Wednesday’s lecture on written discourse left me with several doubts regarding the analyses of trends in the rhetoric of several language groups. In particular, I found Kaplans’ and Cai’s theories on Chinese rhetoric highly debatable. While the four-part qi-cheng-zhuan-he structure is evident in Oriental writing, it is but a sweeping supposition that the general styles of writing in a language group are shaped by the structure of its poetry.
I recall an English poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost. It was featured in the novel “The Outsiders” by S.E Hinton. The poem was so beautifully written, that its meaning only reveals itself after several times of reading. I learnt later that this particular poem earned Frost a Pulitzer Prize in 1931.
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
In essence, Frost conveys the message that nothing remains pure and perfect for long. The opening lines suggest that things (i.e. youth, friendship, love) are beautiful in its purest, yet they are hard to preserve. The next few lines suggest that beauty is but temporary, and it fades with time and maturity. Then, Frost portrays sin destroying beauty, and how it is lost forever.
As I interpreted the poem, I noticed that it has a structure very similar to the qi-cheng-zhuan-he structure. In the first two lines, Frost introduces the topic (Qi). Next, he develops the topic by using the analogy of a blooming tree in spring (Cheng). In line 6, he turns to a side topic (Zhuan), albeit with relevance to the main context. Eden is a biblical reference to the Garden of Eden. The meaning of this line has to be interpreted in depth by the reader with external knowledge. (writer responsibility) Finally, Frost deftly concludes the poem with one fitting line (He).
Unless it is by pure coincidence, it seems to suggest that the qi-cheng-zhuan-he structure is used not only in Chinese poetry, but also in English poetry; and possibly in poetries of other languages. One can only question the correlation between the style of writing and the structure of poetry. If the correlation exists, does it mean that poems by Frost and other great English poets also have a significant effect on the structure of English writing?
Although there are several writing styles that can be associated with the various language groups, certain styles are used across cultures and evolve from a complex combination of social factors. To me, it is far too difficult to determine a correlation between general writing styles and poetry structures. Having said that, I am eager to let my thoughts be challenged by other (less profoundly written) poems. After all, Frost was flawed in his writing. Isn’t his poem itself golden through the ages?
I recall an English poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost. It was featured in the novel “The Outsiders” by S.E Hinton. The poem was so beautifully written, that its meaning only reveals itself after several times of reading. I learnt later that this particular poem earned Frost a Pulitzer Prize in 1931.
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
In essence, Frost conveys the message that nothing remains pure and perfect for long. The opening lines suggest that things (i.e. youth, friendship, love) are beautiful in its purest, yet they are hard to preserve. The next few lines suggest that beauty is but temporary, and it fades with time and maturity. Then, Frost portrays sin destroying beauty, and how it is lost forever.
As I interpreted the poem, I noticed that it has a structure very similar to the qi-cheng-zhuan-he structure. In the first two lines, Frost introduces the topic (Qi). Next, he develops the topic by using the analogy of a blooming tree in spring (Cheng). In line 6, he turns to a side topic (Zhuan), albeit with relevance to the main context. Eden is a biblical reference to the Garden of Eden. The meaning of this line has to be interpreted in depth by the reader with external knowledge. (writer responsibility) Finally, Frost deftly concludes the poem with one fitting line (He).
Unless it is by pure coincidence, it seems to suggest that the qi-cheng-zhuan-he structure is used not only in Chinese poetry, but also in English poetry; and possibly in poetries of other languages. One can only question the correlation between the style of writing and the structure of poetry. If the correlation exists, does it mean that poems by Frost and other great English poets also have a significant effect on the structure of English writing?
Although there are several writing styles that can be associated with the various language groups, certain styles are used across cultures and evolve from a complex combination of social factors. To me, it is far too difficult to determine a correlation between general writing styles and poetry structures. Having said that, I am eager to let my thoughts be challenged by other (less profoundly written) poems. After all, Frost was flawed in his writing. Isn’t his poem itself golden through the ages?
Thanks for providing a good example to challenge the use of the four part structure in the analysis of Chinese poems. I think your analysis is very valid in the analysis of the poem by Frost, through which I can appreciate it much better. A great post.
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