenghan, styled Haicheng, a native of Jinhua, Zhejiang, one of the most important representative poets of the modern Chinese poetry, with the collections Dayanhe—My Nanny, The North, Toward the Sun, and The Hymn of the Light. In his early years he went to France for the work-study, specializing in the painting, and after his return, in 1932, joined the Chinese Left-Wing Artists' League, and, having been arrested for the progressive activities, began to write poetry in the prison, and in 1933 became famous with 'Dayanhe—My Nanny.' 'The Sun' was written in the spring of 1937, on the eve of the full-scale outbreak of the War of Resistance. At that time the nation was in peril: the northeast had been lost for six years, the crisis of North China was growing ever more acute, and the nation was at the juncture of the life and the death; and in the literary world, part of the poets were immersed in the personal low chant of the aestheticism, and Ai Qing, with his 'The Sun' and 'The Snow Falls on the Land of China,' called for the light and the dawn with the grand imagery of the sun and the snow, the most powerful voice of the poetry of the eve of the war of resistance.

艾青（1910—1996），原名蒋正涵，号海澄，浙江金华人，中国现代诗最重要的代表诗人之一，著有《大堰河——我的保姆》《北方》《向太阳》《光的赞歌》等。他早年赴法国勤工俭学，专攻绘画，归国后于1932年加入中国左翼美术家联盟，因从事进步活动被捕入狱，狱中开始写诗，1933年以《大堰河——我的保姆》一举成名。《太阳》写于1937年春，正值抗日战争全面爆发的前夜。彼时国难当头：东北沦陷已六年，华北危机日益加剧，民族处于生死存亡的关头；而文坛上，一部分诗人沉湎于唯美主义的个人低吟，一部分作家在白色恐怖中消沉彷徨。艾青自狱中出狱不久，辗转上海、武汉等地，目睹山河破碎、民生凋敝，又亲身感受民众抗日的热潮，遂以画笔般的诗笔，写下《太阳》《春》《黎明》等一组「光与火」的诗篇，其中《太阳》收入其第二部诗集《北方》（1939）。诗人自述其时「满怀着对光明的渴望」，在黑暗的年代里，太阳成为他笔下最核心的意象——此后十余年，他陆续写下《向太阳》（1938）、《太阳》（组诗）、《黎明的通知》（1941）等，形成贯穿其创作生涯的「太阳」意象谱系。

Art

The art lies in 'the parallel of the imagery and the force of the verbs': the three 'from' clauses push open the birthplace of the sun layer on layer, and the 'startling' and the 'rolls' two verbs with the force of the thousand write the coming of the light; and the 'toward me' of the close the personal and the warm contact of the sun and the poet, the hope of the new age rushing toward the awakening poet.

此诗的艺术，首在「意象的排比与动词的力度」。全诗仅六行，前三个「从」字句铺陈太阳的来路——「从远古的墓茔」「从黑暗的年代」「从人类死亡之流的那一边」：三个「从」字如三次浪潮，把太阳的诞生之地层层推开，从具体的坟茔到抽象的黑暗年代，再到象征性的死亡之流的彼岸，空间越来越宏大，意蕴越来越深——太阳不是无根的，它来自历史的最深处，来自死亡与苦难的尽头，正因如此，它的升起才具有「拯救」的意味。后三句写太阳的威力：「震惊沉睡的山脉」——一个「震惊」写其声威，沉睡的山脉被震醒，暗示沉睡的民族将被唤醒；「若火轮飞旋于沙丘之上」——以「火轮」喻太阳，以「飞旋」写其动态，炽热而不可阻挡；「太阳向我滚来」——收束全诗，一个「滚」字，把太阳写成滚过大地、直逼人前的庞然巨物，气势磅礴而近在咫尺。全诗由远及近、由静到动、由「从」的排比到「滚来」的收束，如潮水涌岸，一句高过一句，是「以动词立骨」的现代诗典范。

Allusions

The 'sun' is the core image of Ai Qing's poetry and the center of the solar system of his spiritual world. The cultural import of the poem may be understood on three levels. First, the natural sun—Ai Qing studied the painting in his early years and was deeply versed in the light and the color, and the sun under his pen is first the light of the nature: 'the wheel of fire whirling over the dunes' writes the splendid scene of the sunrise over the sea of the sand, the framing of the painting and the real life experience. Second, the symbolic sun—under the pen of Ai Qing, the sun is the symbol of the light, the hope, the new life, and the revolution, and the 'sun' of the eve of the war of resistance is the call of the dawn of the nation. Third, the traditional sun—the sun of the Chinese literature has always been the symbol of the light and the hope, from the 'the sun rises, all the world is bright' of the Book of Songs to the 'the east wind blowing the flowers of the thousand trees' of the Song, and the sun of Ai Qing inherits this tradition and adds the epochal meaning of the eve of the war of resistance.

