Yang lian poems for mothers

Introduction to Yang Lian’s “Literary Works” Section

Let’s get back to the text – the poem will always say more and say it better than the poet.

I have divided my literary writings into three sections according to the geographical changes in my life: they are called, respectively, “China Manuscripts”, “South Pacific Manuscripts” and “Europe Manuscripts”.

“China Manuscripts” are the works I wrote while living in China.

They also include a longer poem, “Yi”, which I started writing in China in 1985 but did not finish revising until living in New Zealand in 1989. This poem sums up my thoughts so far on the Chinese language and Chinese reality.

Yang lian poems for mothers

I believe that no poet can find the ‘self of the poem’ immediately upon putting pen to paper. This is particularly true in China, where the substitution of poetic values for ‘social effects’ means that aside from maintaining a genuine and sincere attitude towards poetry, the poet has no other surroundings or tradition to rely upon.

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