Chinese Old Poems Analysis Nineteen Old Poems - Essay Example

Chinese Old Poems Analysis – Nineteen Old Poems The Nineteen Old Poems refers to an anthology of Chineseold poems that consist of nineteen poems aging from the era of Han Dynasty: 206 BCE to 220 CE. Thus, they refer to a seminal collection of poems for their inherent literary qualities and historical position among the poetic custom. Much critical evaluation has naturally centered on the authorship and dates of the pieces. Unfortunately, there lacks a clear evidence of authorship that has left people in an arousing controversy, cloud and a discussion that keeps on appearing even today. Nevertheless, poems number five, thirteen and fifteen share common themes. Examples of the themes are courtship & love; the beautiful female; the abandoned female; admonition & eulogy; injustice & hardship; and the wandering male; among others. More so, there are several differences and similarities emanate from the prosody like rhyme; tonal patterning; and systematic rhythm. The poem share common characteristics from two perspectives: that of a lonely female in her marriage longing for her lover; and that of a male who, forced to relocate miles away, perceives his life as a continuous journey. Consequently, the three poems from the Nineteen Old Poems feature diction in terms of rhyming and alliterative biome; animating words & structuring; and allusion. In addition, most of the poems in the 19 old poems describe confused political situation that contributed to miseries for the lower or middle class citizens. The life miseries here are death, sickness and separation. The themes depicted in the three poems do represent the grief of bidding goodbye to family and parents; moan due to the short life expectancy; citizen’s helplessness due to illness and poverty; and the journey’s hardship. Some of the poems do talk about the wealth and plentiful living of aristocracy. The desire to live long is a main theme in all the three poems in this discussion. The poems’ idea originated from the view of female, regarding their anxiety for their on-journey husbands and the lamenting of the husband’s death or infidelity. These poems do significantly impose an influence on the expansion of poetry in Chinese. In addition, the poems offer people a truthful and deep view regarding the social situation and living condition of Han Dynasty. The writers based the old poems on subtle styles, which are not like folk songs. The subtle styles do express emotions and feelings in direct ways. The poet of these old poems initially discussed a topic regarding the woman’s loneliness before marriage. This signifies the hope or eagerness of a strong union between husband and wife after marriage. Yet, even after the woman got married she appeared lonely and worried about the waste of her youth. More so, the woman worries significantly about the loyalty of her husband. The traditional critic raises a discussion of whether the three poems are literary poems or actual lyrics of a song. The feedback to such a question has essential impacts in relation to the discussion of authorship. This discussion suggests that the three old poems are lyrics of famous songs originating from Hand Dynasty. Professional musicians and singers created the lyrics. Well, since there is a shortage of direct evidence, it is a challenge to prove that statement right. Nevertheless, when analysts do approach the discussion from distinct directions and adopt new concepts or methods, they can convincingly demonstrate that the old poems are famous’ song lyrics. Under a threat from the signs of death, the poets are anxious to seek solutions for relief and comfort because of the painful and brief life they were facing. For instance, the poets decided that it was time to make merry and enjoy life. More so, the poets decided to wear white and soft clothes made of silk. Such a content of making merry, taking delicious drinks & food, and dressing in beautiful clothes do signify a materialistic indulgence. The materialistic symbol presents itself in the poem thirteen where the poet states that he drove his carriage out to the Upper East Gate. More so, the carriage driving and merry making signifies a timely satisfying of a person’s rank and desires. The poet does such activities as though, satisfying the earthly desires could assist him forgets the fear of the unknown death. The poets present this theme through considering aspects such as friendship and love as invaluable things in the deplorable and transient life. The poems are succinct, condensed, plain and natural. Each word is worth hundred gold pieces and the work celebrates the spectaculars artistic achievements among the Chinese poetry. On the note of expressing feelings, the three ancient poems do not only posses the philosophical impacts characteristics in relation to literati masterpiece, but the candid genuineness of folk songs, as well. Even though, the poets do not have affectation and are rich of significant courage they show their earnest desire and inner world to grab the meaning of life. In particular, these old poems possess the skills of using scenery descriptions to express and set off feelings. What made the travelling male lose hope of returning home to his wife? Well, the poem hardly elaborates the reasons. Nevertheless, from the tall towers full of floating cloud that block the white sun, the guess emanates that the suspended cloud signifies omen, something that hinders the humid sunshine. Her sunshine was the traveler. The cloud blocked her sunshine. Well, the cloud might be an unpleasant situation, which hindered the traveler from returning home. The cloud here might imply another woman, job dilemma or a poor health condition. The possibilities were numerous, which made the woman’s mind think and think, spin and spin…. More so, the old poems in this discussion do share two different themes. In an era when securing a job in the government offices simply meant having friends or connections. Unfortunately, for the poor and educated citizens they had to leave their homes and family in search for any available job in the government offices. It is not a surprise that such searches do take years, which require the scholar to travel constantly. The travelling demands the scholars to stay away from home and leave the wife because he cannot travel alongside his wife. The initial theme relates to the lonesomeness of the poor scholars in their desperate and long quest. The last theme depicts women’s loneliness at home who wait their husbands to come back home. In the nineteen old poems number five, Chi Liang’s wife plays a sound of song and strings that signify sadness in her marriage. Nevertheless, the poet does not pity the wife, but the people who hardly understand the strings or song. More