A lecture theatre at the University of Hong Kong echoed to the sound of more than 170 secondary students emotively reciting a poem about a futile longing for love as its author listened on Monday.
'The tapping sound of my hoof is a beautiful misunderstanding. I'm not the man returning home. I'm just a passerby,' ends The Mistake, a poignant verse by renowned Chinese poet Zheng Chouyu, describing a woman hoping in vain for the return of her lover.
'The poem is so beautiful when it's recited in Cantonese,' the 74-year-old said at the Louis Cha Lecture Theatre at HKU during which he spoke about learning and teaching poems.
Packed with admirers of Professor Zheng to the extent that some students had to sit on the floor, the talk sparked an uninhibited exchange of thoughts between the honorary professor of Chinese at HKU and secondary students and their teachers, which included a request for the poet to read out one of his poems. He chose to recite The Little Island , a poem of deep love he wrote when he was a young man.
Elected poet-in-residence at Yale University several years ago, Professor Zheng said poetic sentiments were vital to creating poetry.
'The first kind of sentiments refers to one's feelings for the country, the nation, humanity and the environment. It stems from the macro point of view,' he said. 'Examples of the second type of sentiments are emotions arising from family and friends and between lovers.
'A poet should also contemplate life by asking questions like why and how certain things happened,' he added. 'Lastly, it's important to develop an interest in everyday life.'