本书分内篇、外篇和杂篇三部分。内篇为入乎其内的现代诗歌文本内部研究，主要讨论现代诗歌作为诗歌最为基本的几个问题，比如诗歌的行列形式、诗歌语言的运行特点及规律、诗歌艺术是否成立的判断标准与是否优秀的判断尺度、诗味何在又何出、“诗到语言为止”这一命题其合理性何在以及诗歌中的悬念等。外篇为出乎其外的现代诗歌的时空处境研究，主要讨论现代诗歌经历了长达百年的重重磨难后仍然面临的以下困惑：我们与诗歌之间本来就存在着一种“古老的敌意”，而现在，又“与时俱进”地平添了许多的现代性冲突，如何面对这样的冲突？影像时代喧然到来，传统艺术备受冲击，诗歌艺术如何于此视听轰炸的时代守护自己的艺术疆域？在经历了多年的探索与实验之后，中国现代诗歌在目前所谓的互文性语境下如何处理艺术的自主性与大众化方向？当代口语诗的现状如何？呈现出何种走向？杂篇为比较具体的诗人与作品的文本阐释，既有对全国性著名诗人（如于坚、伊沙、海子、赵丽华、老乡、娜夜、高凯等）的文本解读，也有对作者所在的甘肃省本土优秀诗人如王元中、李继宗、李王强诗歌作品的个案分析。全书立足于认真的文本释读，纵论现代诗歌的艰难历程，直面现代诗歌的当下处境，思考现代诗歌的未来走向，同时坦陈对当下著名诗人以及活跃诗人的独立诗见，论题多元，文笔清通，不乏新颖见解，是一部值得一读的现代诗学专著。

The book is divided into three parts: internal, external and miscellaneous. The inner part is an internal study of modern poetry texts, mainly discussing the most basic issues of modern poetry as poetry, such as the form of poetry, the operating characteristics and laws of poetic language, the judgment criteria for whether poetic art is established and whether it is excellent, where and where the poetic taste comes out, what is the rationality of the proposition "poetry ends with language", and the suspense in poetry. The outer part is a study of the temporal and spatial situation of modern poetry, mainly discussing the following confusion that modern poetry still faces after a hundred years of suffering: There is an "ancient hostility" between us and poetry, and now, "keeping pace with the times" has added many conflicts of modernity. With the arrival of the age of video, traditional art has been greatly impacted, how can poetry protect its artistic territory in this era of audiovisual bombardment? After years of exploration and experimentation, how does modern Chinese poetry deal with the autonomy and popularization of art in the current so-called intertextual context? What is the current state of contemporary spoken word poetry? What is the trend? The miscellaneous essays are textual interpretations of more specific poets and works, including textual interpretations of famous national poets (such as Yu Jian, Yisha, Haizi, Zhao Lihua, Laoxiang, Na Ye, Gao Kai, etc.), as well as case studies of the poetry works of outstanding local poets such as Wang Yuanzhong, Li Jizong, and Li Wangqiang in Gansu Province where the author is located. Based on careful textual interpretation, the book discusses the difficult course of modern poetry, faces the current situation of modern poetry, thinks about the future trend of modern poetry, and frankly expresses independent poetry views on famous poets and active poets of the present.（AI翻译）