On the Endings of Modern Chinese Poetry

/ Chen Qingyang

The endings of modern Chinese poems generally fall into three categories: conclusive, circular (echoing beginning and end), and resonant/suggestive, each with distinctive characteristics.

(1) Conclusive Ending

A conclusive ending in modern poetry refers to when the poet provides a clear emotional or thematic resolution at the end of the work, forming a complete conceptual closure. This type of ending has several core features:

• Clear Theme: The ending directly reveals the poem’s central idea or emotional stance, giving readers a definite sense of direction after reading.

• Complete Structure: The poem unfolds causally or emotionally from beginning to end, and the conclusion ties together the content, creating a logical or emotional sense of fulfillment.

• Deepened Imagery: The language in the ending often contains symbols or metaphors, integrating and intensifying the poem’s imagery, so that readers experience a deeper aesthetic resonance.

In conclusive endings, poets often use details from daily life, spatial perception, or character actions to convey emotion, and the ending elevates these fragments into reflections on life, emotion, or existence. Such endings leave no suspense, giving readers a sense of closure and completeness.

Example & Analysis

〈Mistress〉 / Zheng Chouyu
In a small bluestone town lives my mistress,
And I leave her nothing at all
Except a patch of golden-thread chrysanthemums, and a tall window.
Perhaps a little solitude seeps through the long sky,
Perhaps… and the chrysanthemums are patient in waiting.
I think solitude and waiting are good for the woman.

So I go, always wearing a blue jacket,
I want her to feel that it is the season, or
The arrival of migratory birds,
For I am not the type to go home often.

The poem centers on the mistress in a small town, using daily-life details—bluestone streets, golden-thread chrysanthemums, a tall window—to create a delicate, lonely atmosphere. The conclusion, “So I go, always wearing a blue jacket / I want her to feel that it is the season, or the arrival of migratory birds / For I am not the type to go home often,” delivers a clear theme: the poet’s attitude toward love, his lifestyle choices, and the flow and limits of emotion.

Analysis:

• Emotionally Clear: The ending directly conveys the poet’s actions and emotional stance, closing the narrative and emotional thread.

• Symbolic Imagery: Bluestone town, chrysanthemums, migratory birds, and the blue jacket echo each other, concentrating the symbolic meaning of “solitude,” “waiting,” and “departure” into a poetic conclusion.

• Structural Integrity: The poem unfolds from everyday scenes to a conclusive ending, forming a complete narrative and emotional closure, allowing readers to clearly sense the poet’s theme and aesthetic intent.

A conclusive ending in modern poetry is not merely a formal closure but also an emotional and imagistic elevation. Through detailed depiction, symbolic objects, and character actions, the ending integrates scattered fragments into a coherent emotional structure, leaving readers with clarity of concept and depth of feeling.

This type of ending is well-suited for poems with strong emotions and clear themes, allowing imagery and emotion to develop fully and respond to one another, achieving artistic unity and aesthetic power.

(2) Circular / Echoing Beginning and End

A circular ending echoes the imagery or language of the opening, creating a sense of continuity and completeness. This structure not only lets readers look back to the beginning, reinforcing unity, but also uses repeated imagery to form semantic and emotional mirroring, deepening the theme.

Strategies often used:

• Imagery Echo: Images, symbols, or objects appearing at the start reappear or extend at the end, resonating emotionally or philosophically.

• Linguistic Mirror: The ending mirrors the opening in syntax or tone, creating rhythmic symmetry and enhancing recitability and memorability.

• Emotional Closure: Echoing is not merely formal; it psychologically and emotionally closes the poem, giving readers a sense of continuous flow rather than abrupt termination.

Example & Analysis

〈You Are Mine, Half a Poem〉 / Chen Qu Fei

You are mine / Half a poem / Half loved with heart
Half buried with flesh / You are mine / Half a poem
No one may change a single word
—Haizi, Half a Poem

You are mine, half a poem,
The remaining half floats in my mind.
Your imagery does not jump tone,
Not will-o’-the-wisp, not flickering.
Though often unreasonable, sometimes emotional,
But reason does not need annotation,
Emotions need no forced translation.

No one may change a single word,
Do not treat you as punctuation,
Existing optionally, moved at will.
I understand your inner thoughts,
Those stubborn sparks,
Lingering on the deadwood of my soul.
The sentences hum quietly, mischievously flickering with unrest,
I do not allow you to change a single mark,
Reducing it to a subtle metaphor.

Tear open the seals of your life,
I want you to emerge from the shadow of emotional wounds,
Embrace me, accept the omnipresent sunlight,
Follow the joyful, leaping birds in the branches,
And the notes growing happily every day,
Becoming the half-poem I wish to cling to for the rest of my life.

