Serendipity: Seizing the Toned Picture of Poetry in the Light of Prosody*

CHEN Shudong Johnson County Community College

Abstract: What could prosody really do to help us digging further into the classics for the roads still not taken beneath, behind, and between the roads overly trodden? How much could prosody truly help us to make sense of the literary phenomena or scenarios that never cease seizing our attention nor ever relieve us consequently of our incessantly mixed curiosity and bewilderments? Why is the poem WANG Anshi王安石(1021—1086)’s poem “Stopping by Guazhou on board a boat” 《泊船瓜洲》, for instance, so unforgettably poetic? It is because, first and foremost, as the paper argues, what actually sustains the poem is literally the poem’s simple emotionally fine-toned and fine-tuned“sound pattern,”which proves, however underappreciated, not only “more integral ［than］ syntax” but also,indeed, more heart-appealing than mere verbal and visual images. What is so special of this simple poem, as the paper further argues, is the often overlooked function words, which,as if conditioned and coordinated by an “invisible hand,” add so much to the poem. These“trivial” and “invisible” function words enliven the simple sound pattern; they season the poem in ways so traceless but ever-present like “a grain of salt” in the water in terms of this favorite metaphorical expression in The Upanishads or impact reading in ways as these familiar phrasesmay also thus suggest: i. e. “hui shi housu”绘事后素(To paint is to leave a vacant space behind the painted), “dayin xisheng”大音希声(Great music sounds barely audible), or “daxiang wuxing”大象无形(A great image has no image). The paper then explores accordingly whether or how it is possible to read afresh the classics not only in Chinese but also in English, among other major non-tonic modern languages, such as Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” along the same line of thought in the light of prosodyfor a crucial but often overlooked possibility of mutual illumination.Since the literary scenario is by no means a local but a global phenomenon, this illumination is exactly also what Goethe emphasizes as an irreplaceable necessity while deploring as in Pandora how we as humans are so “［d］estined, to see the illuminated, not the light.”

Keywords: Prosody; poetics; function words; toned mood; comparative literature

1. Introduction:The Indispensable Prosodic Refraction that Illuminates

The real power of the light often shows not only from what it reflects but also from what it refracts, so is the real value of prosody that could also be inherent in its actual wideranging applicability in dealing with, directly or indirectly, various specific cases across disciplines and cultures. Such an applicability often indicates the utmost merit or virtue of flexibility or “变通” (biàn tōng) as what Mencius considers in his eponymous book to be ultimately most characteristic of Confucius;it is also such “principled flexibility” that Hillel the Elder emphasizes when he asks people to go and learn Torah by themselves but remember only one “golden rule,” which he considers as “the true essence of the whole Torah,” that is, “whatever hateful to you don’t do it to others,” with the rest of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible he considers merely as “commentaries.”This flexibility as bian tong or as “principled flexibility” teaches us how to deal with any actual occurrence in the texts as in life, that is how to tackle it along with and/or against whatever general rules set a priori. In addition to the issues of tones, as the specific cases indicate below, such as the simple and commonplace function words祇(just) and又(again) in the Chinese texts, and “by” in the English, what may otherwise also appear “trivial,” i. e.functions words, would turn out to be so essential or irreplaceable a posteriori in making the texts alive with variably meaningful charms and beauty. With issues so illuminated in the light of prosody, what works for a tonic language, i. e. Chinese, may also work for a non-tonic language, i. e. English, even if not exactly in the same way. It means,as the following specific cases may so indicate, as long as we, with sufficient selfconsciousness and “principled flexibility,” know how to turn ourselves adequately in the light of prosody from where our attention usually goes, we might still be able to catch up wherever with whatever we might have otherwise easily or habitually missed,such as the vital nitty-grittiness; we may still, in other words, pick up or capture the vital nitty-gritties regarding the crucial sound pattern or the invisible but essential role of function words that may often network efficiently in a text in ways far beyond our awareness or notice.

2. The Power of the Simple: 只(just) and又(again)

For comparison and contrast, the issues above might be, first and foremost, understood in terms of WANG Anshi王安石(1021—1086)’s poem “Stopping by Guazhou on board a boat” 《泊船瓜洲》 particularly with regard to its use of two function words只(just)and又(again). It is because even merely as function words they could be so charged with suggestively overflowing and prosodically indispensable emotional meanings other than their mere syntactic functions especially when each is adequately stressed and/or paused upon for an intended or involuntary emphasis a posteriori.

