To Autumn is a lyrical poem written in the Romantic ages by English poet, Keats. Spring Prospect was written by Tu Fu around the year 760 A.D. The two lyrical poems, To Autumn and Spring Prospect both use nature, specifically the seasons, as a lens of viewing, responding to, and experiencing the challenges faced.

In terms of these poem’s forms, because the Chinese “share the same homogenous and unbroken intellectual tradition and therefore understand the same references, it becomes possible to say something that will be generally understood without saying it” (introduction), Spring Prospect is much shorter in length and form, using only 8 lines. The latter part of this quote really resonated with me as a break-through in understanding how the Chinese works of literature are short yet powerful, concise yet profound.

In contrast, “To Autumn” is written in three, eleven line stanzas. It is a longer piece, written with detail and imagery. “in Western literature, poetry is primarily perceived as imaginative fiction”, as opposed to it being culturally understood, without having to blatantly express it.

In my opinion, both these poems have a sort of ambiguous vibe. In Spring Prospect, the subject or the speaker is unknown. In lines 3 and 4, it mentions “feeling the times, flowers draw tears, hating separation, birds alarm the heart.” It makes us question, is the speaker observing this happening, or is he the one “feeling” and “hating”. The authors leaves it to our own interpretation. Similar to the poem, To Autumn, we are left with a sense of ambiguity on who exactly Keats is referring to when he speaks about “conspiring with him” in line 3.

I found several common themes between these two beautifully written pieces. First, the evidently expressed approaches to the natural world. Spring Prospect instills a feeling of fear and sadness: “flowers draw tears, hating separation” (line 3) In To Autumn, nature (or the season of Autumn) was painted in a very positive light, for most of the poem at least. The speaker describes the endless fruits, blooming flowers and magnificent scenery. Both the poems depict the quiet observation and subtle appreciate for nature, truly referring to G-d.

In To Autumn, Keats essentially deifies the season of Autumn. While I was reading this poem, it reminded me of some sort of prayer, as if this was his way of connecting to G-d. In the first two lines of the Spring Prospect, Tu Fu describes “the nation shattered, hills and streams remain; The city in spring, grass and trees deep;” separating the natural from the unnatural. I think he is alluding to link that divides humanity to nature or the divine. I interpreted this poem as him telling the reader that we are not in control of what the divine does, our nation can be shattered while the hills and streams stay the same, and that we may never understand why.

Similarly, in To Automn, I believe the author is having a revelation about G-d and the cycle of life. The first stanza speaks about fruitfulness, growth and ripening of nature. The second section discusses the harvesting, the labor that goes into growing this beautiful image he paints. At the end of this passage, he writes “Thou watches the last oozings hours by hours”, ultimately referring to the winter approaching. This part of the poem becomes melancholy. The third paragraph speaks about the decline, he is awaiting as Autumn slowly transitions into the desolation of winter, “sinking as the light wind lives or dies.” This cycle is the cycle of life: we are born (we sprout like flowers), we live (harvest) and we die (ultimate decline). It is told with a sense of inevitable loss, something that is bound to happen and out of our control, just like Spring prospect described. So although he is anticipating winter’s approach, the speaker is hopeful, appreciative, and cherishes the experiences of loss in a meaningful way, he learned from experience. That period of harvesting was part of that seasonal cycle, and it softened the idea of a grand tragedy. It is hopeful- knowing that spring will come again and accepting of the fact that it is in the control of G-d, and not humanity, just like Springs Prospect.

When comparing the two texts, Keats’ “To Autumn” and an excerpt from “The Manyoshu” I found that both talk about the season of autumn however, each describing the season differently. Keats never says autumn but instead, gives detailed descriptions of the season. In the lines, “Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless”(2,3) Keats gives human actions to the season and the sun.

