Chapter 4. The Magician of Language — Reading Three Short Poems by Lo Fu

“An Afternoon of Water Hyacinths”

Afternoon. In the pond,
clusters upon clusters of pregnant water hyacinths crowd together.
This summer is very lonely.
If you are going to give birth, then give birth to a whole pond of frogs.

Alas, the problem is
we are merely bloated.

“Picking One's Teeth”

At noon,
everyone in the world is picking their teeth,
with white toothpicks,
peacefully,
picking
their
white teeth.

A flock of vultures in Ethiopia,
from among a pile of corpses,
flies up,
then squats in rows
upon sparse, withered branches.
They too are picking their teeth,
with one thin
rib
after another.

“Female Ghost (II)”

She,
is elevated by a single rope
into
an exceedingly mournful and beautiful
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

Following the sound of a bamboo flute, searching,
at every window there may be sitting
that heartless scholar of hers
who went to the capital to take the imperial examination.
The wind arrives without a sound.
She flashes forward and leaps into
the thread-bound book
that has just been closed.

During nearly half a century of the Modernist movement in Taiwan, the poet Lo Fu, renowned for his mastery of Surrealist techniques, can truly be regarded as a grand master of his generation. Lo Fu's poetry is marked by strange and extraordinary imagination, and he excels at employing advanced rhetorical techniques such as hyperbole and synesthesia. Calling him a "magician of language" is by no means an exaggeration.

In “An Afternoon of Water Hyacinths,” the poet's observations and perceptions are indeed extraordinary. During summer, water hyacinths spread luxuriantly across the pond. Their swollen stems resemble pregnant women. The poet suddenly imagines that this quiet pond lacks frogs to "liven up the summer," and so writes: "This summer is very lonely. / If you are going to give birth, then give birth to a whole pond of frogs." The image of water hyacinths giving birth to frogs may be regarded as the product of "associative relationship." Although it violates the laws of nature, it forms an image connection that is "illogical yet wonderfully ingenious." Then the poet, speaking in the voice of the water hyacinths, says: "Alas, the problem is / we are merely bloated." This ending deconstructs the earlier whimsical fantasy, leaving the reader smiling.

The historical setting of “Picking One's Teeth” is the early 1990s, during the devastating famine in Ethiopia and Somalia in East Africa caused by severe drought. At that time, Europe and the United States launched a series of humanitarian relief efforts, giving rise to the song "We Are the World." Humanitarian organizations in Taiwan, including the Red Cross, also responded by organizing donation drives and relief campaigns. Through the technique of "scene contrast," “Picking One's Teeth” presents two completely different worlds: a peaceful and prosperous society contrasted with disaster-stricken East Africa. The second stanza depicts "(the vultures that have feasted upon corpses) squatting in rows / upon sparse, withered branches / also picking their teeth / with one thin / rib after another." Obviously, vultures do not imitate the human act of picking their teeth. However, through personification, the vultures, like human beings, pick their teeth after eating. Although this image is exaggerated and even possesses a kind of dark humor, the poet's true intention is to remind those living in comfortable societies of the ancient warning: "Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat rot; along the roadside lie the frozen bones of the poor." People should not forget the famine still occurring in East Africa, nor the genuine misery endured there. Beneath its outward coolness, this poem carries profound humanitarian concern.

The temporal and cultural background of “Female Ghost (II)” may be traced back to the 1990s, when ghost and zombie films became immensely popular throughout Taiwan and Hong Kong. Among the representative films of that era were A Chinese Ghost Story, Picture of a Nymph, Painted Skin, and Mr. Vampire.

The female ghost protagonist in “Female Ghost” continues the tradition established by A Chinese Ghost Story, Picture of a Nymph, and Painted Skin, all of whose stories originated from Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio during the Qing dynasty. The first half of the poem explains that this despairing woman hanged herself. The latter half reveals the reason for her despair: she was abandoned by the man she loved. Her lover—the heartless scholar—traveled to the capital to sit for the imperial examination. After achieving official success, he abandoned her, while she continued waiting faithfully in her hometown. Even after hanging herself and becoming a wandering ghost, her lingering soul still haunted the place:

"Following the sound of a bamboo flute, searching,
at every window there may be sitting
that heartless scholar of hers
who went to the capital to take the imperial examination."

The sound of the bamboo flute, serving as background music, perfectly reinforces the mournful atmosphere and the drifting presence of the ghost.

The opening lines,

"She,
is elevated by a single rope
into
an exceedingly mournful and beautiful
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,"

and the concluding lines,

"The wind arrives without a sound.
She flashes forward and leaps into
the thread-bound book
that has just been closed,"

form a cause-and-effect relationship that creates structural correspondence between the beginning and the end. Particularly striking is the conclusion, where the female ghost suddenly leaps into the thread-bound book. The poem closes like the final shot of a film, displaying remarkable originality and ingenuity.

Lo Fu's poetry frequently presents unexpected cinematic camera movements, producing editing sequences that are illogical yet marvelous, along with astonishingly absurd narratives. These qualities enhance both the artistic value and the readability of his works, providing convincing evidence of the importance of imaginative association and advanced rhetorical techniques in the creative process.