Chinese OR Egyptian Poetry (10 points possible) Instruc…
Chinese OR Egyptian Poetry (10 points possible) Instructions: In ten (10) sentences, summarize only one (1) of the Chinese poems or one (1) of the Egyptian poems below. Discuss the main point of the poem in your paragraph. In the first sentence of your paragraph, mention the title of the poem you selected. Submit the paragraph by 4:00 PM on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. CHINESE POETRY January 1918 Shang YaBY ANONYMOUS On Finding a Hairpin in a Disused WellBY SENG-CH’I T’ANG POETRY: A Magazine of Verse CHINESE POEMS SHANG YA Shang Ya! I want to be your friend For ever and ever without break or decay. When the hills are all flat And the rivers are all dry, When it lightnings and thunders in winter, When it rains and snows in summer. When Heaven and Earth mingle — Not till then will I part from you. Anonymous — First Century B. C. ON FINDING A HAIRPIN IN A DISUSED WELL Once a girl was gathering flowers. Gathering flowers at the well-side. The flowers she plucked she put in her hair And she looked at herself in the well-water. Long she looked and couldn’t stop, Laughing and laughing at her own beauty, Till one of her golden pins fell out And there in the well it has lain ever since. Its peacock-feathers are turned to mud. But the golden shaft is as bright as new. The person who wore it is dead and gone ; What was the use of the thing lasting? T’ang Seng-ch’i — Sixth Century [198] EGYPTIAN POETRY Written during Egypt’s New Kingdom (1539-1075 B.C.) but likely composed much earlier, these songs are surprisingly direct about love and romance in ancient Egypt, using metaphors, repetition, and other poetic techniques familiar to poetry readers today. The Flower Song (Excerpt)To hear your voice is pomegranate wine to me:I draw life from hearing it.Could I see you with every glance,It would be better for meThan to eat or to drink.(Translated by M.V. Fox) Love Poems From the Workers’ Village Archaeologists have discovered most of Egypt’s love poetry in Deir el-Medina, a village of tomb builders during the New Kingdom. Here, many skilled artisans worked on the tombs of pharaohs such as Ramses II and Tutankhamun. Findings indicate that these villagers may have been remarkably literate for their time. The local community—not just the scribes and students—may have contributed to the poetry of Deir el-Medina. The love poems were likely set to music and used events from daily life and the natural world—growing grain, capturing birds, fishing along the Nile—as metaphors to talk about love. The Crossing (Excerpt)I’ll go down to the water with you,and come out to you carrying a red fish,which is just right in my fingers. (Translated by M. Fox) Women’s voices were strong in Egyptian poetry—as the narrators of poems or as lovers making choices about their beloveds, for example. This strength confirms that women had a higher position in ancient Egyptian culture than in other societies at the time, Wilfong said. Women may even have written some of the poetry. One of Wilfong’s favorite poems, a harpist’s hymn, celebrates life in a culture often thought to be purely focused on the afterlife. Dating from about 1160 B.C., this poem was found on the tomb of Inherkhawy, a supervisor of workers at the royal burial ground in the ancient city of Thebes: The Harper’s Song for Inherkhawy (Excerpt)So seize the day! hold holiday!Be unwearied, unceasing, aliveyou and your own true love;Let not the heart be troubled during yoursojourn on Earth,but seize the day as it passes! (Translated by J.L. Foster) The British Museum’s Parkinson still finds wonder and excitement in his favorite ancient Egyptian works. “The poems provide an archaeology of the emotions, a sense of what it was like to be Egyptian, which is otherwise inaccessible—the humor, the vivacity that lay behind the monuments,” Parkinson said.
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