Chapter 7. The Rhetorical Device of Enactment in the Works of the Wanderer Poet Cheng Chou-yu

Section 1. Cheng Chou-yu's Narrative Lyricism

1. Narrative Lyric Style

Among Taiwan's modern poets, Cheng Chou-yu is renowned by the honorable title of the "Wanderer." His poetic style is romantic and lyrical, and the emotional tone of his poetry has remained influential to this day, continuing to be loved by many readers. In Cheng Chou-yu's poems, many outstanding works contain romantic and emotionally rich stories, and narrative structure has become a defining characteristic of his poetic style. The author has observed that he frequently employs the rhetorical device of "enactment" to arrange time and space, moving freely through different times and places, with the purpose of creating the temporal and spatial settings that narrative requires.

2. Types of Enactment

"Enactment is the rhetorical device of describing things that cannot actually be seen or heard as though they could be seen and heard. Such unseen and unheard things may have already passed away, may still lie in the future, or may simply belong to an extraordinary rhetorical mode that transcends time, space, and reality." 1 "Enactment relies upon the author's imagination to portray things that cannot actually be seen or heard as though they could indeed be seen and heard." 2 As a rhetorical device for shifting temporal and spatial settings, enactment is specifically accomplished by "using recollection, anticipation, and imaginative projection to vividly present events that occurred in the past, will occur in the future, or are occurring elsewhere at the present moment." 3

According to changes in time and space, "enactment" may be divided into three types: (1) retrospection of the past; (2) prophecy of the future; and (3) imaginative projection of the present. The nature of "enactment" tends toward narration and description, striving to achieve "concrete vividness," thereby giving readers a "sense of presence." With such an atmosphere of "being personally on the scene, as though everything were unfolding before one's eyes," poetic works are better able to incorporate narrative structure, allowing readers to follow the story and its plot. Cheng Chou-yu is particularly fond of using "enactment" to shift temporal and spatial settings and construct narrative structures, thereby deepening the readability of his works.

Section 2. Cheng Chou-yu's Techniques of Enactment

1. Retrospection of the Past: Retrospective Enactment

"It is the bringing of past events back into the present. Whatever is being recalled, whether ancient or modern, concerning oneself or others, once one enters the act of recollection, both time and space are simultaneously shifted into the past." 4 "Retrospective enactment is not a purposeless or unconscious reproduction of past events; rather, upon the foundation of creative imagination, it deliberately presents unforgettable or deeply cherished experiences." 5 Retrospective enactment is not restricted by time or space. It brings past events vividly to life, making them appear as though they are unfolding before one's eyes, most commonly through the use of recollection.

"Remembering in Wind and Rain" 6

The dew has grown heavy,

The night lilies have blossomed;

My eyes are opened wide,

Bright and shining, thinking of you...

Thinking of the days when the grain fell from the ears,

Thinking of those little things,

Thinking of the way you paused,

Your short hair swept by the wind,

Thinking of you tugging at the hem of your skirt and saying,

"I'm tired."

Then finding a rock halfway up the mountain

And sitting down...

I remember the rain-soaked path beside the river,

You carried a lantern and led me through the night.

The wind snatched away

The light in your hand from the bamboo grove.

I laughed,

For I boasted that my eyes were lamps.

If we were to continue,

You would have to depend upon my support.

I remember you standing stubbornly in the rain, saying,

"I would rather go back..."

The dew is too heavy,

Like teardrops rolling down beside the lips.

The lilies open their mouths too wide,

As though astonished.

I still remember our crossing of the Hsiang River.

The south wind suddenly blew away our umbrella.

The little boat was merely a broken bridge.

What use was it,

When the waves were so great?

I still remember you saying sadly,

"The umbrella has fallen,

Just like parting."

We both lost

The support we once relied upon...

This poem is written primarily through the technique of recollection. In the third line of the opening stanza appears the cue phrase "thinking of you...," signaling the beginning of "retrospective enactment," in which time and space are shifted "from the present back into the past." The subsequent lines, "Thinking of the days when the grain fell from the ears, thinking of those little things / Thinking of the way you paused, your short hair swept by the wind / Thinking of you tugging at the hem of your skirt and saying, 'I'm tired...'"; together with the second stanza's "I remember the rain-soaked path beside the river," "I remember you standing stubbornly in the rain, saying," "I still remember our crossing of the Hsiang River," and "I still remember you saying sadly," all recreate former scenes and past events through recollection. On the one hand, the poet maintains the continuity of the past tense throughout the narration; on the other hand, he reminds readers that all of these scenes and events occurred in the past. Therefore, whenever the scene shifts or the event turns, he repeatedly inserts past-tense cue phrases such as "thinking of you," "I remember," and "I still remember."

"Threads of Rain" 7

Our love,

Was like threads of rain,

Along the road

Between one star

And another.

Our carriage

Was soundless.

We once played

In the transparent great forest.

We once washed our feet

In the waterless brook.

There was

The riverbed

Filled with lotus-leaf lamps.

There,

The story

Of the Cowherd

And the Magpie Bridge

Was left behind.