so, number thirteen of the nineteen ancient poems illustrate how short life of a man is, and the same life is insufficient of the firmness from stone or metal. The times of cold and heat surrounds the unending succession of a man. Consequently, the wise men and sages do spend lots of years, but they hardly get a solution for ending the daily struggles. Nevertheless, most people search for ways of prolonging life using potions and fasts. Unfortunately, the failure to get cure forces some poor scholars to commit suicide by taking poison. The poet decides to enjoy by taking fine wine and wearing soft and white clothes despite the challenges in life. This signifies the pregnancy of hope in the sense that the poet hopes that tomorrow will be better than today. The first line of nineteen old poems XV depicts that the life expectancy of a human being hardly reaches a hundred years. The distance to where the husband went was far away just like her helplessness and sadness. The road to where the husband was not only obstructed, but also long. She was in a helpless situation and wondered whether she would see her husband again. The few years that a poor scholar lives are full of fears, a short day and a long night. The poet states that it is best to balance between the light and dark through merry-making while enjoying life with what it serves. More so, the poet states that foolish people do value and treasure their stock after a generations ridicule. Such a poor scholar will never end his fate and will never a role model for anyone. The poets expressed their contradictions between reality & ideals and their unfortunate life experiences. Even though, the poem fifteen was as a result of the tragic life of a scholar, it was rich in relation to emotions portrayed in the poem. The disastrous sentiments represented in the three poems fall into three significant groups: the indulgence of the fragility of life; the sorrow of uneventful lives; and soreness of separation from friends/family members. More so, the poems reflect the sorrow of life and the richness of melancholy emotions. The poets did not ignore the power of images because they used them to provide the logic of melancholy. Consequently, the poets used two categories of images: man-made and natural. Such images are significant for inferring the loneliness of the lives of the poets. For instance, nineteen old poem number fifteen evaluates the poem from an artistic position. The major points of discussion based on the structure and language of each poem. For instance, the poets show their sincerity in terms of emotions, the straightforwardness of language; and the unique nature of a poet. The poet portrays two crucial structures in the three poems. The initial is linear structure where the poets reflect emotions and images in a continuous arrangement. On the other hand, the final structure shows emotions and images that reflect a fundamental idea or theme. It is through the two structures that the poets translate abstract feelings into concrete imagery. Apart from the use of images, the poets in the three poems (number five, thirteen and fifteen) share a common theme of an abandoned wife. Such a theme entails the women impersonation by the literati poets. For instance, the poet in number five plays a sound of song and strings that are rich in sadness. Consequently, the theme of a wandering man is also common not only in the three poems in this discussion, but also in the rest of the nineteen old poems. A theme like that of a wandering male endures in terms of explaining the aspects of politics and culture. Moreover, the theme entails a wide selection of motifs and typos: the physical challenges of travelling on official obligations; the manifestation of exploitation and famine; and the departure of an adored family member. It does not depend on whether literati poets are for wholesome literary exercise or genuine self-expression, what matters is that the literati poets do habitually select to show the sense of loneliness. More so, the literati poets in the three poems in this discussion show the aspect of wanderers who perpetually yearn to return home to their wives. However, in real life politics and culture does not solely entail suffering and travail. The literati poets do enjoy a leisurely lifestyle, which is closely relates to the majestic court. Apart from evaluating the principal themes in the three poems, it is essential to discuss the Chinese prosody. Well, talking about prosody on the basis of tonal meter and rhyme would keep off the significant discussion of the Chinese poetry. For a detailed understanding of the nineteen old poems and their prosody, it is essential to consider semantic rhythm. This discussion falls on the basis of conventional pauses linking the syntactic units in a verse’s line. However, in all Chinese poetry semantic rhythm plays a vital role in making Chinese characters monosyllabic. For instance, in most sentences a character might function either independently like a simple verb or depend on a combination of two characters (a biome). The three poems do emphasize the unavoidability of death, the vanity of fortune & fame; and briefness of life. Poem 13 shows a woman who search consolation from the community and earthly pleasures like music and wine. However, all the poems deal with the universal condition of the poet and portray unrelenting melancholy. More so, the directness and simplicity of the three poems provides an enduring appeal. The three poems show natural aspects that symbolize certain meanings in life. The lonely woman in poem five describes the presence of floating clouds in the tall tower stands, which might signify some challenges to her husband. For instance, the floating clouds might signify the presence of the challenges the husband faces, another woman or death. Nevertheless, the lonely woman continues to play a sad melody through the use of sound songs and strings. In the modern world, there are numerous texts existing in a multi-dimensional space. For a text to open up, it must have numerous meanings in the end convergence within readers. Consequently, the three poems discuss some essential lyric arts such as the emotional content in terms of loneliness of the wives and wandering husbands. Another lyric involves an emotional truth especially from the poets who lose emotional experience and suffer due to the absence of a spouse. In addition, there is a lyric of language and structure arts that help in the generation’s success impacted by emotions. The three poems offer some teaching for a modern person. For instance, poem number fifteen states that people should enjoy life at all times and forget the challenges they face. Nevertheless, the poems share numerous similarities and few differences as this article discusses. Read More