「太阳」是艾青诗中最核心的意象，也是他精神世界的太阳系中心。此诗的文化意蕴，可从三个层面理解。其一，自然的太阳——艾青早年学画，深谙光与色，他笔下的太阳首先是自然之光：「火轮飞旋于沙丘之上」写出日出沙海的壮丽景象，这是绘画的取景，也是真实的生命体验。其二，象征的太阳——在艾青笔下，太阳始终是光明、真理、希望、新生的象征：「从远古的墓茔」升起，意味着太阳穿透死亡；「从黑暗的年代」升起，意味着光明战胜黑暗；「从人类死亡之流的那一边」升起，意味着新生超越毁灭——太阳成了历史辩证法的化身，从苦难中诞生，向人间滚滚而来。其三，民族的太阳——写于1937年的此诗，其「太阳」更是民族新生的预言：沉睡的山脉是沉睡的祖国，太阳的「震惊」是民族觉醒的号角，「向我滚来」是光明必将降临的信念。艾青这一「太阳」谱系上承五四新诗（郭沫若《太阳礼赞》「哦，我的雄浑的太阳」）的太阳崇拜，下开抗战诗歌的黎明意象（《黎明的通知》「我将给所有期待我的以最慈惠的光辉」），而「太阳向我滚来」的动感与亲昵，正是艾青独有的——光不是高高在上，而是向我滚来，与诗人、与人民血脉相通。

Commentary

'The Sun' is one of the representative works of Ai Qing's eve of the war of resistance, holding an important place both in the poet's creative course and in the history of the modern Chinese poetry. For Ai Qing personally, the poem marks the formal establishment of the lineage of his 'image of the sun': thereafter 'Toward the Sun' (1938) writes in the long-poem form the 'I' running toward the sun, 'The Notice of the Dawn' calls the dawn in the tone of the sun, and the 'Hymn of the Light' of his later years—the image of the sun running through his whole life's creation. In the history of the modern poetry, the poem, with its grand imagery and the force of the verbs, is the most powerful sound of the poetry of the eve of the war of resistance, the call of the dawn of the nation.

《太阳》是艾青抗战前夜的代表作之一，在诗人创作历程与中国现代诗史上都有重要位置。就艾青个人言，此诗标志着他「太阳意象」谱系的正式确立：此后《向太阳》（1938）以长诗形式写「我」奔向太阳、《黎明的通知》以太阳的口吻呼唤黎明，直至晚年《光的赞歌》（1978）把「光」升华为宇宙与人生的本体，——这条「太阳」之河，源头正在此诗「太阳向我滚来」的雷霆一响。就现代诗史言，此诗与郭沫若《太阳礼赞》、田间《给战斗者》等共同构成抗战诗坛「光与火」的传统：以太阳象征民族新生，以「滚来」的动感写出历史的必然，把个人抒情升华为时代预言，是艾青「现实主义与象征主义结合」诗学的示范。就接受史言，「太阳向我滚来」已成为中国现代诗中最著名的警句之一，与《大堰河》的深情、《雪落在中国的土地上》的沉痛并列，构成艾青诗歌「光明与苦难」的双重旋律。此诗入选多种诗歌选本与教材，其意象的磅礴与语言的简洁，至今仍被作为现代诗「意象经营」的典范来研读。

Prosody

Form Free verse (unrhymed, proceeding with the inner rhythm)自由诗（不押韵，以内在节奏行文）

Rhyme Unrhymed; the rhythm is formed by the parallel, the refrain, and the long and the short of the sentence-forms. The first three 'from' clauses are of the same structure with the gradually increasing characters全诗不押韵，以排比、复沓与句式的长短形成节奏。前三个「从」字句结构相同、字数渐增（七字、七字、十二字），如浪潮一波高于一波；「震惊沉睡的山脉」七字，「若火轮飞旋于沙丘之上」十字，长短错落；末句「太阳向我滚来」六字，以短句收束，斩截有力。节奏由排比的绵密推进到短句的雷霆一击。

Tone pattern The three 'from' clauses are heavy, 'startling the sleeping mountain ranges' turns, 'like a wheel of fire whirling' is grand, and 'the sun rolls toward me' is eager—the whole from the graves to the arrival, the coming of the light carried by the rhythm全诗句式以「从……」的介词短语领起，形成统一的推进语气；动词「震惊」「飞旋」「滚来」依次加重，语调由沉郁而激越，最后一句如惊雷落地，戛然而止。标点的运用亦见匠心：三个「从」字句以逗号连缀，一气呵成；末句句号收束，斩钉截铁。

