A Comparison between Mourning Poetry in Chinese and That in English

A Comparison between Mourning Poetry in Chinese and That inEnglishⅠ.IntroductionMourning poetry is a very special genre, it is a branch of love poetry. From ancient times, mankind has mourned the death of their loved ones. The mourning is very necessary for the mental health of the living and it is also a way of paying respect to the dead. Mourning poetry can distinguish language feature and aesthetic feeling between Chinese and Western culture. Although Chinese and Western mourning poetry have many similar ways of expression, however, each has its own characteristics.Ⅱ.The similarities of the Chinese mourning poetry and Western mourning poetryChinese and Western mourning poetry have many similarities.Let me take some examples.Form these similarities,we can feel poets' sadness and their deeply love for their wife.2.1 Poets describe the sweetness of love or the pain of losing their belovedLook at Sushi’s JiangChengzi and John Milton’s On His Deceased Wife.Both of their poems could touch the depth of the people’s heart for thousands of years. Reading the two poems carefully, it is easy to find that the contrast of dream and reality is the similarity of them. They express their missing emotion to their dead wife.On His Deceased WifeJohn MiltonMe thought I saw my late espoused SaintBrought to me like Alcestis from the grave，Whom Joves great Son to her glad Husband gave，Rescued from death by force though pale and faint，Mine, as whom washed from spot of child-bed taint，Purification in the old Law did save，And such，as yet once more I trust to haveFull sight of her in Heaven without restraint，Came vested all in white，pure as her mind：Her face was vested，yet to my fancied sight，Love，sweetness，goodness，in her person shinedSo clear，as in no face with more delight．But O as to embrace me she inclinedI waked, she fled, and day brought back my night．2.2 Poets to creat the same imagePoets both reproduced their wife’s beautiful images to express their thoughts of love. The image was filled with the feeling of sadness and desolation. We could feel poets’ miss and deep love for their deceased wife.2.3 To express the cruel life by writing mourning poemWhen Milton married the second time , he already blind and nearly fifty years old, his second wife Catherine died from childbirth .And his political life has been a frustrating lesson ,he faced with the threat of being arrested. It is in this cruel moment that he wrote his first sonnet. He could see her only in his dream. ( liu，2010) For Sushi, Wangfu is not only his wife, but also his genuinely close friend.He treats her as his spiritual dependence. Unfortunately, their happy marriage lasts only ten years, Wangfu died of an illness at 27. （Chen，2007）When Sushi was just been in office in Mizhou that coming with draught, locust plagues ,abandoned and theft, he was extremely anxious. He thought of his dead wife at that time, however, nobody can share his sorrow now. （Chen，2007）Ⅲ.The differences of the Chinese mourning poetry and western mourning poetryAlthough Chinese and Western mourning poetry have many similarities,but there still have mang differences..3.1 The way to expression is differentIn Chinese poetry ，the way of expression is Euphemistic. They show their love indirectly and implicitly. In Western poetry , the way of expression is straight.The western poetry tends to use impassioned and enthusiastic words to show their love and they dare to directly express their heartfelt love.3.2 The choice of imageThe images of Chinese poems pay much attention to the combination of the scene and feelings. Poets often choose deep images to express their sorrow feelings of the dead people. China's mournful poems pay attention to scenarios in the choice of one image, and often select some deep and dark images to express the sadness of poets. The performance of Elegiac Poems of China presents the deep sorrow for the death and lingering sadness, and emphasises on expressing feelings and will of sustenance. （Huang ，2004)While in Western mourning elegy poems, the poets tend to choose more fanciful and imaginative images rather than the things on the scene. Their choices are free, various and often full of imagination. （Huang，2004)3.3 Emotional tendenciesChina's mournful poems also express a heartstricken feeling .While the Western mourning elegy poems tend to tell us sadness also filled with hope.On His Deceased Wife , the poet was very sad, but at the same time the poetry revealed a comfortable, a quiet, and a glimmer of hope. In the poet’s dream, Milton saw his beautiful and gentle wife in the heaven and her short life has risen to eternality. He saw the sin of his wife has been washed and her holy spirit exposed a kind of nobility.While in Jiangchengzi,all poem was full of a desolate atmosphere.