While in the lyrics by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, he associates the time of the autumn as departing with the place he love and the person he loves. In the last five lines it seems that Hitomaro wants the changing of seasons to stop. This makes me wonder if he has an obligation to go somewhere during this time and leave his wife. Maybe to go to war for in the lines, “My black steed galloping fast”(21,22) there is an urgency.

Keats gives autumn beautiful aspects while Hitomaro associates autumn with sadness. As autumn appears Hitomaro’s strength weakens as though his power comes from spring which to me, relates to how Keats conspires with the sun to take out spring and give power to autumn. Can Hitomaro be the sun and his wife spring? He associates his wife with many characteristics of spring therefore, Keats autumn may have conspired with Hitamoro and that is why he left his wife(spring) in her dwelling place till he returns for her.

I will be comparing and contrasting the Chinese Lyric by Yu Fu and the Japanese Lyric by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. I will begin by discussing the similarities between the two poems. The Chinese Lyric poetry is about a nomad who has traveled far from home as it states in line 4 that, “hating separation, birds alarm the heart.” This quotation speaks to the fact that this wanderer might not enjoy his separation from home, but nature sooths his thoughts. As such in the Japanese Lyric poetry, we also have a traveler who is far from home, and his only comfort is nature. In lines 1-3 it says, “In the sea of Iwami, By the cape of Kara, There amid the stones under sea.” Once again, we have someone on the road, in this case by sea. As we as delve deeper into the poem’s analysis, we notice the motif of love. In the Chinese poem on line 6 it says, “a letter from home worth ten thousand in gold–”. This person has been gone for 3 months, as stated in the line before, “Beacon fires three months running”. During this time interval, he has not had contact with his family. Once he does, pure an utter joy is brought to him, as the letter is priceless. We know that the letter is priceless because it says it is worth “ten thousand in gold”. This line is also interesting because people usually say a picture is worth a thousand words, but here a letter is actually worth more than an image by way of the transitive property.

Here is where I’d like to draw my last similarity, as well as transitioning into the contrasts of the two poems. In the Japanese poem it is apparent that our nomad misses home as it says in lines 9-15, “My wife whom I love with a love Deep as the miru-growing ocean. But few are the nights We two have lain together. Away I have come, parting from her Even as the creeping vines do part. My heart aches within me;” I will start with the similarity. As aforementioned in the Chinese lyric, there is the concept of love, and here too there is the very same notion as it says that he misses his wife very much and that his heart is aching for her. With this similarity also comes contrast. The Chinese Lyric poem is much more ambiguous as to whom the traveler loves, while in the Japanese one it is very apparent who this person is, and that is his wife. Another contrast that I would like to point out is why the two characters left their inhabitance. In the Chinese lyric, it seems as though the person is fleeting for his life as it states in the first line, “The nation shattered” while in the Japanese Lyric poem it says in lines 27-28 that, “Coursing down the western sky. I thought myself a strong man.” I like to interpret this as the man who is moving west, possibly to the Americas or Europe from Japan. I believe the reason he is doing this is to make a living in order to send money back to his family. He sees it as an obligation to make a living for a wife he left behind, as it talks about him being a strong man. Not strong in the sense of the physical, rather in the sense of emotion.

The two poems that I chose for the assignment were Tu Fu’s “Spring Prospect” and Kakinomoto no Hitomaro’s “From the Manyoshu.” There were quite a few comparisons between these two poems starting with both poets depicting their setting very vividly to place the audience in their respective locations. Tu Fu places us in a war torn location by with a very strong opening line (line 1) depicting his surroundings as being “shattered” by war and leaving only the barebones of nature left with only “hills and streams” remaining. Even though Kakinomoto no Hitomaro’s location is not being torn apart by war, he also depicts his surroundings with vivid imagery at the very beginning of his poem (lines 1-6). His first six lines announces to the audience where his home is, which is a very coastal city. I also noticed that both authors used metaphors in their poems. Tu Fu uses his metaphor in lines two and three of “Spring Prospect” stating that the grass and trees are “feeling the times” and that the “flowers draw tears.” I interpreted this as Tu Fu comparing the elements of nature with the people of China during his time who had to live through the civil war. The people were getting tired of the conflict and also crying because of the suffering that it brought. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro compares his wife to a “swaying sea-tangle” and the “miru-growing ocean” in lines 7 to 12 of “From the Manyoshu.” He wants to audience to know that his wife was very important to him and had a timid personality, but she was also a very deep person with multiple layers. Both of these authors were emotionally troubled by an event in their lives with Tu Fu being trapped by the civil war in China and Kakinomoto no Hitomaro leaving his wife to embark on a journey.

