在干燥的冬天

Meaning

An early poem of Mang Ke, the representative poet of the misty poetry, written during or shortly after his time of settling in Baiyangdian. 'In the dry winter, a withered tree stands in a posture, it has no leaves, and no trace of a bird, only the wind passing through its sparse branches'—the dry winter the harsh environment, the withered tree the subject, the no leaves and no trace of the bird the proof of the withering, and the wind passing through the sparse branches the last interaction of the withered tree with the world. The poem, with the extremely concise imagery, writes the loneliness and the tenacity of the life in the harsh environment: the withered tree standing in a posture in the dry winter, at once the reality of the desolate scene and the symbol of the persistent life, the 'posture' the last dignity of the life in the harsh circumstances. The 'standing' of the tree is the very eye of the whole poem: the tree in the dry winter does not fall but stands, the tenacity and the persistence of the life in the extreme circumstances, the spiritual strength of the generation of the young who were 'sent down' in that age of the disillusion.

在干燥的冬天，一株枯树站成一种姿态，它没有叶子，也没有鸟的踪迹，只有风穿过它稀疏的枝条。

Appreciation

The artistic features of the poem may be analyzed from the three ends of the imagery, the perspective, and the blank-leaving. First, the purity and the conciseness of the imagery: the whole poem has only the six images of the 'winter,' 'withered tree,' 'leaves,' 'bird,' 'wind,' and 'branches,' none redundant, and mutually connected into a whole—the dryness of the winter is the environment, the withered tree is the subject, the no leaves and no bird are the proof of the withering, and the wind passing through the branches is the last interaction of the withered tree with the world, the selection of the images extremely simple and self-sufficient, like an ink-wash painting, a few strokes and the whole mood out. Second, the personified 'standing' and the abstract 'posture': 'a withered tree stands in a posture' is the eye of the whole poem—the 'standing' gives the tree the human posture, the 'posture' abstracts the standing of the tree into a state of the being, the tree at once the thing and the person, the tenacity and the dignity of the life in the harsh circumstances. Third, the blank-leaving: the poem does not say directly the loneliness and the tenacity, but lets the images speak, the blank of the 'only the wind passing through its sparse branches' leaving the endless aftertaste, the meaning beyond the images.

【白话串讲】 芒克写《在干燥的冬天》：“在干燥的冬天，一株枯树站成一种姿态，它没有叶子，也没有鸟的踪迹，只有风穿过它稀疏的枝条”——他写冬天的枯树。 【意象与手法】 此诗是芒克的代表作之一，艺术上最突出的是「意象的纯粹与留白」：全诗只有枯树、风、枝条三个意象，不抒情、不议论、不解释，只以白描的笔触写一个冬日枯树的画面，而孤独、荒凉、坚守、坚韧等复杂意味全在这幅画面中自然呈现；「站成一种姿态」的抽象化表达、「只有风穿过」的转折，使简单的画面具有多重的解读空间，正是朦胧诗「以意象暗示」的典型手法。 【情感与主旨】 主旨是借冬日枯树写生命在严酷环境中的存在状态——「干燥的冬天」是严酷现实的象征，「枯树」是孤独而坚韧的生命象征，它失去了叶子、失去了鸟，只剩下稀疏的枝条任风穿过，却依然「站成一种姿态」；诗中没有哀叹，只有一种冷峻的、近乎倔强的站立，寄寓了诗人（及其一代人）在严酷年代里孤独坚守、不屈不倒的精神。 【名句点睛】 「一株枯树站成一种姿态」以「站」字写枯树，把无生命的植物写得如人般有立场、有姿态，成为现代诗中写「坚守」的著名意象；「只有风穿过它稀疏的枝条」以极简的笔法写尽荒凉中的最后一点动静，余味悠长。

Allusions

The cultural import of the poem is deeply rooted in the image tradition of the 'year-end cold' and the 'withered tree' of the Chinese literature, and carries the symbolic character of the modern poetry. First, the classical lineage of the image of the 'withered tree': the withered tree in the Chinese literature has always been the double symbol of the 'decay and the tenacity'—Yu Xin's 'Rhapsody on the Withered Tree' writes the drifting of the life and the pain of the country and the home with the withered tree ('in the past years the willows were planted, so lush to the south of the Han; now I see them falling, the sorrow of the river pools'), and Jiang Kui's 'Slow Song of Yangzhou' the 'abandoned pool and the tall trees' with the survival of the trees writing the grief after the disaster; and the withered tree of Mang Ke, standing in the dry winter without the leaves and the birds, inherits this tradition and adds the modern symbol of the persistent life in the harsh environment.