“We only have tears,a broken heart and the endless grief,”3.4 The attitude towards deathThe face of death, Chinese people tend to keep, regardless of the strategy, focusing on the earthly life. Chinese people tend to avoid talking about death, Confucius, "I do not know life, how can we know death" is taken to avoid death onhold attitude. He told people, people should put all their attention on the moment of earthly life, do not get distracted to consider the issue of death and the after life.Modern Western philosopher's view of death which had a tremendous impact on Modern and contemporary Chinese literature has the opposite view. In their eyes, a person understands the value of individual existence by knowing the death, and they seek to develop and improve themselves actively. The purpose of death is beyond the understanding of death. This is the way of expressing the value of life .IV .The reasons for their differencesThere are four differences between Chinese and Western mourning poetry ,let me analysis the reasons for their differences.4.1 Differences on religious emotionChinese traditional love poetry is influenced by Chinese religion. Because Chinese people don’t believe in the existence of the next world, Chinese traditional love poems emphasize the love of this life. Therefore love is realistic and sentimental. On the other hand, the lover is depicted as a common person, even though she or he is flawless.But western love poetry is different. As we all know, the influence of God does not disappear in the western culture since the Bible was born. So the idea of the existence of paradise largely influences the tendency of the creation of love poetry. Therefore, the existence of heaven endows them with the hope of reunion. At the same time, his lover is imagined to be an angel. When love is continued in the heaven, it is beyond secular life and becomes mystical. Meanwhile, Platonic love is generalized and easily seen in the western poetry.4.2 Different women status reflected in love poetryWomens' social status from the two cultures is different . In the West , women are independent and individuals , they are equal to men in some way .And they are respected by the society . While in China , under the feudal social system ,women have to be obedient to their fathers when they are girls , to their husbands when theyare wives ,to their sons when they are widows .So they are not equal to men ,their social position is very low.4.3 Different attitudesChina has the feudal history for thousands years, which formed the culture of esteeming the males while underestimating the females. In Chinese feudal society, the most important thing is etiquette. The law of etiquette further rationalized this thought. As a result, most ancient Chinese poets regarded writing about love as a shame. In traditional Chinese scholars’eyes, love between male and female is just like fuel、rice, oil and salt. It’s really trifling and disgraceful to be talked about in public.While love composed the whole life of the Westerners, love is everything to them. English poets consider highly of love and have the slogan of love surpasses everything else. Western country assumes love free policy, and the young people had few pressures from outside. So they could directly present their thoughts, and need not hide , which incited their bold pursuit for love4.4 Different Love ViewpointsChinese attach more importance to marriage rather than love. In old China, the youth’s marriages were decided by their parents and their love mostly began with the marriage .So many of them are difficult to have the true love. It is considered a shame for men to stay together with his wife all day long. So for them it is marriage that comes first. A couple couldn't meet and talk until the day they get married .Whereas Westerners emphasize love , what they advocate is "Love comes first". They think that love is all and love is the most beautiful thing in the world with the combination of the purest soul. It is symbolic of beauty and deserves us to devout our whole life to pursue.V. ConclusionBecause of the difference in culture、geographical position、historical tradition and economic structure between east and west, Chinese mourn poetry and English love poetry each has their own shining points .We cannot say which is better becauseone is beautiful in form and the other is intense in expression. They both made a great contribution to the diversity of world literature .Please cherish every one in our lives,do not regret until we lost them. (1,662 words)References:[1]Milton,John. On His Deceased Wife. Retrieved on 4 June 2008 from:[2]陈慧君，苏轼的婚姻与爱情——兼议其对女性的态度（济南师范专科学校学报），2007年2月（第28卷第1期）[3]黄柏青. 中西方悼亡诗之差异及文化根源[ J] . 嘉应学院学报( 哲学社会科学) ，2004(1)[4]刘薇.千呼万唤总关情----几组中西悼亡诗的比较.内蒙古农业大学学报( 社会科学版)，2010 年第4 期( 第12 卷--总第52 期)。