诗有文法亦不平

The Composition of Chinese Classical Poetry

诗歌是纯粹的抒情文体。中国古典诗歌,大多篇幅短小。为防读者一眼望穿,诗人在布局谋篇上,常求曲折,力避平直,于尺泽中兴波,以求得在有限中滋生出绕梁三日的悠长情韵,在小诗篇中造出大文章。古典诗歌在构思布局上颇有讲究:为吸引读者,工于发端,开篇时,或音节新奇,或惊天浩叹,或拔尘痴问,或句式多变,引人入胜;为言尽意无穷,在结尾上巧于结穴,或改变句式语气,或以景结情,耐人寻味;在布局上,则法无定法,重视材料的组织顺序,讲究起承转合的结构规范,使整首诗摇曳多姿。

Poetry is a literary genre which is used for expressing emotions and feelings. Most of Chinese classic poetries are concise. In order to avoid explicitness, Chinese poets would endeavor to be creative in organizing his poem and avoid straightforwardness so as to produce resounding or prolonged emotional response in the readers. Nor- mally, the poets would resort to every available strategies to make the beginning impressive; for example, using novel syllables or strong exclamations. Meanwhile, the poet would also conclude the poem in tricky way, such as changing the structure of the lines, describing a scenery; while the organization of the poem is not restricted by existing forms, the poets would give importance to the proper arrangement of the materials as well as the transitions. All these make the poems all the more appealing.