The sentence patterns and grammatical characteristics of modern poetry
The sentence patterns of Tang poetry are basically the same as those of Han, Wei and Six Dynasties poems. However, after the Tang Dynasty, there were more seven-character poems, and the sentence structure naturally had some changes. In addition to the four- and three-character patterns mentioned in the previous section of the general introduction to seven-character poems, two tones can also be added in front of the entire five-character poem to form an independent rhythm, thus forming a two- to five-character sentence pattern. For example:
Painted building - clouds flying towards Nanpu in the morning, bead curtain - rain rolling down the west mountain at dusk. (Wang Poteng’s Pavilion)
Kang Wen--men and women are everywhere. (Du Fu Sui Yanxing)
Shocking - the song of colorful clothes and feathers. (Bai Juyi's Song of Everlasting Regret)
Knowing the truth - here comes the lychee and longan. (Su Shi Lizhi sighed)
If we analyze the last five characters of these seven-character poems in detail, some of them are 212, such as Du Fu's "Yan Sui Xing"; some are 221, such as Wang Bo's "Tengwang Pavilion" and Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" is an example: some are four-one, such as Su Shi's "Lizhi Tan".
On the other hand, the Five-Second Form is very rare. Du Fu's "Sufu" "The sound of the horn is sad at midnight - talking to myself, the moon is bright in the sky - who can see" is the only situation.
The sentence pattern of modern poetry is not much different from that of ancient poetry. The general sentence pattern of five characters and seven characters is suitable for both ancient poetry and modern poetry. Here are only two additional explanations:
(1) The sentence pattern of modern poetry is generally that every two syllables form a rhythm unit, and each rhythm unit is equivalent to a two-syllable word or phrase. Musical rhythm and meaning units are basically the same. For example:
White clouds - looking back - together, green mist - looking in - nothing. (Wang Wei Zhongnan Mountain)
Boundless - falling trees - Xiaoxiao - falling, endless - the Yangtze River - rolling - coming.
(Du Fu Denggao)
God's will - pity - the grass, the world - heavy - evening sunshine. (Li Shangyin Wanqing)
Confined - Chang Bei - Class - Prisoner of Chu, Migrant - Huan Huan - Learn - Qi You.
(Lu You Huangzhou)
It can be seen that a two-syllable word or a two-syllable nominal phrase generally does not span two rhythmic units. However, polysyllabic words or polysyllabic noun phrases cannot but span two rhythm units. Li Shangyin's "Untitled" says "It is difficult to say goodbye when we meet", in which "when we meet" means spanning two rhythm units; another example is Du Mu In "Twenty-four Bridges on a Moonlit Night" in "To Judge Han Chuo of Yangzhou", the "twenty-four" also spans two rhythm units. However, this situation is relatively rare in modern poetry.
(2) The sentence pattern of modern poetry often ends with three characters, and these last three characters remain quite independent. This means that although the three-character ending can be subdivided into two-one or one-two, they always form a whole: if it is a five-rhythm, the last three characters and the first two characters are divided into two larger rhythms; if it is a seven-rhythm, The last three characters and the first four characters are divided into two larger rhythms. Therefore, certain sentence patterns in the poetry of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties and the ancient poetry after the Tang Dynasty generally cannot be used in modern poetry. For example:
Meet each other under the underworld. (Ancient Poetry Jiao Zhongqing’s Wife)
The danger is like this. (Li Bai's road to Shu is difficult)
And *** likes this drink. (Tao Yuanming Drinks Part 3)
One foot of blanket uses a thousand taels of silk. (Bai Juyi Red Thread Blanket)
The blood is made of Chen Taoze's water. (Du Fu Bei Chen Tao)
My family lives under the toad mausoleum. (Bai Juyi's Pipa Song)
From the perspective of meaning units, these poems do not end in three characters. Examples of one, two and two have a suffix of two, three and four have a suffix of four, and examples of five and six have a suffix of five. This is not consistent with the rhythm of ordinary verses. In particular, the second suffix is ??least likely to be used in modern poetry.
