“There is no reason at all why we shouldn’t think of it as a faithful record of a real encounter.” Is there any compelling reason to think his poetry diaristic in that way?
“it is only when we know something about a person’s history that the trivialities of his dress and deportment begin to take on significance” nice point
“Nineteen Old Poems” oooh it’s the same style as those!
“Vetch is a well known legume also known as common vetch or tares.”
“Hé-hūn: the albizzia julibrissia, a tree whose vetch-like leaves fold up at night time: hence the lady’s remark about its ‘knowing the time’.” I don’t exactly know this line does, what is the significance of sensitivity to the time?
“Once a woman has left her husband a thousand things will be said and believed of her, even though she is innocent, and her reputation is ruined past recovery.” Is this really the meaning of the spring water line? I find it rather unclear.
What’s the final line doing?
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How to Read Chinese Poetry, on another poem’s usage of a quote from this one: “Another level of equation is found in the second strophe, which contains an allusion to a couplet from the poem “Beautiful Lady” (Jiaren), by Du Fu (712–770): “The day is cold, her green sleeves thin; / The sun sets as she leans on slender bamboos.”11 Du Fu’s “Beautiful Lady” depicts a highbred woman who has become a wanderer after having lost her brothers and been abandoned by her husband in a time of chaos and disorder. To preserve her integrity and purity, she lives in seclusion and solitude. This comparison of the blossoming plum and the beautiful lady provides the background for the subsequent strophes.”
Re: 12. 佳人 Jiā-rén
“it is only when we know something about a person’s history that the trivialities of his dress and deportment begin to take on significance” nice point
“Nineteen Old Poems” oooh it’s the same style as those!
“Vetch is a well known legume also known as common vetch or tares.”
“Hé-hūn: the albizzia julibrissia, a tree whose vetch-like leaves fold up at night time: hence the lady’s remark about its ‘knowing the time’.” I don’t exactly know this line does, what is the significance of sensitivity to the time?
“Once a woman has left her husband a thousand things will be said and believed of her, even though she is innocent, and her reputation is ruined past recovery.” Is this really the meaning of the spring water line? I find it rather unclear.
What’s the final line doing?
—
How to Read Chinese Poetry, on another poem’s usage of a quote from this one: “Another level of equation is found in the second strophe, which contains an allusion to a couplet from the poem “Beautiful Lady” (Jiaren), by Du Fu (712–770): “The day is cold, her green sleeves thin; / The sun sets as she leans on slender bamboos.”11 Du Fu’s “Beautiful Lady” depicts a highbred woman who has become a wanderer after having lost her brothers and been abandoned by her husband in a time of chaos and disorder. To preserve her integrity and purity, she lives in seclusion and solitude. This comparison of the blossoming plum and the beautiful lady provides the background for the subsequent strophes.”