World Poetry Essay On Ta'o Ch'ien

9 Pages 2199 Words

is placed upon something in order to control it. The speaker feels as though he has no control over his life and is being dragged through the dust farther and farther away from his home, where he was happy.
The next section of the poem the speaker uses animals as a metaphor for his desire of wanting to go back to his mountain home. “Migratory birds return to the same tree. Fish find their way back to the pools where they were hatched” (T”AO CH’IEN, 2003, 25). The technique of the metaphor was simple and easy to understand. The use of the metaphors follows the Ancient Chinese Poem structure in that nature became involved with the poem.
In the next section of the poem the speaker describes his home where he spent his childhood, a place that he has been thinking about for nearly thirty years.
I have been over the whole country,
And have come back at last to the garden of my childhood.
My farm is only ten acres.
The farm house has eight or nine rooms.
Elms and willows shade the back garden.
Peach trees stand by the front door.
The village is out of sight.
You can hear dogs bark in the alleys,
And the cocks crow in the mulberry trees,
When you come through the gate into the court
You will find no dust or mess.
Peace and quiet live in every room
(T’AO CH’IEN, 2003,25).

The speaker describes the length and excitement that he felt upon returning home. He uses words like, “at last” and “garden of my childhood.” These words describe his intense desire of returning home. The word garden was used intentionally not only to use nature once again, but a garden represents new life in a sense which is exactly what the speaker felt he was receiving upon r...