京口瓜洲一水间， Jingkou and Guazhou are of a river apart,

钟山只隔数重山。 Zhongshan is just several mountains afar.

春风又绿江南岸， South side of river turns green again amidst breeze of Spring,

明月何时照我还。 When could the bright moon accompany me home?

Actually, what remains truly crucial in making the poem the way it has been appreciated as masterpiece, once again, is what has been overlooked, that is, the function words只(just) and you又(again), no matter how, in addition to many others that the poet has also tried in suggesting ironically a possibly light-hearted mood of serendipity, all the attention has been habitually fixed on the content word 绿lǜ (green, or make green), which undoubtedly appears as the best choice compared with the other previously considered possibilities, such as到 dào (arrive, come),过guò(pass or pass by),入rù (enter), or满 mǎn (to fill; filled); This case with the word绿lǜ could be further understood in terms of the well-known poem“ Remembrance of Jiang Nan” (Yangtze River Delta area) by the famous Tang poet BAI Juyi白居易(772—846), especially when the color green could also become so impressionistically and colorfully blue in the specific scenic context.
江南好， How marvelous is Jiang Nan
风景旧曾谙。 Forever scenic in my heart
日出江花红胜火， At sunrise as if on fire the river ripples in red
春来江水绿如蓝。 At spring it turns so blue-like green in color.
能不忆江南？ How could anyone not miss Jiang Nan?it is, however, these two otherwise barely noticeable function words that not only fulfill in the poem their fundamental syntactic-prosodic function in making two sets of three indispensable full metric feet but also instill so much in the piece the thematically significant moods, sentiments, or emotions.With these two pivotal function words especially in terms of exactly where they each are so posited, the simple poem may, for instance, suggest intricate and profound, such as surprise amidst expectation or light-heartedness mixed with insuperable anxiety, disappointment, impatience, frustration, and/or resignation regarding how endlessly life could go on and on forever and yet how endless it could also be for the waiting for a “home” that one could hardly ever return to. However, what strikes indeed further as truly special with this poem is how the word you 又(again) could literally add so much more to the emotional elements of the poem when paired up with zhi 只(just) of the preceding line “钟山只隔数重山” (only several hills apart). With you又(again) especially when it is adequately paused and/or stressed upon, the inseparable yearning or frustration of the poet, as a result, could become almost self-evident when a “home” appears only that far. Such emotion could become further significantly varied or intensified with the simultaneously conflicting and complementary likability of whether the last line then be read as a real question or a rhetorical question. As a real question,the line would suggest how anxiously the poet wonders to himself when he could ever go home.As a rhetorical question, the line may suggest instead how it is utterly impossible for the poet to go back home as he himself may so come to realize with utmost despair at that moment.

Literally, however much it may vary in value aesthetically, this poem could still be a poem if any one of the above content words would be chosen instead of绿lǜ; without these two function words,the poem could not, in fact, even be a poem, let alone in ways as it has been so appreciated ever since.These two words are needed exactly where they are to fulfill their indispensable syntactic and prosodic function while making the lines the organic parts of the metric pattern of the poem with two paralleled sets of three full feet钟山—只隔—数重山and春风—又绿—江南岸. With these two sets of three full feet, the lines flow smoothly within the whole metric pattern especially in terms of coherence. Literally,without zhi只(just) and you又(again), neither can each line have its three indispensable full feet, a MUST prosody, nor can it even be a sentence grammatically, let alone for each line to become the most important theme-revealing part of the poem. No single syllable (单音), as a rule, especially in Chinese, can stand by itself as a prosodically self-sufficient metric foot (“单音不成步”).While fulfilling their syntactic,prosodic, and thematic function with visual and sound impacts,只(just) and又(again), as simple function words, also help bringing out all these possible human sentiments as mentioned above along with the heart-touching scenic beauty that occasions the poet’s insuperable homesickness. Only in this way can we then adequately understand the poem as if “we were literarily there”身临其境on the spot with the poet or even as the poet himself.