此诗的文化意蕴，深植于中国文学「岁寒」「枯树」的意象传统，又带有现代诗的象征品格。其一，「枯树」意象的古典谱系：枯树在中国文学中历来是「衰败与坚守」的双重象征——庾信《枯树赋》以枯树写身世飘零、家国之痛（「昔年种柳，依依汉南；今看摇落，凄怆江潭」），姜夔《扬州慢》「废池乔木」以乔木之存写劫后之悲；而《论语》「岁寒，然后知松柏之后凋也」又确立了「严冬见节操」的传统，使枯树、寒木成为品格坚贞的象征。芒克以「枯树」入诗，既承「岁寒」的坚贞传统，又以现代的眼光重新凝视——他的枯树不指向具体的身世或节操，而是一种更纯粹的「存在姿态」，是荒凉环境中生命本身的站立。其二，「冬天」与「风」的意象：冬天在古典诗词中常与肃杀、困厄相连（「千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭」），风又常是「严酷外力」的象征（「朔风劲且哀」），芒克写「干燥的冬天」与「穿过枝条的风」，正是借传统的肃杀意象写严酷的生存环境，而「枯树」在风中的站立，则是传统「岁寒」精神在现代语境中的回响。其三，就现代诗传统而言，此诗以纯意象写情、不着一字议论的手法，上承美国意象派（庞德「意象是瞬间呈现的理智与情感的复合体」）与中国古典诗歌「不涉理路、不落言筌」的意境论，下启朦胧诗「以象写意」的主流方法——枯树、风、枝条不再是景物，而是诗人心境的「客观对应物」，这种写法使此诗既是写实的（冬日枯树），又是象征的（严酷时代的生命姿态），在古典意象传统与现代象征手法之间架起了一座桥梁。

Commentary

The poem has its unique value in the creative lineage of Mang Ke and in the history of the modern poetry. For the personal creation of Mang Ke, this poem is the representative of his 'natural theme' poems, showing his poetic style differing from Bei Dao: Bei Dao criticizes the age with the cold speculation ('The Answer'), while Mang Ke gazes at the life with the pure images—the nature under his pen is not the garden of the escape from the reality but the embodiment of the harsh environment, and the withered tree standing in the dry winter is the spiritual portrait of the generation of the disillusioned young who yet did not fall.

《在干燥的冬天》在芒克的创作谱系与现代诗史中都有其独特价值。就芒克个人创作而言，此诗是他「自然题材」诗作的代表，展现了他与北岛迥异的诗风：北岛以冷峻的思辨批判时代（《回答》），芒克则以纯净的意象凝视生命——他笔下的自然不是逃避现实的花园，而是严酷环境的化身，枯树在干燥冬天的站立，正是那一代知青在荒凉岁月中孤独而坚韧的生存状态的写照；这种「以自然写时代」的手法，使芒克的诗在白洋淀诗群与朦胧诗运动中独树一帜，多多、根子等皆与他同声相应。就现代诗史而言，此诗是朦胧诗「意象诗」的精致样本：以极少的意象、极简的语言、极大的留白写一种不可言说的生存体验，不解释、不呐喊，而意味自足，正体现了朦胧诗「以意象代替直说」的美学原则；它与顾城《一代人》（「黑夜给了我黑色的眼睛，我却用它寻找光明」）等名篇一样，以一句一境的凝练成为中国新诗中「以少胜多」的典范。就精神价值而言，「枯树站成一种姿态」的意象，超越了具体的历史语境，成为一切严酷环境中生命坚守的普遍象征——它失去了一切（叶子、鸟），却依然站立，依然与风相迎，这种「一无所有而依然在场」的姿态，正是中国现代诗中最动人的精神意象之一。此诗与芒克的《天空》《阳光中的向日葵》等并见于各种现代诗选本，其简洁而深沉的意象，历久弥新。

Prosody

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