Chapter 44: Founder of the Impressionist Movement

Liu Shi and Shaw Bo Na were preparing to leave.

Just then, the door swung open,

Cooper walked in with a young man in his twenties. Upon seeing Lu, he couldn't help but sigh with relief,

"I went to Blyer Road and Adelphi in succession, but couldn't find you."

Then, Cooper stepped aside and introduced the young man beside him, saying, "Lu, this is Mr. Robert Ross, a friend of Mr. Wilde's. He came all the way from Paris to see you, wanting to talk about your poetry."

"Friend" was a relatively obscure term,

Those who understood, understood.

Ross smiled gently, "Mr. Lu, I won't shake hands with you."

Lu was taken aback for a moment, then understood why the other said so. He raised his opinion of the other even higher and said, "In that case, we won't shake hands."

Ross nodded, "Indeed, to write such lines, Mr. Lu must be an incredibly sincere person. This time I came to London, it's to borrow your poem as Oscar's epitaph. I believe, if it can be done, he would be very happy."

This was a very serious matter.

Lu couldn't help but ponder.

Shaw said from the side, "Mr. Ross, if I remember correctly, Mr. Wilde had gray eyes. And 'A Generation'... Um, 'A Generation' is the name of that poem."

"A generation..."

Ross repeated these three words over and over.

After a while, he said, "Truly, it's a romantic name."

Shaw said, "Mr. Ross, poetry and epitaphs are different. The former focuses on conveying and expressing, while the latter needs to be in line with the deceased, so..."

That's why he mentioned Wilde's eye color.

"The black night gave me black eyes,

But I use them to search for light."

The whole poem had only two lines, and the images in the poem were all very common in daily life:

black night, black eyes, light.

Combining these common intentions and using seemingly contradictory twists, the whole poem could contain a wonderful rationality.

This was the characteristic of poetry—

to convey and express.

However, if this poem were used as an epitaph, the black eyes would conflict with Wilde's eye color.

Lu also followed Shaw's line of thought and said, "Frankly, Mr. Wilde said so many witty sayings. Using my poetry as his epitaph would inevitably give people a feeling of taking advantage of someone else's work."

This was the truth.

Wilde had too many witty sayings,

For example, "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance," if this line were carved on a tombstone, it would instantly elevate its tone.

Or, "Except genius, all is emptiness."

This sentence was said by Wilde when he was invited to speak in the United States to the customs officials, and the customs only asked him if he had anything to declare.

Would someone as pretentious as him really want to use someone else's poetry as his epitaph?

Ross fell into thought,

After a while, he said softly, "Mr. Lu, I still firmly believe in my opinion."

Lu and Shaw looked at each other.

Shaw glanced at Ross and smiled,

"I have to talk about another feature of 'A Generation.'"

Ross was curious,

"What?"

Shaw replied with a smile, "This is a modernist poem, so... ah... the poet himself is here, do I need to interpret anything?"

Everyone's eyes fell on Lu.

Lu was speechless,

Other protagonists acted so aloof, standing with their hands behind their backs, looking like a recluse,

The interpretation was completely left to others.

Then, the other supporting characters applauded, full of admiration,

It turned out the protagonist was so powerful!

But why was it completely different when it came to himself?

If one had to write poetry themselves, they had to write it themselves,

And explaining it also had to be done by oneself.

Lu cleared his throat,

"The characteristic of modernist poetry can be summed up in one sentence, which is 'opposite to classical poetry.' Simply put, it uses plain and understandable language to directly express the poet's thoughts or the emotions during creation."

Shaw nodded,

"So, I think this poem, 'A Generation,' as Mr. Wilde's epitaph also has its merits."

Everyone agreed,

Because this poem was written by Lu to mourn Wilde, emotionally speaking, it was very fitting.

Lu said, "In fact, 'A Generation' is not a simple modernist poem, but rather an Impressionist poem."

Shaw was puzzled,

"What is 'Impressionism'?"

Lu suddenly remembered that Impressionism only appeared in the 1970s of the 20th century,

And it was unique to China.

He coughed awkwardly and explained, "It's actually an implicit expression of emotions through a series of trivial images, not worth mentioning."

Shaw thought for a moment, shaking his head,

"Professor Lu, why are you always so humble? How can you say it's not worth mentioning? This poem 'A Generation' perfectly fits the characteristics you mentioned, and it can indeed stand on its own. In the future, someone will definitely regard this writing style as a model."

Next, Shaw went on to output for a long time.

Meanwhile, there was a faint rustling sound coming from beside him,

Lu looked over and found that Scott had somehow taken out pen and paper and was earnestly recording Shaw's speech.

Noticing Lu's gaze, Scott smiled and silently asked, "Lu, tomorrow's headline is set, isn't it great?"

Asking while recording, not delaying either.

Lu's mouth twitched slightly,

He hadn't expected to have earned the title of "Founder of Impressionism" a few days ago, and now he was the "Founder of Impressionism."

Finally, Shaw finished speaking,

He looked at Lu,

"Professor Lu, am I right?"

Lu hadn't really listened just now, he could only say reluctantly, "Yes, Headmaster Shaw is indeed a literary giant. Besides being knowledgeable about drama, he is also so familiar with poetry."

Shaw laughed heartily,

"I knew it. Since Professor Lu called it 'Impressionism,' it means there must be other works besides 'A Generation.'"

"Of course there are other... er..."

Lu couldn't help but swallow his saliva and ask, "So, when you asked me 'Am I right' just now, were you referring to this? Were you asking if I had any other works?"

Shaw was puzzled and asked back, "Isn't it? What else could it be?"

Others nodded,

"Yeah, that's what it was."

Shaw smiled and said, "Professor Lu, everyone wants to see your other works."

Lu originally wanted to refuse, but when his gaze swept over Ross, he thought of the recent war of words sparked by Wilde and felt a surge of impulse,

He took pen and paper and wrote down a title—

"Response."

Everyone couldn't help but get excited.

But soon, this excitement turned into silence,

"Baseness is the passport of the mean,

Nobleness is the epitaph of the noble.

Look, in that gilded sky,

Floats the bent reflection of the dead.

..."

Reading this poem, a surge of emotion rushed into the hearts of everyone present.

Shaw took a deep breath and came to Scott's side, whispering, "With this one poem, it's worth a thousand words. Editor Scott, retract the article I just gave you, there's no need for it anymore."