3. Robert Frost: The Invisible Role of “by” that Tilts the Destiny of a “Stop”

The importance of function words could even be understood not only regarding their actual presence in the text but also regarding their rare presence or even pure absence from the text. In English as in Chinese, a possible “absent presence” or the rare presence of a certain function word in the text could so surreptitiously or serendipitously tilt the direction or destiny of our reading as if in the form of an “absentee ballot.” The case in point is Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Here, the proposition “by” appears merely once in the title line, never even in the main text, but its influence dominates the entire poem.Simply pivoted upon the preposition “by,”should the line “Stopping by woods on a snowy evening” be read as a typical transitive phrasal verb “stop by”? Does it then mean to regard it as a usual phrasal verb made up with a transitive verb “to stop” plus a by-headed prepositional phrase as its object to suggest “a temporary visit”? Could the same by-headed prepositional phrase be reasonably also taken as an adverbial phrase modifying the word “stop” as an intransitive verb? If so, does this combination of an intransitive verb “stop” with a preposition “by” therefore not necessarily mean “a temporary visit” but simply a stop at a place or by the side of an area, whether it be permanent, temporary, planned, or accidental? In this regard, the same line may not even suggest any teleological implication the way the poem is often read; it should instead be read as a pivotal line that implies an “innocent” but often quietly life-changing impact of a place or locale upon humanity. The line could even be read as indicating ontologically an intricate sense of timely timelessness of everything that the poem narrates in ways so motionlessly in motion reminiscent of a typical scene in the classical Japanese Noh theater. As a result,everything of the poem may eventually appear to suggest something so truly and fully, as Kant would put it here as he does frequently in The Critique of Judgement as “purposeful without a purpose.” Whether intended or simply as text-enlivened, the “meanings” of the poem are always alive in this regard with the words when the words become so surreptitiously and yet often so serendipitously reversible or versatile a posteriori according to and against their given “parts of speech” a priori.

Undoubtedly, either way, the poem is about a profound spiritual crisis and a crucial or probably life-saving resolution through the mediation of nature; it is, however, a special kind of nature full of alluring images and temptations of death, such as the “deep woods” and“snowflakes,” which make the nameless persona ponder like Hamlet’s “to be or not to be”or “to sleep or to move on.”With his serious decision to move on no matter how dreadfully boring life could possibly be, the persona instantly becomes a human. He finally, or probably for the first time, ever, truly makes a decision for himself, by himself, and thus becomes himself even if at this quite late stage of his life. “［He］ thinks, therefore ［he］ is” in terms of the Cartesian notion “Cogito ergo sum” or “Je pense, donc je sui.” He probably has passed this place innumerous times previously, but has always been too busy, too preoccupied even to stop to look at it or to “smell the roses” all around until this moment or stage of his life when he is almost worn out. He begins to wish for a permanent escape, rest, or“sleep” in a quiet and peaceful way as the woods and snowflakes may so suggest. He wants the mysterious woods to take him in and find him a perpetual resting place in the deepest recesses there and let the all-covering snowflakes erase any possible trace of his meaningless existence or miserable being-in-the-world, but his “conscience” so tied up with the old habits as symbolized by the horse ironically saves his life by disrupting his contemplation on a possible “permanent sleep” or “his perpetual stop.”At this point, however much everything may still look or remain exactly the same as before, with the decision to go back to the old life, the persona is no longer the same old person but a new born human, an “autonomous”individual who thinks by himself, for himself, and becomes himself. If humanity could indeed be understood as Descartes and Kierkegaard to a degree so suggest in terms of the rational decision or self-conscious choice one makes, the persona finally becomes a human by living probably simultaneously the three possible stages that Kierkegaard describes in Either/ Or as aesthetic, ethic, and religious.He is no longer the “savage” in “Mending Wall” who only repeats what his father said before him, i. e. “A good fence makes a good neighbor,” but the actively thinking, questioning or seriously doubting speaker who questions his own wall-mending activity.Neither is the persona a loaded gun anymore with “but the power to kill without the power to die.”No longer is he, in a word, a mule, a horse, a “savage,” or a “Willy Loman,” who died doggedly in pursuit of his “American Dream” in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman but a self-discovering person. Suddenly ［he］ realize［s］ that if ［he］ could step out of ［his］ body, he would break into blossom, in ways as James Wright would so remind us as in his “A Blessing.” Even if everything may still go on exactly as usual as before, the persona could never be another Mrs. Mallard, who would “die of joy” or as one of Swift’s Struldbrugs or a “Tithonus” by Tennyson. Even if he may choose not to resume his usual path, after all, he may still find his “self ” alive in the choice as Mrs. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, who is awakened only to swim to her death.Whichever way the spiritual crisis may end, “to be or not to be,” it is still his own decision to make, with which the persona eventually becomes himself.

