Logan+McCarty


 * Hafez**

Background

Hafez is a very mysterious character. Not much is known about Hafez’s life and nearly nothing about his early life. Even an exact date of birth is unknown. He was either born in 1315 or 1317, although it is a well-accepted fact that he died in the year of 1390. After his death, many legends and myths spread about him and his life. These legends soon replaced fact. All that is still known to be a fact comes from his literary work. Hafez was a well-respected poet of his time and for many decades after. His works have roots to Islamic ideals and beliefs. His poetry was enjoyed and even imitated by people of Christianity as well as Hindus. Hafez’s work was distributed throughout the Middle East and is even taught in schools today. His style was often confused as to whether it should be taken literally or in a fantasy sense. His abstract style led his work to become very famous and studied intensely.

Poems

1. //Morning Light//


 * You are dawn; I am a candle**
 * Glowing in solitude to you.**
 * Smile, and lo my vital spirit’s yours.**


 * Such is the pain from love’s wound,**
 * Oh taming locks of Beauty,**
 * That about my tomb a bed of violets will grow.**


 * Waiting upon the threshold of your desire**
 * I open my eyes**
 * That you might show me favor, but instead you retire.**


 * Sorrow’s legions, I’m ever thankful for your friendship;**
 * May God protect you.**
 * When I’m forsaken, you, alone, will abide with me.**


 * Pupil of my eye, despite your black heart,**
 * I am your slave**
 * Because my heart’s sorrow calls for a shower of a thousand tears.**


 * The rising sun spreads its rays across the sky**
 * Revealing my love’s splendor**
 * That none observe as I.**

Literary Techniques
 * If my love, like the whispering breeze,**
 * Should pass Hafez’s tomb,**
 * Them this passion shall rend my shroud in two.**

Metaphor: A comparison of two things Example- “You are dawn”

Simile: A comparison of two things using “like” or “as” Example- “If my love, like the whispering breeze”

Personification: Giving inhuman things, human traits Example- “Because my heart’s sorrow calls for a shower of a thousand tears.”

2. //Rendezvous//


 * With mussed-up hair and moistened brow**
 * The tempting lips of an intoxicated smile**
 * With open blouse rent to the waist,**
 * Singing a sonnet’s soft strain**
 * Her cut contained a potent brew.**


 * With provocative glance and slanted smile**
 * She came at midnight and sat awhile.**
 * Then whispered in soft, low tones,**
 * “Have you given way to sleep,**
 * You who have been my faithful lover?”**


 * Night watching lovers**
 * Your love is a fake**
 * If you don’t pursue**
 * The juice of this Grape.**


 * Away, you hypocrites**
 * Don’t belittle those who drink of the cask,**
 * Even the dregs can be dear,**
 * For no more was given when creation was cast.**


 * I have drunk to the end**
 * What given to me**
 * Whether it came from the cask**
 * Or the cup of Eternity.**


 * How many, as Hafez, to repentance have resigned**
 * By fetching billowed hair and heady flowing wine.**

Literary Techniques

Imagery: A literary technique used to get the reader to imagine the subject Example: “With mussed-up hair and moistened brow…”

Symbolism: Symbolic meaning attributed to natural objects Example: “The cup of Eternity”

Unreliable Author: The author is biased Example: “Your love is a fake if you don’t pursue the juice of this Grape.”

3. //Paen of a Dreg-drinker//


 * The splendor of youth, again**
 * Has come to the garden.**
 * The fragrance of the rose carries**
 * A sweet message to the nightingale.**


 * Soft breeze,**
 * If you reach the meadow where**
 * The cypress, rose, and sweet basil lie—**
 * Give them my greetings.**


 * If the young wine selling mage**
 * Should thus choose to come,**
 * I will make my eyelash a broom**
 * And sweep the walkway clean,**


 * Of moon, do not eclipse your white beauty**
 * With your dark flowing hair.**
 * For then my tortured mind**
 * Shall be a frenzy of perplexity.**


 * Though the sophisticated scoff**
 * At those who drink dregs**
 * They will lose their faith**
 * When they arrive at the tavern door.**


 * Stand near the blessed few.**
 * In Noah’s ark a little dust**
 * Inherited everything.**
 * While a drop of water was repaid**
 * With total devastation.**


 * Go forth from the world and seek not bread**
 * For within the dark cup is a deadly poison.**
 * To all whose future is to be dust**
 * What use is it to build a tower to the sky?**


 * My Moon of Canaan,**
 * The Throne of Egypt,**
 * Is yours. The hour is near.**
 * It is time to bid the prison farewell.**


 * So drink in joy, Hafez!**
 * And balance in the brink.**
 * But do not twist as others have**
 * The sacred word of God**
 * Into the hypocritical snare of lies.**

Literary Techniques:

Symbolism: Symbolic meaning attributed to natural objects Example: “Into the hypocritical snare of lies.”