One important difference that I noted between the two poems was the point of view they were told in. Tu Fu told his poem in third person perspective and it took me a few reads to finally realize that he was the person observing all of the surroundings around him. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro tells his poem in a first person perspective, which instantly lets the audience know that he is telling his story of leaving his wife and how he will miss her. Another distinct different I want to point out between the poems is that Kakinomoto no Hitomaro uses proper nouns to name the locations he is describing in his poem. Examples of this are in his first two lines of the poem where he lets us know he is near the Iwami Sea and the Kara Cape. Tu Fu doesn’t use any proper nouns to describe his location, and if I didn’t know the name of the author or didn’t read the introduction, this could’ve been a location outside of China. These two poems were very similar in certain ways, but there were certain distinctions in their form and content.

Romanticism in both Tu Fu’s poem and in The Koran tell a story that directly portray images of what is serene in the world versus what is the destructive enemy. Romanticism in both of these works are able to tell us what is “good” versus what is “evil,” by looking toward nature for answers. Both works are in search of attaining peace from the world in its original state, not from something that emerged from humans on Earth that altered it. In Tu Fu’s work, The Spring Prospect, “The nation shattered, hills and streams remain,”(1) paints the picture of a world crafted by mankind that couldn’t stay permanent–an industrial world that interrupts land that is owned by mother nature. The only thing that can withstand all of human corruption is nature–the only thing that is truly meant to be here. After everything is destroyed, nature still remains, as the broken city is described as, “The city in spring grass and trees deep.”(2) It is as if the world, when it is stripped to its purest form, is the only form that will be permanent. The world is meant to be in its absolute God given state, and anything that tries to interfere will hurt nature, but still leave nature as the only permanently existing thing. Although this may not be Tu Fu’s predominant point, the point about nature’s superiority over the corruption of man relates heavily to The Opening [of the Koran]. This Arabic lyric, also a culturally centered poem, opens this holy book into the talk of how mankind is capable of nothing positive without God, the creator and origin of humanity. Muhammad begs, from the point of view of Muslims, that, “It is You whom we worship and You whom we ask for help,” (5-6) as if humans are incapable of finding the right path without the creator of this divine world that humans are living in. It is as if humanity and mankind are too vulnerable to deal with life that God has all the answers to–because God is the original creator of everything. Clearly, in Tu Fu’s work and The Koran, the way the Earth was created is the most superior form of the world. Nothing else that humans can alter the Earth with will be able to withstand life’s shackles by itself, and the original form of the world will always be what humans and nature are finding themselves longing to go back to. In Tu Fu’s work, untouched nature was the original form of the world, and in The Koran, the creator of the world is begged to help the vulnerable humans. No matter what humans do, they are constantly seeking for answers from what was there before them. Muhammed asks of God, “Show us the upright way: the way of those whom You have favored, not of those with whom You have been angry and those who have gone astray.” (7-10) Clearly, the ones who have gone astray are humans that are making their own rules. They are the ones who will suffer, because that is not the way life was meant to be lived. Life was meant to be lived in a way that nature was left untouched, and the way that God, the creator, left created.

The ability of expressing oneself has been a part of human culture for many years. People have always found ways of clarifying how they feel to the people around them- especially during the romantic era. Interestingly enough, the way in which people went about expressing themselves has differed based on the time period, as well as where they lived.

