Monday, 7 May 2012

Some thoughts about poem


I was surprised about what I learnt today. I have thought that the biggest difference between Chinese poems and English poems is that traditional Chinese poets pursue unified form, but English poets do not. However, in class, I studied and wrote a diamond poem, which is a kind of English poetry.  I find diamond poetry has higher requirements on form. It has seven lines, and each line has fixed word form and fixed number of words.
I only wrote one poem before. It was a Chinese acrostic, in which the first word of each line can spells out a message. I wrote it only for making fun of my best friend, so it has nothing to do with a literary work. Therefore, the diamond poem I wrote in class is my first poem.
The first time that I learnt English poem was when I studied in high school. We had some classes of introducing English poem. I still remember the name of the first poem I learnt---- A Red, Red Rose (Robert Burns, 1794). It contains many old English words, such as “luve”, “thee”, “wi”, which make me confused.
Poets express their feeling by writing poems. Poetry is not only literature, but also the symbol of their life.
 Below is the poem----A Red, Red Rose (Robert Burns, 1794). This poem is about love, which is the most common topic of poem. I hope it can show the charm of the poetry.


              A Red, Red Rose
                                     By Robert Burns (1794)
  O my luve is like a red, red rose,
  That's newly sprung in June;
  O my luve is like the melodie
  hat's sweetly played in tune.
  As fair thou art, my bonie lass,
  So deep in luve am I;
  And I will luve thee still, my dear,
  Till a' the seas gang dry.
  Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
  And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
  And I will luve thee still , my dear,
  While the sands o' life shall run.
  And fare thee weel, my only luve,
  And fare thee weel a while;
  And I will come again, my luve,
  Tho'it wre ten thousand mile!






4 comments:

  1. Today I also wrote my first English cinquain poem. Though it is not as beautiful as poets' poem, I like it most because of the topic "mother." Just like what you said, Poetry is not only literature, but also the symbol of people's life.

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  2. I agree with you and Kelvin. I think that the poem is just a tool for people to express their emotions, so there can be great differences between individual from individual. In addition, I reckon that the topic "mother" is meaningful, especially for our Chinese students in Singapore; I belive it is exactly the time for us to think about all these "tough" topics. Thank you and I am looking forwart to your other poems.

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  3. It is also the first time for me to write a English poem. I do not how to express the feeling, but it indeed reminded me of my loving mother. I have not read A Red, Red rose before. It is really an old poem.

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  4. It is also my first try of English poem, but I really do not appreciate it. I think a poem should be written from heart rather than to complete a task. The form of the poem is not as important as the content and emotion. I hope I can write an English poem from my heart one day.^_^

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