Imagery: A literary technique used to get the reader to imagine the subject Example: “With your dark flowing hair.”

Metaphor: A comparison of two things Example: “It is time to bid the prison farewell.”


 * Li He**

Background

In China during the Tang Dynasty, Li He was born into a family that held a position of royalty, in 790. Very early on he found a passion for literacy. His father and others disapproved and tried to steer him in the direction of becoming a political official. He ultimately failed the examination required to take on a role of a political official. So, he returned to his poem writing. He only lived to be 27 years old, but his poetry lived very long after his passing. Li He’s poetry was very strangely arranged. It is rumored that he would imagine a line and write it on a slip of paper and do this several throughout the day, and by the end of the day he would have laid out all the slips in order to for a poem. His poems were very ghostly and haunting, thus why he was labeled the “Ghost Poet”. Some of his poems also expressed his frustration with the political system in China. His poetry works were enjoyed by many other poets with similar styles, these same people also help preserve his work and to outlast his passing. They of course, were successful and his poetry is studied today.

Poems

1. //Butterflies Dancing//


 * Willow catkins beat at the curtains,**
 * Under sweltering spring clouds.**
 * Screen of tortoise-shell**
 * And dazzling clothes.**


 * Butterflies from the eastern neighbour**
 * Come fluttering to the west.**
 * Today the young man has returned,**
 * Riding his white steed.**

Literary Techniques:

Personification: Giving inhuman things human traits Example: “Willow catkins beat at the curtains”

Imagery: A literary technique used to get the reader to visualize the subject Example: “Under sweltering spring clouds”

Symbolism: Symbolic meaning attributed to natural objects Example: “Riding his white steed.”

2. //Lament That the Days Are So Short//


 * Flying lights, flying lights,**
 * I pledge you a cup of wine.**
 * I do not know if the blue heavens are high,**
 * The yellow earth is rich,**
 * I only see cold moon, hot sun,**
 * Both come to plague us.**
 * Eat bears and you'll grow fat,**
 * Eat frogs and you'll grow thin.**
 * Where is the Spirit Lady?**
 * Where the Great Unity?**


 * East of the sky stands the Jo tree,**
 * Under it a dragon with a torch in its mouth.**
 * I'll cut off the dragon's feet,**
 * And eat the dragon's flesh.**
 * Ther morning will not come back again,**
 * Night will not stay.**
 * So old men will not die,**
 * Nor young men weep.**
 * Why should we swallow yellow gold,**
 * Or eat white jade?**


 * Who is Ren Gong-zi**
 * Riding a white donkey through the clouds?**
 * Liu Che lies in the Mao-ling tomb,**
 * Just a pile of bones.**
 * Ying Zheng lies in his catalpa coffin**
 * What a waste of abalone.**

Literary Techniques

Imagery: A literary technique in which the reader visualizes the subject Example: “I only see cold moon, hot sun”

Symbolism: Symbolic meaning attributed to natural objects Example: “Under it a dragon with a torch in its mouth.”

Metaphor: A comparison between two different things Example: “Both came to plague us”

3. //Mount Wu Is High//


 * A cluster of emerald**
 * Piercing high heaven!**
 * Over the Great River's swelling waves**
 * Spirits trail their mist.**
 * The King of Chu's soul sought a dream**
 * In a bitter wind.**
 * In dawn wind and flying rain,**
 * Grow coins of moss.**
 * The Jade Princess has been gone**
 * A thousand years,**
 * Amid lilac and Sichuan bamboos**
 * Old gibbons wail,**
 * Her ancient shrine is close to the moon's**
 * Chill toad and cassia,**
 * Pepper flowers shed scarlet petals**
 * Among drenching clouds.**

Literary Techniques:

Imagery: A literary technique in which the reader visualizes the subject Example: “Spirits trail their mist.”Symbolism: Symbolic meaning attributed to natural objects Example: “Among drenching clouds.”

Personification: Giving inhuman things human traits. Example: “Over the Great River’s swelling waves”


 * Shel Silverstein**

Background

Shel Silverstein was born in 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. At a very early age he began to illustrate. After joining the army he soon found himself illustrating for a military magazine. He moved on to bigger newspapers after that, until he started writing his own poems as well as illustrating them. His poetry was wildly popular amongst children. Silverstein’s work held many symbols within it. His most famous work, //The Giving Tree//, was not only loved by children for its quirky illustrations, but it was enjoyed for its symbolic and critical nature.

