Compare and Contrast Essay
This essay will compare and contrast between Eastern and Western love poems, represented respectively by Wang Wei's Yearning and E. E. Cummings' [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]. There are three points to be mentioned: the use of language, the relationship between man and nature, and the relationship between the speaker and his lover. From these points we can conclude some similarities and differences.
At first glance, the most significant similarity between these two poems is that the speakers both use simple language that does not involve any complicated words or prior knowledge. The poem Yearning is only a four-line poem, while the vocabulary in Cummings' poem is easy to understand. However, with the use of such simple language, there are some differences to be noted. Wang Wei's Yearning requires the reader to spend lots of time and afterthought to read between the lines. On the other hand, the reader can quickly grasp Cummings' ideas. The parentheses he included after every line help deliver his message and explain the poetic sentence in front.
Another comparison between these two poems is the relationship between man and nature. Both poems have a strong link with nature and nature appears constantly in the two poems. However, the perspective to nature is different between them. In Yearning, the poem starts with the mention of nature - red beans. In Chinese poems, nature acts as a starting point that triggers the speaker's feelings. It touches off something deep inside the speaker. Nature is prior to human, so it can be implied that nature is more important than human. By comparing the red beans to the speaker's love, human and nature are internally merged together into one form. On the other hand, in Cummings' poem, nature plays a different role. The poem starts off directly with his love - i carry your heart. This first line contrasts the view of nature shown in Yearning. Here, by putting human in the first place, this demonstrates that in Western poems, human are the creator who gives meaning to nature: In my painting of Cumming' poem, love - which is drawn as the lover's heart - is the source, the core that makes the tree of life possible, grow and shine. Human, as an independent individual, has more control to himself than the nature. This is a significant difference in the relationship between man and nature.
The final point to compare between these two poems is the relationship between the speaker and the lover. The speakers both have great affection for their lover. In Yearning, the speaker's lover is not by his side. From the title of Cummings' poem, we can guess that his lover is also far away from him so he must carry her heart with him wherever he goes. The two poems' difference lies in the relationship between the lovers. In Yearning, the speaker expresses his emotions in such an implicit way that the reader hardly feels his vibration. We only see that he asks his lover to pick more red beans. On the other hand, in Cumming's poem, the speaker describes his feelings more directly and stronger. He goes on talking about carrying his lover's heart. He praises her with the highest adoration objects of nature, sun and moon. His ideal love is beyond every imagination: 'higher than soul can hope or mind can hide.' To him, the mere idea of a world without love is impossible. Chinese love poems rarely speak out such passionate and bold emotions, while western love poems are never lack of exploring more amazing and unexpected sensations.
To sum up, Western and Eastern love poems share lots of similarities as well as differences. In the poems I chose for compare and contrast, we found that both poems use simple language to express themselves with some variations. Furthermore, with the involvement of nature, we have two different perspectives to the relationship between man and nature. Also the two poems deal with the relationship between the speaker and the lover quite unlike, with one reserved, and the other one bold. We can admire the peaceful moving of the water, we can also enjoy the whirling waves of the tides.
At first glance, the most significant similarity between these two poems is that the speakers both use simple language that does not involve any complicated words or prior knowledge. The poem Yearning is only a four-line poem, while the vocabulary in Cummings' poem is easy to understand. However, with the use of such simple language, there are some differences to be noted. Wang Wei's Yearning requires the reader to spend lots of time and afterthought to read between the lines. On the other hand, the reader can quickly grasp Cummings' ideas. The parentheses he included after every line help deliver his message and explain the poetic sentence in front.
Another comparison between these two poems is the relationship between man and nature. Both poems have a strong link with nature and nature appears constantly in the two poems. However, the perspective to nature is different between them. In Yearning, the poem starts with the mention of nature - red beans. In Chinese poems, nature acts as a starting point that triggers the speaker's feelings. It touches off something deep inside the speaker. Nature is prior to human, so it can be implied that nature is more important than human. By comparing the red beans to the speaker's love, human and nature are internally merged together into one form. On the other hand, in Cummings' poem, nature plays a different role. The poem starts off directly with his love - i carry your heart. This first line contrasts the view of nature shown in Yearning. Here, by putting human in the first place, this demonstrates that in Western poems, human are the creator who gives meaning to nature: In my painting of Cumming' poem, love - which is drawn as the lover's heart - is the source, the core that makes the tree of life possible, grow and shine. Human, as an independent individual, has more control to himself than the nature. This is a significant difference in the relationship between man and nature.
The final point to compare between these two poems is the relationship between the speaker and the lover. The speakers both have great affection for their lover. In Yearning, the speaker's lover is not by his side. From the title of Cummings' poem, we can guess that his lover is also far away from him so he must carry her heart with him wherever he goes. The two poems' difference lies in the relationship between the lovers. In Yearning, the speaker expresses his emotions in such an implicit way that the reader hardly feels his vibration. We only see that he asks his lover to pick more red beans. On the other hand, in Cumming's poem, the speaker describes his feelings more directly and stronger. He goes on talking about carrying his lover's heart. He praises her with the highest adoration objects of nature, sun and moon. His ideal love is beyond every imagination: 'higher than soul can hope or mind can hide.' To him, the mere idea of a world without love is impossible. Chinese love poems rarely speak out such passionate and bold emotions, while western love poems are never lack of exploring more amazing and unexpected sensations.
To sum up, Western and Eastern love poems share lots of similarities as well as differences. In the poems I chose for compare and contrast, we found that both poems use simple language to express themselves with some variations. Furthermore, with the involvement of nature, we have two different perspectives to the relationship between man and nature. Also the two poems deal with the relationship between the speaker and the lover quite unlike, with one reserved, and the other one bold. We can admire the peaceful moving of the water, we can also enjoy the whirling waves of the tides.
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