雪花的快乐

Meaning

The poet imagines himself as a snowflake freely dancing in the air, yet not drifting aimlessly—it 'surely knows its direction' and flutters toward the earth. The poem expresses a romantic, idealistic pursuit of love, beauty, and freedom, willing to fly toward its destined end even knowing it may melt.

假如我是一朵雪花，翩翩地在半空中潇洒飘舞，我一定认清我的方向——飞扬，飞扬，飞扬，这地面上有我的方向。

Appreciation

The poem's core art is the 'union of object and self' symbol: the poet does not say 'like' a snowflake but 'if I were' one, erasing the boundary between thing and self. Three repeated 'fluttering' beats like the snow's fall and the heart's pursuit; the echo of 'direction' at start and close makes a ring of lightness enclosing resolve—a rare, bright joy in Xu's work.

【白话串讲】 徐志摩写《雪花的快乐》：“假如我是一朵雪花，翩翩的在半空里潇洒”——“我一定认清我的方向——飞扬，飞扬，飞扬，这地面上有我的方向”——他把自己想成雪花。 【意象与手法】 全诗以「假如」起笔，是典型的虚拟设境；「雪花」是自我人格的化身，「方向」是理想与归宿的象征。三个「飞扬」连用，如雪花飘落的节奏，也如追逐理想的心跳；首尾「方向」呼应，构成回环，轻盈中见执著。 【情感与主旨】 诗人借雪花的自由飞舞，表达对理想（爱情、美、自由）的执著追求——雪花飘落是自由的，而它自愿选择方向、奔赴归宿，正是「明知是幻灭也要追求」的浪漫精神。 【名句点睛】 「我一定认清我的方向——飞扬，飞扬，飞扬」是传诵名句，三个「飞扬」以排比递进，写尽追求之执著，成为现代诗中「追逐理想」的经典意象。

Allusions

In Chinese literature the snowflake is both a symbol of purity ('Yanshan snowflakes as big as mats') and a cold, lonely image ('a lone boat, an old man in straw cape, fishing alone in the cold river snow'); Xu Zhimo gives the snowflake a brand-new meaning—freedom, flight, and joy. The word 'direction' can be traced to the Western Romantic 'toward' image (as in Shelley's 'Ode to the West Wind,' where the west wind drives leaves and seeds, its 'prophetic horn' blowing toward the future); during his years in Britain Xu was deeply influenced by Shelley and Keats, and 'fluttering, fluttering, fluttering' exactly carries the dynamism and passion of the 'Ode to the West Wind.' And the virtual setup 'if I were a snowflake' is also a modern transformation of the Chinese 'entrusting feeling to object'—Qu Yuan used fragrant grass for himself, Lu You used plum blossom for himself, Xu used snowflake for himself, all 'object-self union'; but the snowflake differs from grass or plum in its posture of 'flight'—not standing still but fluttering, exactly matching the May Fourth spirit of pursuing individual liberation and free flight. As for the 'earth' end, it can be read as 'Mother Earth'—the snowflake finally melting into the earth is a symbol of devotion to ideal and love, echoing Gong Zizhen's 'fallen red is not heartless; turns to spring mud to protect the flowers.' Four short stanzas, blending Chinese and Western, are a microcosm of the Crescent's 'Chinese-Western fusion' poetics.

雪花在中国文学中，既是纯净的象征（「燕山雪花大如席」），也是清冷孤寂的意象（「孤舟蓑笠翁，独钓寒江雪」）；徐志摩却赋予雪花全新的意涵——自由、飞扬与快乐。诗中的「方向」一语，可溯源至西方浪漫主义的「朝向」意象（如雪莱《西风颂》中西风驱卷落叶与种子，「预言的喇叭」吹向未来），徐志摩留英期间深受雪莱、济慈影响，「飞扬，飞扬，飞扬」正有《西风颂》般的动势与激情。而「假如我是一朵雪花」的虚拟设境，又是中国诗学「托物言志」的现代转化——屈原以香草喻己，陆游以梅花自况，徐志摩以雪花自喻，皆「物我合一」；但雪花不同香草梅花之处，在其「飞」的姿态——不是静立而是飞扬，这正暗合五四之后追求个性解放、自由飞翔的时代精神。至于「地面」的归宿，又可解为「大地母亲」——雪花最终融化于大地，是献身于理想与爱的象征，与「落红不是无情物，化作春泥更护花」的龚自珍诗意遥相呼应。短短四节，融汇中西，是新月派「中西合璧」诗学的缩影。

Commentary

"The Joy of the Snowflake" is a representative of Xu Zhimo's early poetry and a swan-song of the 'joy theme' in Chinese modern verse, long selected into anthologies and textbooks. Its artistic achievement first lies in 'writing the deep with the light': the whole poem is light as snow, not a heavy word, yet carries the poet's lifelong faith—the pursuit of love, freedom, and beauty; the resolve of 'I would surely know my direction' fused with the joy of 'fluttering' makes this poem a spiritual self-portrait of the idealist. In literary history, this poem is a sample of the New Poetry's 'metrification' exploration: the Crescent advocated 'dancing in fetters,' and Xu here practices the architectural and musical beauty of equal stanzas/lines and returning rhymes (lines two and four rhyming per stanza), providing a model for New Poetry's metrical building; meanwhile its 'if I were' virtual setup and object-self symbol also inspired later modernist poets. Critics often say the poem shows 'resolve within ease, firmness within lightness'—the most perfect poetic expression of Xu's 'simple faith.' When Xu died in a plane crash in 1931 at thirty-four, this poem became an echo of the swan-song—that snowflake having known its direction, ultimately 'fluttered' toward his ideal. Read with 'Saying Farewell to Cambridge Again,' one light one tender, we see the full face of Xu's poetic style.

《雪花的快乐》是徐志摩早期诗歌的代表作，也是中国现代新诗中「快乐主题」的绝唱，历来被选入各种诗集与教材。其艺术成就首先在「以轻写深」：全诗轻盈如雪，没有一个沉重的字眼，却承载了诗人毕生的信仰——爱、自由与美的追求；「我一定认清我的方向」的执著，与「飞扬」的快乐融合，使这首诗成为理想主义者的精神自画像。在文学史上，此诗是新诗「格律化」探索的样本：新月派主张「戴着镣铐跳舞」，徐志摩在此诗中实践等节等行、韵脚回环（每节二、四行押韵）的建筑美与音乐美，为新诗的格律建设提供了范本；同时，其「假如我是」的虚拟设境、物我合一的象征手法，也启迪了后来现代派诗人。评论家多谓此诗「于潇洒中见执着、于轻盈中见坚定」，是徐志摩「单纯信仰」最完美的诗化表达。1931年徐志摩飞机失事，年仅三十四岁，此诗便成绝唱的回响——那朵认清了方向的雪花，终究向着他的理想「飞扬」去了。此诗与《再别康桥》一轻盈一缠绵，合观之，可见徐志摩诗风的全部面貌。

Prosody

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