「流亡」是構成兩岸現代主義詩歌最顯著的風景之一。「流亡」意味被迫離開家園，與它相關的情感不外乎鄉愁、邊緣與疏離。然而，流亡與寫作的關係，卻往往是苦澀與超越的不斷拉鋸。本文援引薩依德關於流亡「實際的」和「隱喻的」的雙重視角，將焦點鎖定戰後分別參與了台灣與中國的現代主義詩歌之崛起的商禽與北島，藉此觀察流亡與創作之間的動態關係。本文分成三個部分，首先是討論「流亡」的定義及相關理論的演繹，其次是觀察同樣經歷被迫遠走他鄉的商禽與北島如何在詩中表達流離的經驗與存在的辨證，最後則是從詩歌語言的角度分析作為隱喻的流亡概念如何結合於現代主義詩歌美學的實踐。透過商禽與北島作品的並置與分析，本文指出，兩位詩人的現代主義詩歌遠遠不是脫離了現實的懸空之物，而是對應了時代與生存經驗的關於人生與藝術的試探。

”Exile” is a recurring theme in modernist poetry both in Taiwan and mainland China. Exile has come to mean the compulsion to be compelled to leave one's homeland, either by force or voluntarily. Nostalgia, alienation and marginalization are feelings evoked by exile. However, the relation between exile and writing is far more complex and dialectical in its struggles between anguish and transcendence, confinement and creativity. Applying Edward Said's perspectives on exile as both an actual and metaphorical condition, this paper focuses on two modernist poets who both experienced physical exile - Shang Qin and Bei Dao, one Taiwanese and one Chinese respectively. It will examine how the poets' descriptions of ”exile” are not only the reflections of their own personal experiences caused by particular historical circumstances, but also serve as models to explore the universality of the human conditions, wherein lies the poets' challenge to what poetry ought to be.