When comparing the Chinese lyrics to the Arab lyrics, or Koran, we see some of the differences in the style of expression. As the introduction to the poem suggests, the poem titled “The Opening” was written as a praise for God and was written my Mohammed. As such, the text is very broad, and serves as an avenue for people of the Muslim faith to be able to praise God from many different approaches and not as a means of being specific. We see this level of broadness from the words used. The poem constantly refers to God, and while it showers God with praises, it does not provide any specific detail of as to what they are praising their master for.

Much to the contrary, the Chinese form is very specific and direct. The introduction to the text introduces us to the uniqueness of each poem from that time period. In the Chinese culture, scholars would write these poems on their own as a sign of grace. They would be expected to submit their praise when being hosted and cared for. In addition, writers would use these poems as an opportunity to express their political beliefs in a very clear and concise form. For instance, in the poem titled “Spring Prospect” by Tu Fu, we are exposed to his belief of the troubling state of his city with a sense of directness by use of the words: separation, favored and angry. He does not use broad terms as in the Koran which allows for the reader to have a direct understanding of what he is referring to.

Additionally, another notable difference between the Chinese poem and the Muslim verse is who the intended audience is. As part of being written by Mohammed and simply serving as a channel of communicating with God, the paragraphs, or suras connect man and God. On the other hand, when looking at Tu Fu’s work, he is clearly speaking to other human beings. This difference in who they are talking to is very informative with regards to the culture. Both groups of people seem interested in expressing themselves, however the Muslim people look towards God to express themselves, while the Chinese people look to one another. In doing so, we see that the Muslim’s believe in God as being the one who is in control of the lives of humans, while the Chinese culture looks to find change in the actions and beliefs of other people.

Lyric has always played a big part of literature all over a world. Basically, lyrics are formed in different ways among different countries and cultures. However, there are always something in common. Lyric would commonly have meter or rhythm to achieve the fluency. Besides, usually, it’s a way to express the mood and emotion either directly or indirectly. Thus, by tracing the writer’s emotion, we can find something beneath the lyric. This time, I will compare to lyrics, find what’s common and what’s common. One lyric, Spring Prospect, is from Chinese poet Tu Fu. The other one is from Japanese poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. I am a Chinese who knows a few Japanese. Hence, I will take the advantage of my Asian background to analyze those two great lyrics. One thing I want to claim is the Spring Prospect is not translated very well. Despite it’s very accurate but it lost lots of verse compare to the original one.

The Spring Prospect was written when Tu Fu was suffering from the collapse of his life. His political ambition has nowhere to place and the country he loved was rapidly going downhill. He wrote the lyric to express his sadness. At the first line, he wrote The nation shattered, hills and streams remain addressed the mood of that time. Then he wrote even though is spring time but the surroundings are a mess. It’s parallel to the first line. At the great depression, no one could take care of the beauty that it should be.  Then he used flowers draw tears and birds alarm the hearts to address his depress and anxiety. Same as last two lines, rather than directly address that he is too old and too much stressed, he said his hair was white and too few to hairpin up. (In ancient China, both male and female would have long hair)

The next lyric is in a much easier mood, Japanese poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro wrote a song of love. Kakinomoto first described the surroundings to create quite, silence mood. The great novelist Natsume Soseki had said, Japanese wouldn’t directly say “I love u”, instead they may say “It’s beautifully the moon tonight”. Kakinomoto wrote

Now as the moon, sailing through the cloud rift

Above the mountain of Yakami,

Disappears, leaving me full of regret,

So vanishes my love out of sight;

This part expresses his love in a very art way which he used in many places.

Comparing these two lyrics, they both have more context than literal wording. When Tu Fu said a letter from home worth ten thousand in gold, it means both the difficulty of delivery due to the mess and his nostalgia. Based on the same culture background, these to lyric technology highly same.

