Need help with a poem

[Lu]

A poem by Yin Lichuan:

小禾子

年轻年轻得像一只杯子

老老得不成样子

我还能再说什么

看见我三个月的侄女。

变得慈爱，像所有的奶奶

做一个旁克奶奶，

才是真正的旁克，也是真正的奶奶

I'm having trouble understanding this poem.

- What does she mean by 年轻年轻得像一只杯子? Why a beizi??

- What does the second line mean?

- What does 旁克 mean? I couldn't find it in the dictionary, and my language partner didn't know either.

I really can't make much of it, any help is appreciated. Answers to those three questions, but also any other thoughts you may have about it.

[skylee]

老老得不成样子->老，老得不成样子

旁克 could be punk.

Not sure why 杯子. Perhaps it means that the niece is so young that she is like an empty glass waiting to be filled.

[semantic nuance]

Lu,

Is this the whole poem or just part of it? If it is the whole, then this poem is a bit puzzling and incomplete. I agree with skylee on the interpretation of 杯子. I have another version: 杯子 might refer to her niece, fragile/brittle as a 杯子, who needs to be tendered, held, like you're holding a cup. Just a wild guess.

不成樣子---out of shape

Hope it helps!

[Lu]

Semantic nuance: this is the whole poem. I also think it's puzzling.

老老得不成样子 would then be 'So old that it's out of shape'? Or something like that?

Skylee: 'punk' could be a translation, but it doesn't seem to fit very well here, especially in combination with 慈爱.

Thanks for your ideas, especially on the beizi-part, it helps a lot!

[semantic nuance]

年轻年轻得像一只杯子

老老得不成样子

Lu,

1. as skylee has suggested, you can separate the pattern as 年輕, 年輕得像一只杯子...../老, 老得不成樣子

2. In English punk is associated with somethng which is noticeable and unconventional. I guess 旁克 is a transliteration for 'punk', though we use 龐克 to mean punk here in Taiwan. To me, it fits in this poem in combination with 慈愛, because punk (unconventional, not traditional) is contrast to the idea of 慈愛, which is the general idea of a granny. Please read line 3, 我还能再说什么 (what more could I say), maybe the narrator is not a traditional type of a granny but even that when she sees her adorable niece she becomes soft, like all the other grannies.

I don't know who Yin Lichuan is. Honestly, I don't think it is well-written. No offence. The image of 杯子 does not go with 樣子.I cannot see the content fits the title. What did the writer try to convey? The conclusion, a bit abrupt and out of nowhere, has nothing to do with the title..Did the writer want to say a punk granny is a genuine granny or want to depict a 3 month old niece 小禾子? I won't call it a poem; it's at most a combination of sentences.

Hope it helps!

[zhwj]

I think 旁克 as punk works well here - watching the niece, the woman feels motherly while maintaining her punk essence - a "punk grandma", which follows the young-old dichotomy she set up in the first two lines.

Edit: like semantic nuance said.

Yin Lichuan (尹丽川): "Lower-body" (下半身) poet based in Beijing. Poetry here.

[need1head]

"punk" is usually translated to ＂朋克＂in Chinese, here I think Yin wants to give it a new look by using"旁克＂.＂旁克＂also fits the English pronunciation better. better notice that＂旁＂is also the first choice for ＂pang" when typing. maybe Yin didn't think it's necessary to choose among "旁＂or " 庞＂or " 胖＂when translating "punk"into Chinese. or it's for "旁克＂can make the word look more tricky and random.

A friend of mine met the poet once at a dinner party, said she's a happy looking mid-age woman who talks loud and jokes a lot, can hardly relate her with a punk....but according to my knowledge about these so called ＂post-70s 70后／post-80s 80 后／lower body下半身＂poets like Yin Lichuang尹丽川　 Chun Shu春树，Li Shasha李傻傻，it seems labeling them punks/rebels does'nt bother at all,they like to be called朋克 and also call themselves punks...Chun Shu is also a keen supporter of Chinese underground punk/hardcore music. Show-goers can easily meet her at 13Club or Anonymous Highland(无名高地）sorta clubs.Personally , I think Chun Shu's debute novel" 北京娃娃＂can be taken as a groupie's autobiography. I read some of these stuff in high school but never really liked any.talking about Chinese modern poets,try 顾城　and 于坚 if you care.

[need1head]

talking about " being a punk grandma" ,some younger Chinese girls do have a strange infatuation for Vivian Eastwood. don't know if it's related?but old school punk fashion is back in trend everywhere, guess it's not too weird to see piercing lethers and studs all around.... AND midi music festival is in a month...go take a look yourself

[gato]

年轻年轻得像一只杯子

老老得不成样子

She probably chose "杯子" mostly because it rhymes with "样子" (and they both have the wood radical?). Both also rhyme with 小禾子. Punk rock lyrics aren't necessarily meant to make sense literally. Think Nirvana. She might be doing something similar here, though I agree with semantic nuance that this is a weak poem. Maybe it would sound better if you recite it with some background music.

[Lu]

She probably chose "杯子" mostly because it rhymes with "样子" (and they both have the wood radical?). Both also rhyme with 小禾子.

Beizi, yangzi, hezi, yes they all end in -zi, but I wouldn't call this rhyme.

need1head: Yin Lichuan is one of the 'post-70' poets (she's only 30-something, I wouldn't call that mid-age), Chun Shu is of one generation later (post-80). I haven't read much of Chun's poetry, but from what I've read I like Yin Lichuan better. And I also like Shuijing Zhulian (1981).

Yu Jian is also good, and have you read Han Dong?

I've hardly read any Gu Cheng, but I'm afraid that if I would read his poetry, all the time I would be thinking about how he killed his wife and then hung himself.