The 3rd Flushing (法拉盛) Poetry Festival will be held in April this year to celebrate modern Chinese poets     1     (live) overseas and encourage cross-cultural conversation and translation of poetry from these poets. Poems should be submitted before February 15, 2021     2     (compete) in the festival, which will be open to the public in Chinese and English     3     free.

The festival was started by poets of Chinese descent (血统) in the USA, and this     4     (year) event will be hosted by the editorial committee of First Line New York, an online poetry magazine     5     (attach) to the Flushing Poetry Festival. The purpose is to encourage Chinese poets overseas to publish their original writing, and build a bridge between Chinese poets and poets writing in English and     6     languages. The festival will be held during the time of the National Poetry Month in the USA,     7     the place and the form of the event will be decided later due to the COVID-19 situation.

The lst and 2nd Flushing Poetry Festivals were held in 2018 and 2019     8     (separate) and winning poetry     9    (publish) online. The schedule of the two previous festivals included     10     award ceremony, poetry reading and group discussion.

Chinese poetry generally falls into one of two primary types, classical Chinese poetry and modern Chinese poetry. Modern Chinese poetry refers     1     the modern style of poetry, as opposed to the traditional poetry     2    (write) in classical Chinese language. A high point of classical Chinese poetry occurred during the Tang Dynasty, during     3    time in China poetry was integrated (融入) into almost every aspect of the professional and     4    (society) life of the literate class. Unlike traditional forms of Chinese poetry which are rhymed, modern Chinese poetry does not usually follow specific     5    (pattern). Poetry     6    (revolutionize) after May Fourth Movement in 1919. Early 20th-century poets like Hu Shi, Xu Zhimo and Guo Moruo     7    (seek) to break Chinese poetry from past conventions by adopting Western models.

Poetry has     8    (consistent) been held in extremely high regard in China. In Chinese culture, poetry has provided a format for both public and private expressions of deep emotion,     9    (offer) an audience of peers, readers, and scholars insight into the inner life of Chinese writers. Westerners have also found in it     10    interesting and pleasurable field of study.

3 . The Power of Poetry

People are suffering from depression and anxiety now more than ever. To help case the pain, they are turning to new approaches and, believe it or not, poetry is one of them.

It’s common sense that reading fiction can increase empathy (同理心).     1     Well, for decades, scientific studies have proven that poetry has a beneficial impact in managing pain, handling stress and improving personal well-being. Let’s dive a bit deeper, and consider some specific ways in which poetry can help mental health.

Poetry can be a form of comfort. By reading poetry, we can get the escapism we long for, transporting us out of our own world and into someone else’s.     2     Trying to uncover the meaning of a poem can give us a necessary break from our inner monologue as well.

It can be a shared experience. Poems are often quite emotional in nature.     3     There’s something quite comforting in the knowledge that we’re not alone and that our pain is shared with someone else. Poetry often reveals that there is universality (普遍性) in the human experience.

    4     Many poems creatively tackle some sensitive topics like depression, anxiety, abuse, poverty, all of which can be found in a poetic form, empowering both the poet and the reader.

To put it lightly, life is tough, but it’s important to remember that we’re not alone. The next time you’re feeling hopeless, try diving into the works of a poet.     5     Who knows?

6 . Romanticism in Poetry

Romanticism was a literary and artistic movement of the late 18th and mid-19th centuries. Romantic emotions were expressed in poems, stories, art and music.     1    

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

William Wordsworth was a famous Romantic poet in England. In fact, his name is synonymous (与……密切相关的) with the English Romantic movement. Wordsworth grew up in one of the most beautiful areas of England. This area is called the Lake District.     2     Wordsworth’s childhood greatly influenced his later poetry.

As an adult, Wordsworth worked together with the fellow poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In 1798, they published a book of poetry called “Lyrical Ballads”. This book announced the beginning of the English Romantic movement.     3     The book was a great change from the poetry of the past.

Li Bai (701-762)

    4     Li Bai, one of China’s greatest poets, wrote during the Tang Dynasty, hundreds of years before Wordsworth. His free and vivid style of poetry is in many ways an early form of the Romanticism of 19th-century Europe. As with Wordsworth and his contemporaries, Li Bai’s poems are about beautiful natural scenes and the people who touched his heart.

Li Bai was born in Suiye, an area of China. As a boy, he lived in Sichuan with his family. At the age of 25, he began travelling around the country.     5     His travels were the basis for his life’s works of more than 2, 000 poems, of which about 1, 800 have survived to be read today.

7 . Kimberly Arcand, a visualization scientist for NASA, has made it her life’s work to help tell the stories of space. Having authored several astrophysics nonfiction books over the years, Arcand recently turned her attention to children’s books. She released Goodnight Exomoon last year, an “astronomical parody,” which takes the classic children’s book Goodnight Moon and explores planetary science in a way that is readable for the very young.

The idea, Arcand says, was born when her own children refused to sleep. “I would read for hours to try to get them to go to sleep and they loved Goodnight Moon. One day I could not imagine reading Goodnight Moon again so I started creating stories based on it,” says Arcand. She wrote down one of the versions of her playful parody, and then put it in a drawer where it stayed for nearly a decade.

Then, in 2018, scientists found what they believed was the first exomoon orbiting the exoplanet known as Kepler-1625b. “With that first exomoon candidate, it reminded me that I had written the story, says Arcand. So, the scientist pulled her would-be book out of the drawer and brought it to life.