The following is about the sentence patterns of modern poetry, and the following is about the grammatical characteristics of modern poetry.
The poetry of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties and the ancient poetry after the Tang Dynasty are grammatically consistent with prose. Modern poetry is different. Modern poetry has some grammar that cannot be found in prose. In some poems, we can not only identify them as rhythmic sentences based on their flatness and obliqueness, but also identify them as rhythmic sentences in terms of grammar. The same is true for the ancient custom of entering the law. We are not going to go into too much detail on this issue. Only two points are mentioned here: omission and inversion.
Let’s talk about omission first. There is a certain limit on the number of words in modern poetry, so the language must be particularly refined. Subjects, conjunctions, and prepositions are often omitted, let alone this; what we will talk about below are sentences lacking verb predicates, which can be subdivided into four types:
The first is to use only a simple noun phrase. For example:
It rained all night in the mountains, and there were hundreds of springs under the trees. (Wang Wei sends Li Shijun to Zizhou)
Spring trees in Weibei and dusk clouds in the east of the Yangtze River. (Du Fu recalls Li Bai in the spring)
The old concubine who fell out of favor returned to the courtyard at night, when the old Tibetan general went upstairs. (Bai Juyi's Mid-Autumn Moon)
The second is to arrange two noun phrases together to allow readers to experience the relationship between them. For example:
The wandering clouds convey the feelings of a child, and the setting sun expresses the feelings of an old friend. (Li Bai sends a friend off)
On the shore there is a gentle breeze with fine grass, and a boat with a dangerous raft at night. (Du Fu travels at night to write a book)
The apes cry in Wuxia and shed a few tears, and the geese return to Hengyang to write a few letters. (Gao Shi sent Li Shaofu to be demoted to the Gorge and Wang Shaofu was demoted to Changsha)
The third way is to retain the adverb and omit the verb. For example:
There are still soldiers and horses in the homeland, and drums and drones in other countries.
(Du Fu sends off)
The old house in the mountains and rivers is empty and empty, and the clouds and rain are desolate. How can I dream of it? (Du Fu Yonghuai Monuments Part 2)
It is difficult to determine which verb is omitted after the adverb, but the meaning is very clear.
The fourth type is a compound sentence, in which one clause has a predicate and the other clause does not. For example:
The fragrant mist and clouds make the servant girl wet, and the clear jade arms are cold. (Du Fu Moonlight Night)
At dusk the cold birds gather, and the autumn rain sickens the monks. (Bai Juyi's second journey is empty)
Qingchuan is full of Hanyang trees and luxuriant grass. (Cui Hao Yellow Crane Tower)
These omissions often appear in modern poetry.
Let’s talk about flipping. In order to adapt to the requirements of rhythm, modern poetry can often make appropriate changes in word order, which is a syntactic inversion. Although prose also has inverted syntax, it is less common than modern poetry and far less free than modern poetry. Certain inverted sentences in modern poetry are not allowed in prose. For example:
The green bamboo shoots fold in the wind, and the red plum blossoms bloom in the rain. (Du Fu accompanies Zheng Guangwen)
(The wind blows the bamboo shoots green, the rain fertilizes the plum blossoms and blooms red.)
The bamboos love the new rain, and the mountains love the sunset. (Qian Qi and Taniguchi sent all the books to Yang Buque)
(I love the bamboo after the new rain, and I love the mountains at sunset.)
The fragrant rice pecks at the parrot grains, and the old phoenix lives in the green parasol. branch. (Du Fu's Autumn and His Eight)
(Parrots peck at the fragrant rice grains, and phoenixes perch on the old birch branches.)
I will always remember the rivers and lakes with white hair on my temples, and want to return to heaven and earth in a small boat. (Li Shangyin settles the city tower)
(Yong Yijianghu returns with white temples)
This change in word order is difficult to understand from the perspective of prose grammar. However, in modern poetry, it not only adapts to the requirements of rhythm, but also increases the flavor of the poem.
Only when we know these special grammatical features of modern poetry can we better understand the meaning of modern poetry, instead of looking at modern poetry from the perspective of reading prose or ancient poetry.