Basho

Each poem of Matsuo Basho creates a visual image in the reader’s head when reading them. Haikai poets “pioneered a new style in writing prose essays … and they produced striking in paintings, which are as sparsely and poignantly sketched in ink as haikus are sketched in words” (Simon 321). The works in The Narrow Road to the Deep North were composed by Basho along his journey and inspired by the things which the poet witnessed and experience on his trip. The visual elements which inspired Basho are transferred to his works which evokes the reader’s envisioning of images; when reading the verses “Time even for the grass hut / to change owners— / house of dolls” (Basho 325), a mental image of a grass hut with dolls inside of it emerged.

Basho was inspired by nature and objects which were visible and tangible to him. The emotion of the poet is never directly expressed in the works; they are reflected in the themes or motions that the poet selected to portray in his works. Basho’s grief for parting is shown after being able to stand in the shade of the exact willow which was the subject of the poem of a celebrated poet before his time as Basho wrote: “Whole field of / rice seedlings–I part / from the willow” (328). Basho was an expert in selecting the elements and objects from the view before him which convey his emotion and experience to the reader. Upon hearing the story of the “Mottling Rock,” the poet saw the villagers planting the rice seedlings, thus wrote: “Planting rice seedlings / the hands—in the distant past pressing / the grass of longing” (Basho 326).

Works Cited

Matsuo, Basho. The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Trans. Haruo Shirane. 1650 to the Present. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 324-36. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

Simon, Peter, ed. 1650 to the Present. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

Classic of Poetry

         The interactions between and the emotions of men and women in love are vividly portrayed in many of the poems in the Classic of Poetry, such as “Fishhawk” and “Dead Roe Deer.” The poems aimed to teach men and women of young age the proper attitude and appropriate behavior when facing the temptation of desire. “Fishhawk” introduces to the audience a lad who is tormented by his love and desire for a gentle maiden who is pure and fair. The young man suffers because he cannot have the maiden whom he so desires: “Wanting, sought her, had her not, / waking, sleeping, thought of her, / on and on he thought of her, / he tossed from one side to another” (“Fishhawk 9-12). Although he is tormented by his desire for this beautiful girl, he cannot have her because his moral sense does not allow it. He sees her as a “fit pair for a prince [junzi]” (“Fishhawk” 4) which shows that he identifies himself as a junzi.  Thus, he follows the appropriate way to pursue the girl: “Gentle maiden, pure and fair, / with harps we bring her company. / … Gentle maiden, pure and fair, / with bells and drums do her delight” (“Fishhawk” 15-20). “Dead Roe Deer” describes the interaction between a gentleman and a beautiful maiden. The gentleman tries to seduce the maiden by offering her the meat of a roe deer. The maiden is pleased, for her heart is “filled with spring” (“Dead Roe Deer” 3). However, when the man tries to cross the boundary, she tactfully rejects him by warning him about the cur. Although the maiden’s feeling towards the man is mutual, she refuses to act against the moral principles.

            The shortcoming of some of the poems in the Classic of Poetry is that they can be interpreted very differently in terms of rhetoric. Although Confucius saw high moral values in the poems, not every individual could learn moral lessons from the poems. The vagueness in some of the poems also contributes to the open interpretation of them. The last stanza in “Dead Roe Deer,” for example, can be read as the maiden’s tactfully rejecting words to the gentleman, but it can also be read as flirting words. Thus, in order to draw moral concepts from the poems, one must keep in mind to apply the idea of virtues on the poems.

Works Cited

“Dead Roe Deer.” Trans. Stephen Owen. Beginnings to 1650. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 761. Print. Vol. 1 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

“Fishhawk.” Trans. Stephen Owen. Beginnings to 1650. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 759-60. Print. Vol. 1 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

Somadeva

            In Somadeva’s “The Red Lotus of Chastity,” the virtuous wife, Devasmita, disguised herself as a merchant in order to save her husband. The necessity of Devasmita’s disguise presents the strict role of women inside and outside of the home in India’s classical age. Devasmita was able to, without having to transform herself, fend off the three scoundrels as well as the deceiving nun who attempted to violate her chastity inside her room. She was wise, for she did not fall for the deception of the immoral nun. She was powerful, for she was able to fight off those who attempted to conduct a dishonorable act in her room. However, Devasmita began to worry about the life of her husband who was staying in a distant island. Thus, being inspired by the story of Saktimati who disguised herself to save her husband, Devasmita dressed herself and her maid as merchants and went on her journey to rescue her husband. Upon arriving on the island, Devasmita successfully prevented the three scoundrels, whom she encountered in her room, from inflicting revenge on her husband. In the process of saving her husband which took place outside of her home, Devasmita had to disguise herself as a man in order to carry out the task successfully.

            In “The Red Lotus of Chastity,” disguising as a man serves as the method of gaining power for women outside of the realm of home. Devasmita’s story shows that women, however powerful and wise, would need to resort to the identity as a man by disguise in order to achieve their goals which require actions outside of their homes which affirms the domestic role of women in the classical age of India.    

Works Cited

Somadeva. “The Red Lotus of Chastity.” Trans. J.A.B. van Buitenen. Beginnings to 1650. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 1274-1279. Print. Vol. 1 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.