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Western cultural Chinese influence
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Often times, writers have their own unique source of inspiration. Many write about what they know, what they have seen, or where they have been. Literature comes from all over the world and every piece contains a hint about the period and place it was written in. The authors of lyric poems have their own special way of demonstrating his or hers’ culture and way of life. Poems derived from Greece, China, and Egypt are different in their own ways due to the fact that beliefs and practices vary in each region. Some areas emphasize traditional values whereas some encourage adaptation to contemporary practices. Ways of life and romances are depicted in various manners because beliefs are not the same throughout the world nor are they written in the same era as shown by authors from China, Egypt, and Greece.
Lyric poems from China have a more worldly perspective than those from Greece or Egypt. Beginning with the practices, whether religious or nonreligious, in China, Li Bo demonstrated the spiritual nature found on earth and the world outside of worlds. Li Bo’s lyrical style reflected folk songs through the use of everyday, bold language. These lyrics were intended to let the public hear the voices and the struggles everyday people in his community faced. This was especially important during the time of imperial China where there were periods of unrest and rebellion amongst its people. However, despite invasions and disputes, it was also deemed fairly stable with an emphasis on artistry. Due to times of stress and tranquility, his lyrics emphasized greatness in spiritual values. Li Bo’s work referred and accentuated the beauty of nature and worldly beliefs. Often times, his work discussed topics of heaven, nature, and human struggle...
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...speaks highly of love and loss like Sappho, the nature of love like Li Bo, and the familiarity and emotional love songs like the writers of Egypt.
Time and regions play a great deal in a poet’s work. Cultural differences and practices define the topics these writers are inspired by. Li Bo’s worldly perspective, his emphasis on nature and the heaven, contrasted with the more romantic view of the Greek and Egyptian poets. Though Sappho and the writers of the Egyptian love poems both talked about the power of adoration, their work still differed from one another. The poets of Egypt highlighted younger, intense passionate love whereas, Sappho wrote about love in a more practical, realistic, and darker perspective. Despite where ancient lyric poems came from, they all severed a purpose and that is to get their readers to feel for their writing on a more emotional level.
...ery and veiled political references in Bei Dao’s poem, “Notes from the City of the Sun”, are used to exemplify the struggles of the people during the Cultural Revolution.
Comparing the Forgotten God of Love in Robert Bridges’ Poem EPÙÓ and Anne Stevenson’s Poem Eros
Each literary work portrays something different, leaving a unique impression on all who read that piece of writing. Some poems or stories make one feel happy, while others are more solemn. This has very much to do with what the author is talking about in his or her writing, leaving a bit of their heart and soul in the work. F. Scott Fitzgerald, when writing The Great Gatsby, wrote about the real world, yet he didn’t paint a rosy picture for the reader. The same can be said about T.S. Eliot, whose poem “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,” presents his interpretation of hell. Both pieces of writing have many similarities, but the most similar of them all is the tone of each one.
Literature shows us the changes of our society from time to time. It also gives us an idea about people, culture, politics, gender traditions, as well as an overall view of previous civilizations. As a part of literature, poetry introduces us to different cultures with different perspectives. Ancient Egypt and ancient China may differ in terms of culture, politics, economic stability, tradition, or even in religious belief. However, in poetry, especially in love lyrics both Egyptian and Chinese poems portray common area of describing women, social attitudes toward love, sexuality and the existence of romance or selfishness in relationships. . If we look at the Egyptian poem “My god, my Lotus” and the Chinese poem “Fishhawk”, we will see both poems have similarities in describing relationships. Also, they have the similarity of imagining the lovers and their expression of love toward each other. However, both poems have some significant differences in terms of representing female sexuality, gender disparity and the display of love.
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”
The definition of poetry, instead of becoming more selective and exact, has become a much more broad and open minded classification of literature. From It's beginning's in romanticist Puritan literature, to its more modernistic function on present society, poetry has become a way to blend the psychological side of human intellect, with the emotional side of human intuition and curiosity. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were two early poets from the late 19th century. Unlike Walt, Emily liked to write at home, she was a more secluded author who enjoyed to look out the window for inspiration. Walt on the other hand loved to travel. He found inspiration through nature and the diversity of thriving cultures throughout the world. Although these writers found inspiration from two different methods, their poems have distinct similarities in theme, images, and main ideas.