Left behind there,

Left behind there,

Our love,

Was like threads of rain,

Slanting,

Slanting,

Weaving

Faint memories.

And will those faint memories

Remain forever

Among the stars?

Now they have become

Shattered pearls,

Flowing

Throughout the human world.

In this poem, "Threads of Rain," the poet opens with the explicit simile of "threads of rain," immediately leading readers into past time. From the lines "We once played in the transparent great forest / We once washed our feet in the waterless brook," it is evident that the temporal setting is in the past tense. The poem employs recollective flashback to gently unfold a love affair of former days. At the end, however, the cue word "Now" marks the return to the present tense, drawing time and space back from memory into reality, a reality that appears to be rather painful.

2. Prophecy of the Future: Prophetic Enactment

Prophetic enactment "describes future events as though they were already unfolding before one's eyes, as though they could be seen and heard." 8 "That is, it presents future events as if they were already before one's eyes, visible and audible. In terms of temporal direction, it is precisely the opposite of retrospective enactment." 9 The author is able to foresee future events primarily by inferring their likelihood according to the natural course of development and then depicting them vividly; alternatively, based on the author's or a character's subjective wishes or conjectures, the author portrays scenes of future life in order to express aspirations, pursuits, and ideals for the future.

"The Possibility of Snow" 10

Ah, go to sleep.

Didn't Mother always say so?

Tomorrow,

The sun

Will be like a golden deer,

Bravely

Leaping out

From behind Mount Aiporei,

Holding blossoms upon its antlers.

The wind

Will come

From a newly chosen direction,

Surging,

Wave after wave,

For ten miles,

Wave after wave,

For another ten miles.

Tomorrow,

The forests upon the distant mountains

Will awaken first.

The blood

Will surely begin

To flow slowly

Among the roots...

So many,

So many roots,

Like the veins of a net,

Holding everything fast...

The temporal and spatial setting of this poem stands in complete contrast to that of the preceding poem, "Remembering in Wind and Rain." Here, the setting is imagined and projected into the future. The expressive technique employed by the poet is precisely "prophetic enactment." Readers can recognize this through future-tense cue expressions such as "will be like," "will come," and "will surely," together with the future time adverb "tomorrow," all of which indicate that the poet is envisioning scenes that may appear tomorrow and events that are yet to occur.

"The Border Hotel" 11

The territory of autumn,

Is divided beneath the same setting sun.

At the border,

A few yellow chrysanthemums stand silently.

And he has come from afar,

Drinking while remaining sober.

Outside the window

Is a foreign land.

How he longs to step across—

One single step,

And it would become homesickness.

That beautiful homesickness,

Close enough to touch with an outstretched hand.

Or perhaps,

It would be better simply to drink oneself drunk

(He is an enthusiastic taxpayer.)

Or perhaps,

To pour forth his song,

Then he would no longer merely stand

Like those daisies,

Standing only

By virtue of the border.

Beginning with the line, "How he longs to step across," the poem unfolds into "prophetic enactment." Within this future-oriented imagination, drinking wine and singing songs become ways of relieving the homesickness that hesitates unresolved within the heart. All of these are privately imagined by the author on behalf of the poem's protagonist through the mode of "prophecy." As for whether the protagonist will actually, as the author anticipates, sit down to drink and sing, there is no need to pursue the matter further.

3. Imaginative Projection of the Present: Projective Enactment

"Projective enactment" refers to "a situation in which, within the present moment, one's thoughts suddenly imagine circumstances in another space. Time itself does not change; instead, through imagination, one seems to see the people and events occurring in another place. Projective enactment expresses intense emotions, describing imagined scenes as though they were unfolding before one's eyes." 12 It is also defined as "regardless of whether something occurred in the past or will happen in the future, whatever is imagined is vividly portrayed as though the people and events truly existed before one's eyes. Like retrospective enactment and prophetic enactment, it relies upon imagination and involves spatial extension; however, it breaks free from the temporal limitations imposed upon retrospective and prophetic enactment. Some of its imagined situations arise under specific circumstances yet can never actually be realized, serving merely to express a person's subjective thoughts or psychological state at a particular moment." 13 Thus, projective enactment refers to the author's imaginative depiction of people and events existing in another space at the present moment. By nature, it expresses the author's subjective thoughts or psychological condition. Regardless of whether the imagined events ever existed in the past or will occur in the future, the imagination is free to move across different spaces.

Cheng Chou-yu, "A Farewell" 14

This time I leave you—

It is wind,

It is rain,

It is night.

You smiled a little;

I waved my hand.

Then a lonely road

Stretched

Toward two directions.

Thinking that at this very moment

You have already returned

To your riverside home,

Imagining you

Combing your long hair,

Or arranging

Your rain-soaked coat,

While my journey home

Through wind and rain

Is still a long one.

The mountains retreat far away;

The open plain

Expands even wider.

Ah,

Perhaps this world,

Fearing the darkness,

Has truly taken shape...

This time I leave you,

And I shall no longer wish to see you again.

Thinking that at this very moment

You have already fallen quietly asleep.

Let everything between us

That remains unfinished

Be left to this world.