“In the great telescope room there was a telephone, an atmospheric balloon, and a picture of a satellite flying by the moon...” begins the story, setting readers in a room that houses a huge telescope. The story goes on to introduce children to some of the more modern tools that astronomers use, like accelerometers, micrometers and satellites, teaching them about astronomical objects like comets and exomoons.

Arcand hopes the book will excite “space fans”, and that it will inspire children and especially young girls to see the field of science as one that is approachable. This desire drives Arcand’s scientific work, as well. When not penning parodies, Arcand spends her time making complex concepts and theories more accessible to a variety of audiences, from fellow researchers to students and the general public.

8 . I know that I shall meet my fate

Somewhere among the clouds above;

Those that I fight I do not hate,

Those that I guard I do not love;

My country is Kiltartan Cross,

My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,

No likely end could bring them loss

Or leave them happier than before.

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,

Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,

A lonely impulse of delight

Drove to this tumult in the clouds;

I balanced all, brought all to mind,

The years to come seemed waste of breath,

A waste of breath the years behind

In balance with this life, this death.

This poem by W. B Yeats is rather a thought-provoking poem on Major Robert Gregory, who was the son of one of Yeats’s friends. Robert Gregory was killed in Italy during the First World War in 1918. The poem was written during the First World War （1914-1919） when many Irish men fought for the cause of Englishmen. The poem is taken from the collection The Wild Swans At Coole. During the first World War, Ireland was a part of “Great Britain”. It became a separate nation later inl922. Therefore, when Gregory died, he actually died for the “English”, not for the “Irish”.

The pilot sees his forthcoming death yet he does- not seem regretful or scared but rather accepts the fate he is going to encounter. He clearly states that it is not any obligation for the country nor the inspiring speeches of the leaders or the cheering of the crowds that encourage him to fight in the battlefield. It is simply the thrill of the battlefield or adventure that pushes him to take up the job of an airman. He does not hate or love his enemies or his allies（盟友）; his country will neither be benefited nor hurt by any outcome of the war. His past life seems a waste, while his future life promises to be the same and his death will balance out his life. He feels that only death in war can balance his life of dullness. This is reflected in the line, “A waste of breath the years behind/In balance with this life, this death.”

This poem is recited in first-person. The poet is recounting the thoughts that are going through the airman’s mind as his death approaches. This choice of active voice is important because it gives all insight into the thoughts of the airman fighting on the edge of death. It is the poet who is imagining these thoughts.

9 . Chinese ancient poetry was the heart and soul of Chinese anient literature. Poems and songs have been the means of entertainment of men from the earliest times onwards Records of Chinese ancient poetry have largely been found, from which a large amount of knowledge of ancient poetry of China can be obtained. Chinese ancient poetry was primarily written to be chanted or sung.

The poetic persona (表面形象) is a feature of classical Chinese poetry. The persona appears when the poem is written from the viewpoint of some other person. Some poems are comments on the then contemporary society and life. Images and symbolism are deeply associated with Chinese ancient poetry. Chinese ancient poems, although apparently simple in the first reading, have deeper and greater meanings when read intensively.

The earliest Chinese ancient poetry begins with The Book of Songs which is a collection of 305 poems. It was the first comprehensive compilation (辑) of Chinese ancient poems. Each poem in The Book of Songs was set to music and could be sung. Folk songs made up the most part of the book!Confucius, the great ancient philosopher, was fond of this book. It was also the accepted textbook of the Confucian school.

Chinese poetic history is extremely long and colorful. The Tang dynasty, the golden age of Chinese ancient poetry, produced many famous poems. Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty, was compiled by Heng Tang Tui Shi of the Qing dynasty. This was used for very many years to teach primary students.

Almost everything is the subject of Chinese ancient poetry including marriage, agriculture, courtship(求爱), sorrow and joys, romance, heroic deeds and so on. Generally, each poem is usually composed of lines of four, five or seven syllables. Translations of Chinese ancient poems are available in books and also online. Now these beautiful poems have attracted readers all over the world.

10 . For the instinctive writer, there’s the thrill of never knowing what will happen next and just going where the music takes you. It’s magical to write that way.     1     When someone asked the nineteenth century French poet Charles Baudelaire where he got his inspiration, he replied, “Madame, I brush my teeth every morning.” No, it’s not a serious answer, but what else could he say?

Quite often, your best lines and melodies will just pop into your head, and you don’t understand how or why. Instinctive writing depends completely on that moment, so everything is a surprise.     2    . And more often than not, instinctive writers are also the groundbreakers. With no rules to hold them back, they often find brand-new ways of saying things.

The problem is that instinctive writers usually don’t bother paying any attention to craft; essentially, they write blind. If they’re fortunate enough to experience critical or commercial success, it becomes very frightening. Since there’s no craft to back them up, they never know if the magic will be there when they need it. That stops them from doing anything involving a deadline (writing for films, television, or Broadway), co-writing on specific projects (like with an artist who’s recording a CD in two weeks), or even rewriting their own songs.     3    .

For instance, I was 14 when I had my first hit, a song called “Society’s Child.” I’d written a total of 15 songs. Since I also sang and recorded the song, people identified me closely with the song itself. Audiences twice my age were hanging on my every word. Critics would ask me to explain a lyric from my album, and all I could do was smile mysteriously. Three years after I wrote “Society’s Child,” I left the music industry, feeling like a cheat. It wasn’t until I’d written other successful songs like “Jesse,” and then “Stars,” that I felt qualified to call myself a songwriter.

Years later, discussing that period of my life with well-known acting teacher Stella Adler, I finally understood what had happened. Stella said, “Janis, you reached an age where talent was not enough.” She was exactly right.     4    .