THE SHE KING; OR, THE BOOK OF ANCIENT POETRY

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'38 PECULIARITIES IN THEIK STRUCTURE.
seven in number. Some of the pieces in the other Parts
are marked by the same characteristic. In those Parts,
however, there are many others which afford the best ex
amples of Chinese poetry. The first piece of Part III.
is remarkable as being constructed, in Chinese, in the
same way as the 121st and other step Psalms, as they
have been called, the concluding line of one stanza form
ing the commencing one of the next.' In other pieces
there is an approximation to the same form.
Throughout the book the pieces are distinguished
among themselves as narrative, metaphorical, or alhisive.
In a narrative piece the poet says what he has to say
right out, writing it down in a simple, straightforward
manner, without any hidden meaning reserved in his
mind. It is not to be supposed, however, because such
pieces are distinguished from the other two classes, that
the anther does not, at his pleasure, use the metaphor
and other figures of speech in their composition. He uses
them as freely as descriptive poets in any other language.
In a metaphorical piece the poet has under his lan-
o-uage a meaning different from what it expresses,—a
meaning which there should be nothing in the language
to indicate. Such a piece may be compared to the
^sopic fable; but while it is the object of the fable
to inculcate the virtues of morality and prudence, an
historical interpretation has to be sought for the meta
phorical pieces of the She. Often, moreover, the moral
of the fable is subjoined to it, which never is done in the
case of these pieces. The best specimen of such a com
position is the second ode of Book xv., Part I., where
we hear only the plaint of a bird, whose young, reared
by her with toil, have been destroyed by an owl, and who
is afraid that her nest will also be destroyed. We know,
however, from the Book of History, that the writer, the
duke of Chow, intended himself by the bird, and that he
wished in the piece to vindicate the stern course which
he had adopted to put down the rebellion of some of
his brothers.
The allusive pieces are more numerous than the me
taphorical. They often commence with a couple of
lines which are repeated without change, or with slight
rhythmical changes, in all the stanzas. In other pieces
PECULIARITIES IN THEIR STEUCTUEE. 89
each stanza has allusive lines peculiar to itself. These are
for the most part descriptive of some objector circumstance
in the animal or vegetable world, and after them the poet
proceeds to his proper subject. Generally, the allusive
lines convey a meaning harmonizing with the lines which
follow, as in I. i. IV., where an English poet would begin
the verses with Like or As. They are in reality meta
phorical, but the difference between an allusive and a
metaphorical piece is this,—that in the former the poet
proceeds to state the theme which he is occupied with,
while no such intimation is given in the latter. Some
times, however, it is difficult to discover the metaphorical
element in the allusive lines, and we can only deal with
them as a sort of refrain, strangely placed at the begin
ning of the verses. Chinese critics do riot scruple to say that
there are many cases in which it is impossible to find any
meaning in the allusive lines akin to what is subsequently
said. I cannot persuade myself, however, that the poets
ever wrote in such a random style; and the fresh and
careful study of each piece, required in preparing the
present volume, enabled me to see a good and suitable
meaning in many .lines, of whose force I had previously
enjoyed but a dim and vague perception, and even in some
lines where the meaning had eluded all the critics. My
rule has been to bring out in the English verse the con
nexion between the allusive lines and those that follow;
and this is the principal reason why my stanzas are
frequently longer than those of the Chinese text. Occa
sionally, where the connexion was sufficiently evident, I
have made no addition to show it. More rarely, I have
been obliged to leave the connexion in obscurity, as being
myself unable to perceive it.
In leaving this subject, it is only necessary to say
further that the allusive, the metaphorical, and the narra
tive elements sometimes all occur in the same piece.
Chinese critics make a further distinctiou of the pieces,
especially in the first three Parts, into correct and changed,
or pieces of an age of good government, and pieces of a
degenerate age. Such a distinction was made at a very
early time; but it is of little importance. Many pieces
ranked in the second and inferior class are in their spirit
and style equal, and more than equal, to any in the other.