Indeed, however widely read in high schools as at colleges as a “simple” poem, this deceptively simple piece is “existentialistic” by nature regarding how a simple self-conscious decision or choice could truly precede the very “essence” of humanity. Regardless, with “stop”understood as a transitive verb and “by woods” as its object to form a familiar phrasal verb structure, “stop by” may not merely indicate only a “temporary visit”; it may ironically imply at the same time a “permanent visit” or “perpetual stop” with a thought of suicide either initially sought or suddenly occurred at this particular place.” Also with a click of mind, the “permanent stop” could then turn out at last as nothing more than a simple “stop by” for an endless life ahead.As a transitive phrasal verb “stop by” does carry such a multilayered ironical ambiguity in terms of the actual context of this poem. When the reading with “stop by” could come out with such multilayered ironical twists and turns, what appears to be most emphasized in the context of this poem, therefore, becomes literally the local or special influences of a “place” in general and this site “by woods on a snowy evening” in particular. Does not a place have such a power to detain,delay, dissipate, dissolve, dilute, or disrupt any temporal motion, movement, or momentum of life? This crucial power might not be sufficiently emphasized if the phrasal verb “stop by” is to be read as usual merely as a “temporary visit.” Obviously, “temporary visit” could suggest choice and thus the primary status of “subject” who makes the choice, whereas a simple “stop” at or by somewhere does not necessarily carry such an implication; it may instead leave “place” adequate enough space to exert itself regarding its spatial power or influences. Therefore, intended by Frost himself or not, the simple syntactic-prosodic verbal structure, in which the prepositional phrase is strategically posited, allow the reader an exact opportunity or moment to read the poem in a different but equally permissible way simply with a switch to “stop” as a mere intransitive verb and “by woods” as its adverbial phrase. Furthermore, with “stop” as intransitive verb and the prepositional phrase functioning as an adverbial phrase in the context, everything that happens,however accidental as it may appear, could strike as if occurred of a predestined agenda set up or prepared as part of procedure whether known or unknown to the persona himself. He is merely an involuntary agent carrying out such a plan.The account of what happens may sound as smoothly mechanical as if everything takes its due course with his “karma” leading to this point. However mysterious one’s life may appear to be, there is always predictability as dictated by the power of routine with all its tenacity of inertia; so is there occasional drama of self-willed choice against any preset agenda or programmed process with a possibility of ultimate triumph of a certain individual over mysterious destiny. The meaning of the poem is thus inherent in the narrative that always suggests in this way a motion, momentum, and movement forward. This is a mundane display of a personal account of an event with a teleological implication. It’s like the eponymous characters in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Camus’ Sisyphus, individual efforts often appear as much so tragically futile or absurd as it also truly matters at the same time.

With “by woods” taken as adverbial phrase for an intransitive verb “to stop,” what appears to be emphasized therefore would not be of such a quiet temporal mood with a quite predicable mundane motion, momentum, and movement forward as the usual phrasal verb “stop by” could so “naturally”imply; instead, it could appear as a phenomenon that occurs as naturally as resulting from the sheer accidental influences of location, time, distance in as much the same way as Zhuangzi emphasizes while joking with Huizi how and why he feels the happiness of fish from where he is at this particular moment,on this particular day, in this particular mood with this particular person for this particular occasion. This way of reading stresses the impact of place and space on humanity. Indeed, “stop by” could mean how one may have other more important things to take care of, whereas “stop” does not necessarily carry such implication. Where one stops could be the ultimate destination or destiny, even if “stop by” could also be so even with an acute ironic sense regarding how an utterly unexpected turnout could literally follow a purely temporary brief visit as to make where the persona simply stops by his last stop or his final resting place. Therefore, with the verb “stop” itself, everything that occurs may not carry any particularly predestined agenda or any predictable duration as with “stop by;” it is a mere accident or coincidence,which however may suggest something of a certain localized spatial and temporal influences on anyone who happens to realize how meaningless the way he lives his life as the persona does.

Of this account, “by” receives a longer pause as a text-enlivened and text-enlivening independent preposition that carries all the conceivable temporal and spatial implication a posteriori emphasizing the accidental influences of place on people.As such, this by-phrase with double implication could even suggest a more spatial than temporal status of being as if time stays forever fixed or immovable on this particular moment instead of moving smoothly forward in ways as a speeding-boat-turned-motionless-dot-on-thehorizon or Zeno’s flying arrow may so indicate. In this way “by” echoes the immeasurable depth of the coincidental but decisively detrimental and localized influences that may remain unseen behind and beneath what accidentally occurs to the persona as to Odysseus while on his way home. Everything could then appear as mysteriously natural but as randomly coincidental as of a panoramic scene “seized” as perfectly fit or fixed inside a long-range lens of a camera by a spell of certain unknown magical local influences in ways as the preposition “by” itself may so fully suggest. Of this spatial mode, the last two lines, if with the first possibility of reading, could be understood as the persona’s murmuring to himself with his newly found self-willed strength to move on; with this possibility of reading, the two lines could suggest an objective surmise by someone else, such as the long rang camera holding person guessing his targeted persona’s state of mind in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a curious but impartial spectator.It could suggest, in other words, as much an objective speculation as of what is really going on or simply “fixed” inside Rilke’s caged panther “ ［a］s he paces in cramped circles, over and over/the movement of his powerful soft strides/is like a ritual dance around the cent/in which a might will stand paralyzed.”