Reading note The parallel and the force of the verbs carry the coming of the sun, the eagerness of the call of the dawn.自由诗的节奏不靠押韵，而靠内在的情感脉动与语言的呼吸，此诗正是范例。开篇三个「从」字句，是三次深沉的呼吸：「从远古的墓茔」七字，音节低缓沉郁，如掘开泥土的暗响；「从黑暗的年代」七字，语势稍扬，如穿越长夜的脚步；「从人类死亡之流的那一边」十二字，句式陡然加长，音节拥挤而沉重，如涉过死亡之河的挣扎——三句由短到长、由缓到急，铺陈的浪潮一浪高过一浪，把太阳的来路写得愈深愈远，读者的期待也被愈吊愈高。继而「震惊沉睡的山脉」七字一顿，语势一振，如曙光初透；「若火轮飞旋于沙丘之上」十字，音节流动，「飞旋」二字轻快，如车轮转动，读来有旋转之感；最后「太阳向我滚来」六字短句，如雷霆落地，戛然而止——前文的绵长铺陈与结尾的短促收束形成巨大反差，越是收得短、收得急，越是掷地有声。全诗六行，先沉郁后激越，先绵长后短促，如弓弦愈拉愈满，最后一箭射出，「滚」字之音在读者耳边久久回荡。艾青自述其诗「受绘画影响，注重节奏与光色」，此诗的节奏正如一幅由暗渐明的油画，色彩（墓茔之黑、火轮之红）与节奏（沉缓、飞旋、滚来）浑然一体。

Line by line

从远古的墓茔，从黑暗的年代，从人类死亡之流的那一边，

From the ancient graves, from the dark ages, from the other side of the stream of the death of mankind, (The three 'from' clauses: the birthplace of the sun pushed open layer on layer, from the concrete graves to the abstract dark ages to the symbolic other side of the stream of the death, the space ever more grand.)

太阳从远古的坟茔中升起，从黑暗的年代里升起，从人类死亡的激流的那一边升起。

From ancient graves, from dark ages, from the far side of the river of human death,

三个「从」字句排比连用，是全诗意象铺陈的基石，写太阳的「来路」。第一个「从远古的墓茔」是具象的起点——墓茔即坟地，太阳竟从坟地升起，死亡之地成了新生之源，意象的张力立即绷紧；第二个「从黑暗的年代」由具体转向抽象——墓茔之外，还有漫长的黑暗年代，压迫、苦难、战争，太阳穿透这一切而来；第三个「从人类死亡之流的那一边」推向象征的极致——「死亡之流」即死亡之河，人类在历史的激流中不断死去，而太阳来自死亡之河的那一边，来自毁灭的彼岸，仿佛历史从死亡中孕育出新生。三句层层推开：从一处坟茔到整个年代，再到人类命运的全程，空间与时间都被撑到最大，太阳的诞生因此具有了历史的纵深与宇宙的规模——它不是天上掉下来的，而是从苦难的尽头、死亡的彼岸升起的，正因如此，它的到来才格外珍贵，也格外不可阻挡。

The graves. From ancient graves, from dark ages, from the far side of the river of human death. The three froms—the graves, the dark ages, the river of death—are the ascent. To have come from the graves would be a coming; the from-ancient-graves-from-dark-ages-from-the-far-side-of-the-river-of-human-death is the coming.

震惊沉睡的山脉，若火轮飞旋于沙丘之上，太阳向我滚来。

Startling the sleeping mountain ranges, like a wheel of fire whirling over the dunes, the sun rolls toward me. (The arrival of the sun: the 'startling' wakes the sleeping mountains, the 'wheel of fire' the whirl of the sun, and the 'rolls toward me' the personal and the warm contact of the sun and the poet.)

它震醒了沉睡的山脉，像一轮火轮在沙丘之上飞旋着，太阳正朝着我滚滚而来。

It startles the sleeping mountains; like a wheel of fire whirling over the dunes, the sun rolls toward me.

