Mr. Davis on the Poetry of the Chinese. -iOS 



" See the five variegated peaks of yon mountain, connected like the fingers of the hand, 

 And rising up from the south, as a wall midway to heaven : 



At niglit, it would pluck, from the inverted concave, the stars of the milky way, 

 During the day, it explores the zenith, and plays with the clouds : 

 The rain has ceased — and the shining summits are apparent in the void expanse ; 

 The moon is up — and looks like a bright pearl over the expanded palm : 

 One might imagine that the Great-Spirit had stretched forth an arm. 

 From afar — from beyond the sea, — and was numbering the Nations.* 



The boldness of the imagery in the last example is somewhat striking, 

 and the two concluding lines may perhaps serve to redeem it from the 

 reproach of the bathos, to which the simile of the hand might otherwise 

 have exposed it. 



Verses containing the number of six, or eight, or more words, form no 

 part of regular poetry in modern times ; though they are occasionally found 

 alternated with others, in pieces which do not aspire to regularity of struc- 

 ture, but whose figurative style elevates them above the level of mere 

 prose.— -Lines of every length are used in those measured couplets, or sen- 

 tences in pairs, so nicely balanced both in words and sense, which are 

 adopted in the inculcation of ethical precepts, and of which more will be 

 said hereafter, under the head o? parallelism. 



4. In aid of the effect of metrical quantity, the Chinese possess another 

 rule of versification, well known to Europeans, but which has never yet been 

 noticed with reference to the subject of the present treatise. It may be 

 premised, that no sentential pause ever occurs in the middle of a verse ; at 

 least, none which could be punctuated with any thing beyond a comma in 

 English. Every line is complete within itself; there is nothing of what the 

 French call enjambement. But while a reference to written poetry easily 

 establishes this point, the writer of the present observations thought he 

 could plainly perceive, in the correct recital of the longer measures by 

 natives, a very marked ccesural pause near the middle of the lines. Re- 

 peated trial tended to shew, that in verses of seven words, the cassura was 

 invariably after the fourth — and in those of five, after the second word. 

 With a view to being quite clear upon this subject, reference was made to 

 a gentleman, whose profound knowledge of the language renders him a 

 very competent judge in all matters connected with it. He was soon 



• Cliina was formerly divided into separate and independent states. 



