This is a very theoretical speech, full of sound and color. The composition of this feature comes from Qian Zhongshu's metaphor.
For example, in order to show that critics should take the object of their comments seriously, the author wrote, "People with literary conscience and discernment, like serious scientists, avoid high hats and empty words like generalities." Only "literary conscience and discrimination" and "like a serious scientist" are enough to illustrate the importance of the author's point of view.
In order to illustrate the development law of China's poetry, the author made a corresponding metaphor with the development of Chinese painting. For example, in China's painting, the technology of objective portrait has not yet developed, but it has developed a "pure painting" style like "Impressionism" and "Post-Impressionism". It can be said to be a revelation. For this extraordinary state of development, Qian Zhongshu's wonderful metaphors have solved big problems.
In order to illustrate the shortness of China's poems, the author used a western phrase "light kite to cut and plunder". This metaphor is used lightly and freely.
"If shoes form feet, feet also form shoes; Poetic style may be the product of poetic heart and meet the needs of poetic heart. Compared with western poets, China poets can only be regarded as sculptors with cherry stones and two-inch ivory squares. However, a short poem can have a distant meaning, and contraction does not hinder extension, as if we want to see farther and every eyebrow is frowning. " This metaphor is more profound. Compared with "China's poetry chose its poetic style for the need of expression, and this poetic style is undoubtedly closely related to its expression", it is more vivid and self-evident.
Others compare the "proportion" of China's poems to "cobwebs are to barbed wire" and "only the reed flute is playing". It is attractive to compare China's wild poems to "the words of civilized people, and they are dialogues, not speeches, as quiet and thin as the voice of conscience-but all people with conscience can hear them".