The comparison of language of Chinese and English love poetry

张璐璐

As for language itself， in Chinese， a character is a syllable. The unity of sound and form becomes the unit of Chinese poetry. Thus， the number of characters in each sentence is identical with that of syllables in each sentence. So different number of characters in each sentence constitutes different types of Chinese poetry， for example， four character poem （each sentence containing four characters）； five character poem； seven character poem； free verse， and so on. Later， these forms have been developed into Jue Ju （poem composed of four sentences）； Lu Shi （poem composed of eight sentences） and free verse， etc. the below 1st， 2nd， 3rd and 4th are good examples.

關雎

关关雎鸠，在河之洲。窈窕淑女，君子好逑。

The waterflow would coo

Upon an islet in the brooks

A lad would like to woo

A lass with pretty looks

锦瑟

锦瑟无端五十弦，一弦一柱思华年。

庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶，望帝春心托杜鹃。

沧海月明珠有泪，蓝田日暖玉生烟。

此情可待成追忆，只是当时已惘然。

——李商隐

The Inlaid Harp —Li Shang-Yin

I wonder why my inlaid harp has fifty strings，

Each with its flower-like fret an interval of youth.

...The sage Chuangzi is day-dreaming， bewitched by butterflies，

The spring-heart of Emperor Wang is crying in a cuckoo.

Mermen weep their pearly tears down a moon-green sea，

Blue fields are breathing their jade to the sun....

And a moment that ought to have lasted forever，

Has come and gone before I knew.

海上生明月，天涯共此时。

情人怨遥夜，竟夕起相思。

The moon is bome so bright above the sea

And bathes at once the distance one and me

A lover hates the endless lonesome night

For he would long for the one out of sight

情愿

我情愿化作一片落叶

让风吹雨打到处飘零

或流云一朵，在澄蓝天

和大地再没有些牵连

——林徽因

I would like

I would like to be a falling leave

Drift away with the wind， beaten by rain

Or a cloud， above in the clear sky

No more connection with the earth

In the 1st poem， each sentence containing four characters， so it is a four character poem， The Inlaid Harp is a seven character poem， the 3rd one is a five character poem， is a free verse.

As to English， because each word contains different number of syllables， maybe one， two， even more， the unity of sound and form is determined by syllable. Undoubtedly， syllable becomes the unit of English poetry. One line with one syllable in a poem is called monometer； one line with two syllable diameter； and trimester. Consequently， the form of English poetry is in term of line， not like Chinese in terms of sentence. Since syllable is the unit of English poetry， each line may not contain one sentence. If one sentence is not completed in one line it can also be put in the next line. This is called Enjambment. So the number of lines in each stanza always becomes the criterion to determine the form of poem.

In Chinese there are four tones （level tone， rising tone， falling rising tone， and falling tone）， which make Chinese poetry have a characteristic cadence. Thus， the Chinese poetry is featured not only with its sound low and high， up and down， but also with the contrast of syllables long and short， which forms a harmonious unity of four tones and the balance in sentence structure. In English poetry， the beat is determined by the unstressed syllable and stressed syllable， and meter is the collocation of syllables long and short， unstressed or stressed.