Poems

1. //No Difference//


 * Small as a peanut,**
 * Big as a giant,**
 * We’re all the same size**
 * When we turn off the light.**


 * Rich as a sultan,**
 * Poor as a mite,**
 * We’re all worth the same**
 * When we turn off the light.**


 * Red, black or orange,**
 * Yellow or white,**
 * We all look the same**
 * When we turn off the light.**


 * So maybe the way**
 * To make everything right**
 * Is for God to just reach out**
 * And turn off the light!**

Literary Techniques:

Simile: A comparison using “like” or “as” Example: “Small as a peanut”

Epiphany: A sudden perspective or insight, which is revealed to the reader Example: “Turn off the light!”

Imagery: Allowing the reader to see the subject Example: “Red, black or orange…”

2. //Shadow Wash//


 * I’ve never washed my shadow out**
 * In all the time I’ve had it.**
 * It was absolutely filthy I supposed,**
 * And so today I peeled it off**
 * The wall where it was leaning**
 * And stuck it in the washtub**
 * With the clothes.**
 * I put in soap and bleach and stuff,**
 * I let it soak for hours,**
 * I wrung it out and hung it out to dry,**
 * And whoever would have thunk**
 * That it would have gone and shrunk**
 * For now it’s so much**
 * Littler than I.**

Literary Techniques

Personification: Giving inhuman things human traits Example: “It was absolutely filthy”

Imagery: Allows the reader to visualize the subject. Example: “So today I peeled it off”

Defamiliarization: Forcing the reader to see normal things in strange ways Example: “I wrung it out to dry.”

3. //The Weavers//


 * I was sittin’, I was knittin’**
 * On a sweater I could wear.**
 * When I finished, I said proudly,**
 * “Hey, I’ve done some weavin’ there.”**
 * But ol’ spider on the wall said,**
 * “Can you do it in the air?**
 * Can you spin it out of gossamer**
 * From the ceiling to the stair?**
 * Can you let the wind blow through it**
 * So it sways but doesn’t tear?**
 * Then can you grab into it**
 * And swing lightly on a hair?**
 * When you can—then you may truly say,**
 * ‘I’ve done some weavin’ there.’”**

Literary Techniques

Symbolism: Symbolic meaning attributed to natural objects Example: “Ol’ spider on the wall”

Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds Example: “I was sittin’, I was knittin’”

Imagery: Allows the reader to see the subject Example: “Can you let the wind blow through it?”


 * Music**

Simile: The comparison of two different subjects using “like” of “as.”

▪ It is describing that his love is calm and cool like a “whispering breeze.” ▪ The lyric is allowing the reader to imagine what packed frozen food is like, and then comparing it to how the house is arranged.
 * -“If my love, like the whispering breeze”** (Hafez, //Morning Light//).
 * -“Once again, packed like frozen food”** (//Life in a Glass House// by Radiohead).

Symbolism: Symbolic meaning attributed to natural objects

▪ The dragon is a symbol of power. ▪ This is a symbol of surrender.
 * -“Under it a dragon with a torch in its mouth”** (Li He, //Lament That The Days Are So Short//).
 * -“Don’t throw stones”** (//Life in a Glass House// by Radiohead).

Imagery: In which the reader is allowed to visualize the subject.

▪ The author is allowing the reader to see how graceful the spider’s web is, yet how strong it is. ▪ The reader is able to visualize how dark and closed off this house is.
 * -“Can you let the wind blow through it?”** (Shel Silverstein, //The Weavers//).
 * -“She is papering the windows”** (//Life in a Glass House// by Radiohead).


 * Works Cited**

//Bathrobe’s Allusions to Classical Chinese Poetry in Pink Floyd.// CJV. 2013. < [|www.cjvlang.com/pfloyd/liho.html] >.

//Hafez.// Poetry Foundation. 2013. < [|www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/hafez] >.

//Hafez Shirazi, Khajeh Shamseddin Mohammad.// Iran Chamber Society. 2001-2013. < [|www.iranchamber.com/literature/hafez/hafez.php] >.

//Li He.// Encylopædia Britannica. 2013 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. < [|www.britannica.com/ebchecked/topic/338601/Li-He] >.

//Shel Silverstein Biography.// Bio, True Story. 2013. < [|www.biography.com/people/shel-silverstein-9483912] >.

//Shel Silverstein.// Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 2013. < [|www.poets.org/poet.php/prmpid/104] >.