Bei Dao

Bei Dao is a giant in contemporary Chinese poetry and his works were inspirational for the Democracy Movement; I love several of his poems that appear in “A Splintered Mirror” which I would recommend (e.g. “Answer, “Notes on the City of the Sun”, “Transparent Grief”), but unfortunately I did not like this collection as much. The subjects are less interesting and it seems to me he was trying too hard. I suppose my favorite here is “The Old Castle”, which ends:

“hearing the sighs of tomorrow
the main gate clangs shut
art is dead
roses bloom”… (more)