三个短句写太阳的「威力」，一句重过一句，是全诗的高潮。「震惊沉睡的山脉」以「震惊」写声威——不是「唤醒」而是「震惊」，如惊雷炸响，沉睡的山脉被猛然震醒；「沉睡」二字暗指麻木的、尚未觉醒的事物，山脉尚能惊醒，何况人乎？「若火轮飞旋于沙丘之上」以比喻写其形——「火轮」状太阳之圆、之炽、之转，「飞旋」状其旋转奔腾之势，沙丘之上，火轮飞旋，一幅红日喷薄于大漠的壮丽画面，如油画般浓烈。最后「太阳向我滚来」收束全诗：一个「滚」字是神笔——太阳不是「升起」「照来」，而是「滚来」，如巨石滚坡，声势赫赫，不可阻挡；「向我」二字，把远在天边的太阳拉到眼前，仿佛下一刻就要扑入怀中。全诗的磅礴气势在五字中完成，光明不再是遥不可及的希望，而是滚滚而来的现实——这是诗人对民族新生的预言，也是他对光明的拥抱。

The rolling. It startles the sleeping mountains; like a wheel of fire whirling over the dunes, the sun rolls toward me. The startled sleeping mountains and the fire-wheel over dunes and the rolling-toward-me sun are the climax. To have rolled toward me would be a rolling; the it-startles-the-sleeping-mountains-like-a-wheel-of-fire-whirling-over-the-dunes-the-sun-rolls-toward-me is the rolling.

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Word focus

墓茔 The graves. The word of the origin: 'from the ancient graves'—the ancient graves, the first of the birthplace of the sun, the death and the history from which the sun rises. 「从远古的墓茔」之「墓茔」，是开篇第一个意象词，也是全诗张力之源。「墓茔」即坟墓，茔为坟地，二字连用，音节沉重，意象阴冷——太阳竟从坟墓中升起，这不合常理的组合，正是艾青「意象的碰撞」手法：把「太阳」（至光明）与「墓茔」（至黑暗）强行并置，在碰撞中爆发出震撼力。其深意有二：其一，从历史言——人类文明的太阳（光明、真理、新生）从来不是凭空出现的，它诞生于死亡与废墟之上，是无数牺牲者用生命奠基的；其二，从当下言——1937年的中国，东北沦陷、生灵涂炭，民族正处在「墓茔」般的黑暗里，而太阳正是从这黑暗中升起的——死亡的尽头就是新生。若易为「从远古的山谷」「从远古的天边」，则诗意荡然；唯「墓茔」二字，以最阴沉的意象托起最光明的太阳，全诗的辩证力量由此而生。

滚 To roll. The key of the whole poem: 'the sun rolls toward me'—the one 'rolls' character writes the power of the coming of the sun with the weight and the speed, and the 'toward me' the personal and the warm contact of the sun and the poet. 「太阳向我滚来」之「滚」字，是现代诗中最著名的动词之一，也是全诗的诗眼。「滚」本指物体旋转着移动，多用于体积庞大、力量沉重的物体——巨石滚落、车轮滚过。艾青以此写太阳，三重妙处：其一，写形——太阳是圆的，升起时如轮旋转，「滚」正是其动态的写真；其二，写势——「滚来」不是「照来」「升来」，而是带着碾压一切的声势滚过来，如历史的车轮、如决堤的洪流，不可阻挡、不可抗拒；其三，写亲——「向我滚来」，太阳滚向的不是山、不是海，而是「我」——诗人与太阳之间，不是仰望与俯视，而是迎面而来的相遇，光明与个人血脉相通。此字与「火轮飞旋」的「飞旋」呼应：太阳先在天边飞旋，再向我滚滚而来，由远及近，动态贯穿全诗。「滚」字一出，全诗的磅礴气势喷薄而出，成为艾青「太阳」意象的图腾符号，后人多有仿效（如「太阳向我滚来」的句式），而终无出其右者。

震惊 To startle. The word of the awakening: 'startling the sleeping mountain ranges'—the waking of the sleeping world by the sun, the force of the coming of the light, the 'startling' the subject-verb of the awakening. 「震惊沉睡的山脉」之「震惊」，是写太阳声威的动词，其妙在「震」与「惊」的组合。「震」是物理的——雷霆震动、地动山摇，太阳升起的光芒与热力如雷贯地，把山脉震得发颤；「惊」是心理的——被震之物猛然惊醒，从沉睡中回过神来。二字连用，既是外力的震撼，又是内醒的惊觉：太阳以排山倒海之势惊醒了沉睡的一切。而「沉睡的山脉」四字尤为深婉：山脉本无所谓睡醒，艾青以「沉睡」写其麻木、沉寂、未醒之态——这是写自然，更是写人：沉睡的山脉是沉睡的祖国、麻木的人民、尚未觉醒的民族。太阳的「震惊」，正是民族觉醒的号角——当太阳滚来，沉睡的一切都将被惊起。一个动词，把自然景象与时代寓言熔铸一体，可见艾青炼词之深：他不满足于写「太阳升起」，而要写太阳如惊雷般「震惊」世界，这正是象征主义诗人「以词造境」的本领。

太阳