Digital art made using a background picture by StockSnap from Pixabay and elements of my picture taken at the Lady Lever gallery.
There are a myriad of classical Chinese forms of poetry, estimated to stretch back as far as 500 BC. Chinese poetic forms comprise of various formal and technical aspects such as meter (line length and number of lines), rhythm (the presence of caesuras, end-stopping, and tone contour), and other considerations like vocabulary and style. Many of these forms were developed during the Tang Dynasty, and are still occasionally utilized in modern China.
At the beginning of the Tang period many historical genres of poetry were catalogued as formal research had by that time achieved a high degree of refinement. To give a taste of the style of Chinese poetry, I will list the two prevalent forms from the late Han to the Tang dynasties.
- Lu-shih – Regulated Verse
End rhyme is a mainstay in Chinese poetry, used in verse from the earliest times, usually rhyming at the end of the even-numbered lines. In short poems a single rhyme is customarily used throughout, while in longer poems the rhyme may change as often as the poet wishes. In addition to end rhyme, alliteration, internal rhyme, and onomatopoetic words are used to describe sounds, actions and moods.
In the Lu-shih form exposition (qi) is utilized in the first two lines, development of the theme (cheng) in the middle or second and third couplets, and the conclusion (he) in the final couplet. Lu-shi provided a new and formal alternative to the long-popular free gushi (classical ancient Chinese poetry).
The famous Chinese poet Li Po wrote lu-shih, as well as renowned poet Tu Fu often considered China’s greatest poet, second only to Li Po. The reputation of these poets rests partly upon their mastery of the popular Lu-shih form.
- Chueh-chu (Quatrain)
The symmetry and lyricism of Lu-shih inspired chueh-chu, a condensed form of Lu-shih consisting of quatrains expressing artistry through suggestiveness and economy.
Chueh-chu, (cut-off verse) requires exposition, development, and resolution like the Lu-shih form, but not in such a strict structure.
In practice the chueh-chu is a quatrain (four line verse), and particularly in the five-character-per-line version (which gives the poet only twenty syllables to work with), the chueh-chu is an ideal expression of Taoist and Ch`an Buddhist mysticism.
Wang Wei and Li Po are the two great masters of this form, expressing through evocative landscape, the essence of enlightenment. Through distinct and concrete imagery, Li Po's chueh-chu glimmer like a stream polished pebble, reflecting the immensity of the universe in the smallest of its constructs.
It is difficult to find decent translations of Li Po's poetry. let alone a Chueh-chu, but after a little hunting I came across a collection of his translated poems online.
IN THE QUIET NIGHT (by Li Po)
So bright a gleam on the foot of my bed --
Could there have been a frost already?
Lifting myself to look, I found that it was moonlight.
Sinking back again, I thought suddenly of home.
Source of Chueh-chu: extract from the Penguin Book of Chinese Verse, Edited by A.R. Davis
Chinese esoteric traditions and Guanyin's Whispers
As you can tell from the content of my blog so far I am fascinated by the art of the east, particularly esoteric and religious influences. The Lady Lever gallery held a large collection of Chinese art including porcelain, statues, furniture and glass.
The statue that caught my poet’s eye was that of Guanyin, bodhisattvas of compassion in the Chinese Buddhist tradition. This statue was exhibited in a lit case in a room dedicated to Chinese religious traditions.
I decided to challenge myself again to write in form, no mean feat with Chinese forms as they're not geared toward the English alphabetical system, but rather the pictorial writing style of ancient China. Still... I'm a glutton for punishment 😂
So here is my attempt at a Lu-shih (Regulated Verse), leaning toward the clean imagery and style of Li Po. I hope I live up to the challenge.
Guanyin's Whispers
as wailing gales swirl snowfall,
a Jay flits from tawny branch
trilling in gusts and squalls.
meditates in the eye of the storm
each crystal snowflake a moment
cascading eternal universal form.
a soothing murmur to seething clouds,
chiming soft entrancing mantras
coaxing waning frozen shrouds
the day dawns, the squall falls calm,
the Jay peeks from battered boughs
as Guanyin Whispers a healing balm.
I will be sharing a few more poems soon that I wrote in response to art at the Lady Lever gallery.
Thanks for reading, and if you have enjoyed this poem be sure to check back in over the next week for more of the same 📜🙂
All images in this post are my own, taken at the Lady Lever art gallery. If you have enjoyed this poetry/art post please check out my homepage @raj808 for similar content.
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