The poem uses “You are mine, half a poem” as both the opening and the conclusion, forming a circular structure. The opening establishes the poet’s possessive and affectionate attachment, and the ending extends this emotional subtlety: the floating half in the mind, imagery staying true, emotions conveyed through gentle, humming lines, closing the emotional loop.

Analysis:

• Integrated Imagery: The half-poem symbolizes both text and fragments of love, memory, and emotion; repetition ensures continuity of emotional threads.

• Layered Emotion: Detailed depictions of inner thoughts, stubborn sparks, and the soul’s deadwood make love and care tangible, conveying emotional depth and focus.

• Aesthetic Effect: Echoing language strengthens textual unity, letting the emotion flow from words to the reader’s consciousness, forming a complete and resonant cycle.

Circular endings rely on repeated language and imagery to create organic unity, retaining subtle variation and freshness. Readers revisiting the opening can rediscover emotional shifts and the depth of imagery, achieving dual resonance in feeling and reflection. The opening is the seed of emotion; the echoing conclusion is its blossoming, letting readers experience the poem’s full emotional flow and aftertaste.

(3) Resonant / Suggestive (Open-ended) Ending

Resonant endings do not spell everything out. They leave ambiguity or blank space, allowing readers imagination and reflection. This approach aligns with modern poetic aesthetics: minimalism, extended imagery, and emotional resonance. It does not rush closure, instead letting readers complete the poem mentally, supplementing and extending its meaning.

Through layering imagery, rhythm, and tonal patterns, resonant endings achieve:

• Continuity of Emotion: Readers feel the flow of emotion even after the poem ends, as if unfinished breaths linger in the air.

• Regenerative Imagery: The blank space becomes a psychological canvas; the poem’s elements—scenery, animals, celestial phenomena—can expand into new imagery in the reader’s mind.

• Philosophical or Existential Resonance: By hinting at unfinished storylines or emotions, these endings provoke reflection on life, time, love, or self-existence.

Examples & Analysis

〈Finally〉 / Xue Li

The bosses who raised a flock of poems said,
Your distant poetry collection is out of print
Finally, the birds no longer sing,
The sheep no longer hide.

Finally, letting go of shame,
Life begins to simplify,
Those words no longer swirl,
You pass through the threads of rain.

The poem depicts imagery of distance, loss, and release: out-of-print collection, birds no longer singing, sheep no longer hiding—blending loss and liberation. The final line, “You pass through the threads of rain,” creates a vivid blank, symbolizing passage and flow, hinting at constantly reassembling memory and emotion.

Analysis:

• Imagery Linking: Birds, sheep, rain threads form a sensory rhythm and symbolic system.

• Resonance through Open Ending: The poet leaves the speaker’s inner state unstated, giving readers freedom of interpretation.

• Emotional Echo: Simple depiction of everyday objects conveys life’s release and simplicity, extending poetic resonance into the reader’s inner world.

〈Snow on the Distant Mountains〉 / Xia Muxue

In the dream, we meet again,
The sky has not turned,
The earth has not spun,
Only the sunset shatters,
Falling on my shoulders,
Cold, like the snow on distant mountains.

I thought
I had matured many times,
Hibernating, thick enough to bury your name,
Wrong, in dreams it is clearer than awake.

You are still there,
In the rings of the deadwood,
One ring, after another,
On the outline of the distant mountains,
Quietly spreading.

The poem portrays dreamlike reunion and temporal stasis: shattered sunset, distant mountain snow, deadwood rings transform inner love and memory into spatialized, visualized imagery. The ending, “quietly spreading,” leaves the fate of the beloved ambiguous, letting emotion resonate into the mountain contours and inviting infinite reflection.

Analysis:

• Temporal and Emotional Weight: Readers sense the passage of time and emotional intensity.

• Synesthetic Imagery: Sunset falling on shoulders blends sight and touch, immersing the reader in sensorial experience.

• Symbolic Imagery: Distant snow and deadwood rings symbolize traces of time and continuing love, merging subjective experience and objective landscape.

• Resonance & Ambiguity: The boundary between dream and reality is left unstated; imagery spreads like snow, surpassing the individual and echoing eternal, flowing time.

In resonant endings, poets often layer rhythm and imagery, creating subtle psychological and sensory dynamics. This form tests readers’ interpretive skill and requires precise and restrained language. The poetic extension exists not only in text but also in blank spaces, reflecting and interacting with readers’ emotional experience, forming a dialogue between subject and text. The success of this ending depends on control of rhythm, imagery, and emotional pacing, balancing open-endedness with thematic coherence. It transforms transient feelings into lasting emotional echoes, producing a modern and philosophical aesthetic in contemporary poetry.