Tu Fu

Romanticism is strongly associated with lyric poetry as a literary form. The Romantic investment in emotion and in an individual’s personal experience found expression in a poetic form that emphasized the first-person perspective and the attempt to capture fleeting impressions. These poems tend to rely on powerful sense imagery rather than narrative. (That is, while they may contain an implied story, the story is not central to the poem’s effects.) Lyric existed long before Romanticism, and it still exists today (just think of song lyrics, though not all share these stylistic features).

For this assignment, due Thursday, I want you to get a taste of the breadth of lyric poetry. All of the readings you’ll need are found online at the following links; because they were designed for Great Works students, you may need to log in (with your usual email username and password) to view them.

English lyric (John Keats)

Chinese lyric (Tu Fu)

Japanese lyric (Kakinomoto no Hitomaro)

Arabic lyric (the Koran)

First, read through these four posts to get a sense of each poem and its context (these are from both very different cultural contexts and time periods). You do not need answer the discussion questions, but I recommend that you look them over as they may help guide your thoughts for your post.

In a post of your own (of around 500 words), compare and contrast two of the four poems. You also have the option, in you prefer, of comparing and contrasting one of these poems to another lyric poem of your choosing (this could include a song). If you choose this second option, just be sure to include or link to the full text of the poem or song.

Try to be as specific as possible; there’s no need for broad generalizations. Quote judiciously from the poems themselves (cite specific line numbers), and pay attention in your analysis both to the content and to the form of the poems. If you draw on the introductions to each poem (and you should feel free to do so), just be sure to cite them.

For Monday, read the first half of Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (pages 1-83); I also recommend reading the introduction. Please be aware that this book, which documents first-hand experience with the horrors of slavery, contains scenes that may be disturbing, including sexual assault. If you know that such depictions will be difficult for you to read, make sure to give yourself enough time and take care of yourself. Email if you’d like to discuss the reading or ask questions.

You’ll also be submitting your first formal essay on Monday, so try to think ahead and manage your time well.

Keats

An example of modern day Frankenstein would be in the movie Ex Machina. This movie, which released in 2015, details about a man named Nathan Bateman, who is a CEO of a software company, along with being a genius. Bateman, who has locked himself away in his remote home. Bateman reveals that he has been trying to create an AI as close to a human as possible, therefore creating artificial life. As this was a more modern take on the story of Frankenstein it modernized lots of the parts of the movie. For example when it took the creation of life, it was no longer creating a human, but creating something human like. When it comes to how faithful it is to the original it is faithful in some regards, while having its own take on other pieces. For instance when it comes to the monster, in the original story Victor creates life from human parts. In Ex Machina, Bateman is creating life through technology. In both of the stories the monster has issues coping with itself. A major theme that plays throughout Ex Machina and the original story is the idea of identity. Both of their creations struggle to cope with their own ideas about what being human is. However a major difference is when it comes to the people who create them. In Frankenstein Victor is very afraid of his own creation and actively tries to run from it, or destroy it. However when it comes to Ex Machina it is in fact Bateman who is the main antagonist. While both the creations are struggling with their own identity, the adaptation differs when it is the creator oppressing his creation rather than the other way around. However they have multiple similarities. The creation of both of the “monsters” are very similar, as both Victor and Bateman lock themselves away from the rest of society until they get it correct. Another major difference however is how the stories are being told. In the original story it is told out through Victor telling us about how he regrets his own creation and how we see it unfold like memories. But when it comes to Ex Machina, the story is told as a side character who is witnessing it unfold in front of him. We are able to see more how the monster feels and reacts in the modern storytelling rather than how it felt when the monster meets Victor on the mountain. A key similarity however is the creation of the monsters. In the stories both Victor and Bateman are picking out body parts for their creation and trying to make it as beautiful as possible, they both are mad scientists who want to create life in the most beautiful from they see fit. However the key difference is how one fears his creation, while in Ex Machina, Bateman wants to improve upon it.