This world—

I still tread upon it

With deep and living awareness,

While it has already become

The landscape of your dreams...

In this poem, "A Farewell," the poet exists within "the present moment." However, through the use of "projective enactment," the scene divides into two, producing two parallel narrative threads. One thread depicts the poet's present surroundings, namely, "While my journey home through wind and rain is still a long one / The mountains retreat far away; the open plain expands even wider," together with "This world—I still tread upon it with deep and living awareness." The other thread consists of the poet's conjecture regarding what "you" in the poem are "probably" doing at that very moment: "You have already returned to your riverside home," "Combing your long hair or arranging your rain-soaked coat," and "It has already become the landscape of your dreams." As early as the third line of the opening stanza—"Then a lonely road stretched toward two directions"—the poet has already planted the foreshadowing of "projective enactment." In the lines that follow, he provides inferential cue phrases such as "Thinking that at this very moment" and "Imagining you," enabling readers to recognize the clues through these expressions of conjecture.

"The Little Island" 15

The little island where you live—

I am thinking of it.

There,

It belongs to the tropics,

To a land forever green.

Upon the shallow sands,

Schools of brightly colored fish

Always come to rest.

Little birds

Leap and sound among the branches,

Like the rising and falling

Of piano keys.

The cliffs there

Love to gaze into the distance,

Trailing long vines

Like flowing hair.

The meadows there

Know how to wait,

Spread with wildflowers

Like fruit platters.

There,

The sunlight bathing you

Is blue,

The sea breeze

Is green.

Therefore,

Your health

Is luxuriant,

Your love

Is gentle and unhurried.

There are

The humor of the clouds,

And the faint laughter

Of hidden thunder.

There are

The dancing music of the woods,

And the cool songs

Of flowing streams.

The little island where you live—

I find it difficult to portray.

Difficult to paint

The afternoon nap there,

Where even the earth trembles gently.

If I were to go,

I would bring

My shepherd's flute and staff.

Then

I would be the shepherd boy,

And you

Would be the little lamb.

Or else,

If I were to go,

I would transform myself

Into a firefly,

Spending my whole life

Lighting a lamp for you.

The poet is longing for his beloved who lives upon the little island. This kind of longing, experienced simultaneously while being in different places, originally exists only within the poet's mind. Yet through "projective enactment," the poet vividly depicts the images arising in his imagination, carrying readers aboard the ark of imaginative projection to tour the island's radiant scenery. In the latter part of the poem, however, he shifts to the mode of "prophecy," imagining that if he himself were to travel to the island in search of his beloved, he would bring along his shepherd's flute and staff, or willingly transform himself into a firefly so that he might remain with his beloved forever.

Traveling Through Time and Space: The Interwoven Use of the Three Types of Enactment

By employing the rhetorical device of "enactment," one may move freely through different times and spaces. Therefore, by mastering its three forms—retrospection, prophecy, and imaginative projection—one can gather together different temporal and spatial dimensions, weaving narration, description, and lyricism within them, much like a multimedia film that presents different scenes upon the same screen.

Notes

(1) Chen Wang-tao, Fundamentals of Rhetoric, Hong Kong: Ta Kuang, 1964, p. 127.

(2) Huang Ching-hsuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: San Min Book Co., 2002, p. 305.

(3) Huang Li-chen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: Kuo Chia Publishing, 2004, p. 60.

(4) Huang Li-chen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: Kuo Chia Publishing, 2004, p. 61.

(5) Cheng Wei-chün et al., eds., Comprehensive Guide to Rhetoric, Beijing: China Youth Press, 1991, p. 655.

(6) Reprinted from Cheng Chou-yu, Collected Poems of Cheng Chou-yu I: 1951–1968, Taipei: Hung Fan Publishers, 1979, pp. 127–129.

(7) Reprinted from Cheng Chou-yu, Collected Poems of Cheng Chou-yu I, Taipei: Hung Fan Publishers, 1979, pp. 115–116.

(8) Huang Li-chen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: Kuo Chia Publishing, 2004, p. 63.

(9) Cheng Wei-chün et al., eds., Comprehensive Guide to Rhetoric, Beijing: China Youth Press, 1991, p. 655.

(10) Reprinted from Cheng Chou-yu, The Possibility of Snow, Taipei: Hung Fan Publishers, 1985, pp. 130–134.

(11) Reprinted from Cheng Chou-yu, Collected Poems of Cheng Chou-yu I: 1951–1968, Taipei: Hung Fan Publishers, 1979, pp. 241–242.

(12) Huang Li-chen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: Kuo Chia Publishing, 2004, p. 66.

(13) Cheng Wei-chün et al., eds., Comprehensive Guide to Rhetoric, Beijing: China Youth Press, 1991, p. 655.

(14) Reprinted from Cheng Chou-yu, Collected Poems of Cheng Chou-yu I: 1951–1968, Taipei: Hung Fan Publishers, 1979, pp. 130–132.

(15) Reprinted from Cheng Chou-yu, Collected Poems of Cheng Chou-yu I: 1951–1968, Taipei: Hung Fan Publishers, 1979, pp. 92–93.