Prosodically, this transition from a transitive stop to an intransitive stop could be even such a“natural” shift for us as readers when we happen to pause a bit longer on the preposition “by” or to stress it a little more; it could occur when we become, either consciously or involuntarily, more attentive to the local power of a place as the ambiguous verbal structure may so encourage for us to do so, that is, to explore from within the exactly same syntactic-prosodic pattern for any subtle and yet significant changes regarding the “parts of speech” and then the meanings a posteriori. However involuntarily, the transition could occur as an inevitable shift; it could be as imperceptible as what occurs deep inside the persona. This understanding of“stop by,” how ever trivial as it may strike, could influence our reading not only in terms of where, whether, or how we pause or stress but also in terms of how we read the poem in ways different but equally permissible by the same syntactic-prosodic pattern.The title line,for instance, could thus also be scanned as usual as consistently iambic (˘ ¯) in terms of the metric convention. It could nonetheless also be scanned contrary to the convention with the second or even both first and second meter as trochaic (¯ ˘) in ways as necessarily or naturally as the function word“by” needs to be stressed when used as the “adverbial phrase” to emphasize the irreplaceable influences from this peculiar place, occasion, and moment. It could be scanned, in other words, as consistent as with the moment of serious self-reflection that may occur as imperceptibly and yet as suddenly as a simple but crucial click of mind with all its unpredictable and immeasurable catalytic sea changing intensity; it could also mean a sudden revelation with the most acute existentialistic implication regarding the deep predicament inherent in his regular status being. When persona’s life appears so smoothly set up in terms of social convention or willpower-eroding routine beyond his consciousness and control, this profound predicament remains utterly unaware of until such a moment.

The predicament seems to be simulated in the smooth, regular, and rhythmically hypnotizing power or inertia of the conventional iambic pentameter of the first.

1. Stopping/ by Woods/ on a/ Snowy/ Evening (˘ ¯/ ˘ ¯/ ˘ ¯/ ˘ ¯ /˘ ¯)

2. Stopping/ by Woods/ on a/ Snowy/ Evening (˘ ¯/ ¯ ˘/ ˘ ¯/ ˘ ¯/ ˘ ¯)

3. Stopping/ by Woods/ on a/ Snowy/ Evening (¯ ˘ / ¯ ˘ / ˘ ¯/ ˘ ¯/ ˘ ¯)

As a result, with a mixture of comic and tragic sense in flavor and in ways contrary to the conventional scheme, this possible scanning of No. 2 or 3 may sound jazz-like in mimicking a syncopated moment of a mind with a clear sound of flip and flop; the sound seems to echo a whisper from deep within a long dormant but instantly awakening soul. The soul may even be awakened with an implicit but emphatic tint or tone reminiscent of Camus’ Sisyphean selfwilled defiance; it may suggest as much an immeasurable self-sustaining power of endurance as Job’s even amidst his utmost all-crushing “quiet desperation” and his rebellious wife’s desperate urge, “Curse God and die!” This one or two trochaic meters in a line of an overall metric pattern of the poem’s predominant iambic pentameter could also have the natural and truly mindrefreshing impact prosodically compatible to a gentle spell of breeze that wrinkles the otherwise imperceptibly rippled water with an unexpected but necessary and brief moment of serendipitously mind-reflecting and mind-reviving disruption. The scanning thus fluctuates melodically with the mind while measuring the actual rhythms of the mind captured live in words in accordance with and/or against the usual melodic convention.Even if appearing just once in the title line,this prosodically significant role of “by” as with many other function words at times could therefore be observed not only with regard to its actual presence in the text but also in terms of its“participatory absence” or “absent participation” in ways reminiscent of an “absentee ballot” that may still tilt the entire course of reading as much as a presidential election.

