Chinese Poetry
Things to Consider:
-
Themes
-
Imagery
-
Taoism
-
Chinese Literature Resources
-
Poems of the T'ang Dynasty
** Homework Questions **
713:
-
What is the "Shih" form?
-
How is Chinese poetry universally accessible?
-
What distinctions are made in Chinese poetry between the mountains and
the city?
716:
Li Po (701-762)
"Drinking Alone By Moonlight"
-
Why does the speaker need to drink?
-
Explain: "A cup of wine levels life and death / And a thousand
things obstinately hard to prove" (7-8).
717:
Po Chu-I (742-846)
"In Early Summer Lodging"
-
Why do the three men go to the temple?
-
Whose "golden ghost was born"(17)? What phenomenon does this refer
to?
-
In lines 17-20, what literary technique is used? Explain.
719:
Yuan Chen (779-831)
"The Pitcher"
-
What does the pitcher represent to the speaker? Explain.
-
How do dead men "find their way to the world above the grave" (25)?
Other Discussion Questions:
714:
716:
"Clearing at Dawn"
-
How is the tone of this poem different from that of "Drinking Alone"?
718:
"At the End of Spring"
-
Why does the speaker seek comfort in the Doctrine of Tao?
-
How does it comfort him, if at all?
"The Chrysanthemums in the Eastern Garden"
-
Why can wine no longer bring comfort to the speaker?
-
What effect do the chrysanthemums have on the speaker?
-
How does this poem compare with "Drinking Alone"?
Back to Top