ABC of Sound Meters in Chinese Poetry声(shēng)律(lǜ)启(qǐ)蒙(mēng)
五老峰高，秀插云霄如玉笔； 三姑石大，响传风雨若金镛。 Wǔ lǎo fēng gāo ，xiù chā yún xiāo rú yù bǐ ； Sān gū shí dà ，xiǎng chuán fēng yǔ ruò jīn yōng 。 (Literal translation of the lines: High as the Five Old Men Peaks, piecing through the clouds like a jade pen; huge as the Three Aunts Rock, blustering amidst wind and rain like a golden bell.) The last character pronounces like “yōng”. There are five pairs: five old men peaks vs. three aunts rock; high vs. huge; piecing vs. sounding; clouds vs. wind and rain; jade pen vs. golden bell.
the Five Old Men Peaks
仁对义，让对恭，禹舜对羲农。 Rén duì yì ，ràng duì gōng ，yǔ shùn duì xī nóng 。 (Literal translation of the lines: Kindly sympathy vs. justice; not to contend vs. being respectful; emperors Yǔ and Shun vs. emperors Xī and Nóng.) The sixth character pronounces as “gōng” and the last character pronounces as “nóng”. The four emperors are all legendary figures. There are apparently four pairs in the line.
Emperors Yǔ and Shun vs. Emperors Xī and Nóng
雪花对云叶，芍药对芙蓉。 Xuě huā duì yún yè ，sháo yào duì fú róng 。 (Literal translation of the lines: Snow flake vs. pieces of cloud; paeonia factiflora vs. cotton rose hibiscus.) The last character pronounces as “róng”. Factiflora and hibiscus are all names of flowers. There are four pairs in the line: snow vs. cloud; flake vs. pieces; paeonia vs. cotton rose; factiflora vs. hibiscus.陈后主，汉中宗，绣虎对雕龙。 Chén hòu zhǔ ，hàn zhōng zōng ，xiù hǔ duì diāo lóng 。 (Literal translation of the lines: The Succeeding Master of the Chén regime vs. Emperor Xuān of Hàn; embroidered tiger vs. carved dragon.) The sixth character pronounces as “zōng” and the last character pronounces as “long”. The Succeeding Master of the Chén regime (553-604) was the last ruler of the Southern Dynasty; Emperor Xuān of Hàn (91-49 B.C.) was the 10th Emperor of the Hàn Dynasty. The Embroidered Tiger is a name of Cáo Zhí (192-232, 曹植), who composed a poem in seven steps; the Carved Dragon is a name of Liú Xié (465-520， 刘勰), who wrote the famous literary aesthetics “The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons.” We can say there are four pairs in the line: Chén vs. Hàn; succeeding master vs. Emperor Xuān; embroidered vs. carved; tiger vs. dragon.
柳塘风淡淡，花圃月浓浓。 Liǔ táng fēng dàn dàn ，huā pǔ yuè nóng nóng 。 (Literal translation of the line: The gale through the willow pond is so gentle; the moon in the flower garden is so bright.) The last character of the line pronounces as “nóng”. There are four pairs: willow vs. flower; pond vs. garden; wind vs. moon and gentle vs. bright.
春日正宜朝看蝶，秋风那更夜闻蛩。 Chūn rì zhèng yí cháo kàn dié ，qiū fēng nà gèng yè wén qióng 。 (Literal Translation of the line: It is proper time to watch butterflies in the morning of spring; in what small hours in autumn should we listen to crickets at night?) The last character of the line pronounces as “qióng”. There are six pairs: spring vs. autumn; sun vs. wind; proper time vs. which hour; in the morning vs. at night; to watch vs. to listen to; butterfly vs. cricket.
战士邀功，必借干戈成勇武； 逸民适志，须凭诗酒养疏慵。 Zhàn shì yāo gōng ，bì jiè gàn gē chéng yǒng wǔ ； Yì mín shì zhì ，xū píng shī jiǔ yǎng shū yōng 。 (Literal translation of the lines: Soldiers who wish to be meritorious would show their bravery by yielding their weapons; the delight for people living in seclusion is to compose poetry while drinking and to prolong their pleasure in laziness.) The fourth character pronounces as “gōng” and the last character pronounces as “yōng”. There are such pairs in the lines: soldiers vs. people living in seclusion; to wish vs. to fulfill; meritorious deeds vs. wish; must vs. should; by means of vs. to rely on; weapons vs. poems and wine; to show vs. to nurture; bravery vs. pleasure in laziness.