Prosodically, this simple preposition “by” could also function as a de-facto “le mot juste”responsible for the subtle and yet actual “symphonic” impact however visually colorful it often appears reminiscent of an intricately brilliant tapestry the poem often suggests especially in terms of a spatial mode when the by-phrase is taking as adverbial phrase defining or modifying the verb“to stop” as an intransitive one. In a steady company of the rhythmic sounds of resonance, the line “Stopping by woods on a snowy evening,” for instance, often implies a contrapuntal dialogue not only as a title but also as a significant prelude. The line as the title, for instance, not only sets up the leitmotif-making overtone with the sound of ［aɪ］ of “by” but also echoes in the other identical vowel sounding words in the text, such as “I” and “miles.” The sound of ［aɪ］ thus mixes itself with the sounds of ［ou］, as of “snowy,” and ［iŋ］, as of “stopping” and “evening,” as the accompanying undertone. As alternating or dialoguing overtone and undertone, these sounds build up a momentum of ear-enamoring associations in the text with further meaning-making impact.As an overtone, the sound ［aɪ］, for instance, finds its reincarnated self not only in the word “I,”which appears a total of five times in the text of one hundred and eight words of sixteen lines and four stanzas but also in the words with the same or nearly same vowels, such as “my,” “lake,”“shake,” and “flake.” The ［aɪ］ sound may even find itself echoing resonantly in the accompanying undertone made of ［ou］ sound in the words of “snowy,” “snow,” “know,” and “frozen” along with the words with sound of ［w］. The ［u］ of “woods” is particular everywhere. The word“woods” literally appears four times in the texts in addition to the same or near alliteration, such as ［w］ of “whose,” “watch,” “will,” “wind,” “with,” and “without” along with those, such as“between” and “sweep.” Even the otherwise seemingly not so much initially “eye-catching” or attention-grabbing sounds, such as ［i: ］ in “evening” and ［i］ in “snowy,” could often appear so serendipitously at the last minute as the crucial part of the overtone; it is particularly so when the poem could also be appreciated as a verbal music of dialogue or self-debate with contrapuntal beauty of an intricate composition. It is a dialogue between “I” and “he” with “I” who reflects on himself as an objectified, alienated, or newly discovered true “self” or “double” along with everything of the surrounding that seems to occasion and mediate the self-dialoguing dialogue not only surreptitiously but also serendipitously. It is therefore also prosodically a dialogue substantiated by sounds ［ai］ of “I” and “my” on the one side and ［i: ］ of “he” and its variation［i］ as of “his” along with other further variations of “it,” “queer,” “here,” “near,” and “year” on the other side. At once as the overtone and undertone that accompanies the dialogue, the sounds［i: ］ and ［i］ concentrate in the second and the third stanza, that is, in the two stanzas where “I”appear completely absent as if deliberately leaving space to “he” for a counterargument.

4. Conclusion: The Flexible Fraction that Illuminates across Time and Space

Regardless of the obvious differences between English as non-tonic language and Chinese as tonic language in addition to their obvious differences in using function words, prosody still appears particularly useful for us to pay attention to the trivial but essential nitty-gritties, which could be as important as “invisible” and indispensable as the life-sustaining air. Such pivotal “nitty-gritties” could even be habitually ignored by a native speaker of English and professor of English due to her educated preference as indicated below.As these cases may so indicate, prosody would thus enable us to see and to reevaluate all these nitty-gritties not only in terms of their actual presence and position but also in terms of their “present absence”or “participatory absence.” Prosody could indeed further prepare us with acute vision to see the presence of “meaning” in terms of its absence. As with the deep-breath exercise as essential part of “qigong” or yoga, prosody could make what is merely natural or habitual, such as breathing,become our further self-conscious and further fruitfully manageable meaning-exploring and meaning-making process. In this way, prosody teaches us not only how to read a posteriori but also how to be flexible or “bian tong” to benefit from reading for the immeasurable and infinite text-enlivened and enlivening varieties, pleasure, and beauty of serendipity. As simultaneously a promise, conviction, perspective, and technique, prosody is after all not simply about specific rule application but about working with the nitty-gritties of “sound pattern,” which could prove,however often underappreciated, not only “more integral ［than］ syntax” but also more heartappealing in ways and on occasions, as Wittgenstein would so emphasize here, to become the indispensable sense-making “atmosphere accompanying the word ［to be］ carried with into every kind of ［verbal］ application.”As otherwise easily overlooked but indispensable light from across disciplines and cultures, prosody that works or flourishes so well in Chinese would thus also, as a wonderful relief to Goethe, enable us not only to see the so meaningfully illuminated nitty-gritties in English but also the power of the light itself from Chinese.