Three like tones
only come together when divided by a "cesura," _e.
only come together when divided by a "cesura," _e.
Waley - 170 Chinese Poems
_
(_a_) According to the investigations of Chu Hua, an eighteenth century
critic, only thirty-four rhymes were used. They were, indeed, assonances
of the roughest kind.
(_b_) "Deflected" words are used for rhyming as freely as "flat" words.
(_c_) Tone-arrangement. The tones were disregarded. (Lines can be found
in pre-T'ang poems in which five deflected tones occur in succession, an
arrangement which would have been painful to the ear of a T'ang writer
and would probably have been avoided by classical poets even when using
the old style. )
_Lu-shih (New Style). _
(_a_) The rhymes used are the "106" of modern dictionaries (not those of
the Odes, as Giles states). Rhymes in the flat tone are preferred. In a
quatrain the lines which do not rhyme must end on the opposite tone to
that of the rhyme. This law is absolute in _Lu-shih_ and a tendency in
this direction is found even in _Ku-shih_.
(_b_) There is a tendency to antithetical arrangement of tones in the
two lines of a couplet, especially in the last part of the lines.
(_c_) A tendency for the tones to go in _pairs_, _e. g. _ (A lat, B deflected): AA BBA or ABB AA, rather than in _threes_.
Three like tones
only come together when divided by a "cesura," _e. g. _, the line BB / AAA
would be avoided, but not the line BBAA / ABB.
(_d_) Verbal parallelism in the couplet, _e. g. _:
After long illness one first realizes that seeking medicines is
a mistake;
In one's decaying years one begins to repent that one's study of
books was deferred.
This device, used with some discretion in T'ang, becomes an irritating
trick in the hands of the Sung poets.
THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF CHINESE POETRY
_The Odes. _--From the songs current in his day Confucius (551-479 B. C. )
chose about three hundred which he regarded as suitable texts for his
ethical and social teaching. Many of them are eulogies of good rulers or
criticisms of bad ones. Out of the three hundred and five still extant
only about thirty are likely to interest the modern reader. Of these
half deal with war and half with love. Many translations exist, the best
being those of Legge in English and of Couvreur in French. There is
still room for an English translation displaying more sensitivity to
word-rhythm than that of Legge.
(_a_) According to the investigations of Chu Hua, an eighteenth century
critic, only thirty-four rhymes were used. They were, indeed, assonances
of the roughest kind.
(_b_) "Deflected" words are used for rhyming as freely as "flat" words.
(_c_) Tone-arrangement. The tones were disregarded. (Lines can be found
in pre-T'ang poems in which five deflected tones occur in succession, an
arrangement which would have been painful to the ear of a T'ang writer
and would probably have been avoided by classical poets even when using
the old style. )
_Lu-shih (New Style). _
(_a_) The rhymes used are the "106" of modern dictionaries (not those of
the Odes, as Giles states). Rhymes in the flat tone are preferred. In a
quatrain the lines which do not rhyme must end on the opposite tone to
that of the rhyme. This law is absolute in _Lu-shih_ and a tendency in
this direction is found even in _Ku-shih_.
(_b_) There is a tendency to antithetical arrangement of tones in the
two lines of a couplet, especially in the last part of the lines.
(_c_) A tendency for the tones to go in _pairs_, _e. g. _ (A lat, B deflected): AA BBA or ABB AA, rather than in _threes_.
Three like tones
only come together when divided by a "cesura," _e. g. _, the line BB / AAA
would be avoided, but not the line BBAA / ABB.
(_d_) Verbal parallelism in the couplet, _e. g. _:
After long illness one first realizes that seeking medicines is
a mistake;
In one's decaying years one begins to repent that one's study of
books was deferred.
This device, used with some discretion in T'ang, becomes an irritating
trick in the hands of the Sung poets.
THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF CHINESE POETRY
_The Odes. _--From the songs current in his day Confucius (551-479 B. C. )
chose about three hundred which he regarded as suitable texts for his
ethical and social teaching. Many of them are eulogies of good rulers or
criticisms of bad ones. Out of the three hundred and five still extant
only about thirty are likely to interest the modern reader. Of these
half deal with war and half with love. Many translations exist, the best
being those of Legge in English and of Couvreur in French. There is
still room for an English translation displaying more sensitivity to
word-rhythm than that of Legge.
