But martial law was still in force and, in the wake of the Kaohsiung Incident, everyone was anxious. Some authors on the literary scene went so far as to have meetings to condemn the collection, but Sung stuck to his guns. "At worst, I'd stop writing and take up something else. I would have been fine living this life in silence."
然而當時仍處於戒嚴時期，「美麗島事件」後風聲鶴唳未歇，部分文壇作家甚至開討論會「聲討」這本詩集，但他不改本色，「頂多從此封筆，不在文藝界闖天下，即使此生默默也很好。」