Nearly a thousand years ago, the country we now know as Japan was in the early stages of development. During that time China was considered the “center of the world,” therefore many other countries, including Japan, envied China’s power and wanted to borrow elements of their culture to become more like China. One of the many things that Japan “borrowed” from China was the high art of poetry. In this paper I will discuss elements in two major Japanese works of poetry: Man’yōshū and Kokinshū. By examining literary components of both anthologies I plan to make educated inferences about the roles they played in the time period they were compiled.
Poets were very prevalent in ancient China. Their poems often included vivid imagery of the land, romance, and praising of their leaders (“Chinese Poetry”). One of the most famous poets was Li Bai. Li Bai was also known as Li Po (“Li Bai”). Li Bai is now considered one of the greatest of the ancient Chinese poets, if not the greatest. Beginning at an early age, Li Bai had a deep love for words (“Biography of Li Bai”). When he grew up, he became a “wandering poet” (“Li Bai”). As a wandering poet, he got to meet a lot of people; eventually he became a very influential person in the Tang Dynasty. His influence would continue all the way to modern times. People often wonder what contributes to the influence a poet has on his or her community. For Li Bai, it was his love for travelling, his political positions, and his celebrity status which helped to increase the influence of his poems on everyday life in ancient China.
In Sappho's poems, she does not take on a typical point of view of love as she describes the allure and agony through her own experience. This alternative approach to love is shown in Sappho's poems 16 as she makes a connection between her own life and the emotions behind the Trojan war. Also, in 31 she describes a physical pain that opens up her life to the audience through her experience with jealousy. Another link between author and audience is seen in poem 94 as Sappho tells a story of her heartbreak. Then in Sappho's fragments 48 and 51, there are short personal phrases, allowing the readers to fill in the rest with their thoughts. It is with Sappho's first-person perspective that she creates an intimate connection with the audience
Some may say love is just an emotion while others may say it is a living and breathing creature. Songs and poems have been written about love for hundreds and thousands of years. Love has been around since the beginning of time, whether someone believes in the Big Bang or Adam and Eve. Without love, there wouldn’t be a world like it is known today. But with love, comes pain with it. Both William Shakespeare and Max Martin know and knew this. Both ingenious poets wrote love songs of pain and suffering as well as blossoming, newfound love. The eccentric ideal is both writers were born centuries apart. How could both know that love and pain work hand in hand when they were born 407 years apart? Love must never change then. Love survives and stays its original self through the hundreds and thousands of years it has been thriving. Though centuries apart, William Shakespeare and Max Martin share the same view on love whether i...
Relationships between two people can have a strong bond and through poetry can have an everlasting life. The relationship can be between a mother and a child, a man and a woman, or of one person reaching out to their love. No matter what kind of relationship there is, the bond between the two people is shown through literary devices to enhance the romantic impression upon the reader. Through Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham,” Ben Jonson’s “To Celia,” and William Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” relationships are viewed as a powerful bond, an everlasting love, and even a romantic hymn.
One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, this is the basic tales written by Dr. Seuss. Not only are these enjoyable children’s novels, but it is often times people’s first known exposure to the literary style of poetry. Poetry can be written in many different styles, with changing messages, tone, stanzas, rhyme, and length. Whether or not the difficulty level is low for a beginning reader, or written as an epic poem for a top level scholar, there is always a specific style and message that is being interpreted in the writing. These styles are studied and the most mysterious and inspirational poets are studied in literature classes; two academic individuals who have had a large impact on the poetic community are Aristotle and Alexander Pope.
This criticism stems from a disbelief that epics such as The Iliad and The Odyssey could have been formulated, maintained, and transmitted within an oral culture. However, new research on human memory and careful analysis of text reveals evidence that the textual style of each poem does emanate from one author.
There are an assorted of various characteristics included in poetry including Rhyme, Rhythm, and Mood. Some poems use rhyming words to create a certain effect but not all poems rhyme, poetry that doesn’t rhyme is called “free verse poetry”. Sometimes poets use repetition of sounds or patterns to create a musical effect in their poems, rhythm can be created by using the same number of words or syllables in each line of a poem. Rhythm can be described as the beat of the poem. The mood of a poem is the feeling that it has. A poem can be sad, gloomy, humorous, happy, etc. There are many more various characteristics in poetry including shape, figurative language, descriptive imagery, punctuation and format, sound and tone, and choice of
Poetry unlike fiction is solely based on the author’s personal take on a certain subject. The tone, diction, syntax, and mood of a poem are all determined by the author of the poem. For some readers, to interpret a poem or explain the plot can be a difficult task. Other forms of literature such, as fiction is much easier to understand and discuss.