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.