Influence of religion on Sino―Western Poetry

Abstract. Religious culture has always been an important part of Western civilization， and also one of the sources of inspiration to many art branches. Though its hay day has gone， the influence of Christianity has long before penetrated into the Westerners’ minds and social lives. So without knowing Christianity， we can’t thoroughly know the West， and can’t understand or appreciate various cultures and arts stemmed from it. By contrasting some English poems with traditional Chinese ones， the paper makes an analysis about how religion influences the content and style of the poetry so as to acknowledge and enjoy cultural diversities.

Keywords： religion； English poetry； traditional Chinese poetry； content； style

1. Introduction

In reading poems， if compare Chinese classical poems with English poems， we can find that they are different in content and style，Western poetry especially shows an exceptional exotic charm， which I attribute to the different religious consciousnesses held by Chinese and Westerners，and the according reflection in cultural activities.

As an important cultural activity， literature embodies a nation’s cultural spirit， and a nation’s cultural spirit can be mostly seen from its religious belief， if it has one.

The Western countries are almost all religious， as a state religion， Christianity undoubtedly influences， dominates human’s minds and emotions. Poetry is an art of emotion， is the most direct expression of mental activities， thus， to a great extent， English poetry shows itself a tight connection with religion， and Chinese classical poetry does the reverse.

2. Discuss

First， poems with religious content are numerous in the West.

Since England was Christianized in 6th century， the Western world gradually evolved into religious countries， so flourished religious poems and achieved high artistry. Many of this kind of poems expressed the Westerners’ piety and care for their Christ God， there are two examples， one is Tree by British contemporary poet A.J. Kilmer：

Tree

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast.

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray；

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair；

Upon whose bosom snow has lain；

Who intimately live with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me，

But only God can make a tree.

The little poem is not only agile， beautiful，but conceived subtly， using the common tree as an object to eulogize God， “A tree that looks at God all day，And lifts her leafy arms to pray” Tree’s branches spread in air， poet imagined them into arms praying， so concise， and piety flows！ Of the last two lines， more the poet feels shyly ，

“Poems are made by fools like me， But only God can make a tree.” In this crystal-like poem， poet personified the tree’s lovely image， her attaching to the earth， her flouring in summer， her being intimate with robins， rain and snow， and so the poet highlights Creator’s great， fools like me can only write a few shabby poems， but God has placed the real poem in front of us.

The other example is religious too， but slightly shows a little bit eccentric humor and wit to God， which is the metaphysical poet， G. Herbert’s The Gifts of God.

The Gifts of God

When God at first made man，

Having a glass of blessings standing by；

Let us （said he） pour on him all- we can：

Let the world’s riches， which dispersed lie， contract into a span.

So strength first made a way；

Then beauty flow’d， then wisdom， honor.

When almost all was out， God made a stay.

Perceiving that alone， of all his treasure，

Rest in the bottom lay.

For if I should （said He）

Bestow this jewel also on my creature，

He would adore my gifts instead of me，

And rest in Nature， not the god of Nature：

So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest，

But keep them with repining restlessness：

Let him be rich and weary， that at least，

If goodness lead him not， yet

Weariness may toss him to my breast.

The poem states that when God made man， having a glass of good things for his creature， first is strength， then is beauty， wisdom， honor and so on，but when only “treasure” left in the glass，God stopped and withheld it. Here， “treasure” means immortality， and according to Bible， Old Testament， Genesis， chapter4， section17， God cursed Adam， “cursed is the ground because of you， in toil， you shall eat of it， all the days of your life.”（Bible. 4） In this poem， God’s punishment also means rich ones must worry for their fortunes （…But keep them with repining restlessness…）. Perceiving this point， we will understand that the poet is using his special perception of religion and vivid interpretation for giving his own view on religion. The reason of men’s following God， how many are out of devoted belief？ Only when they suffer or in setback will they resort to God， once satisfied， “He would adore my gifts instead of me.” So in order to be worshipped by man， God had to leave himself a route to retreat.

Between lines， we can perceive the poet’s sigh for human nature and satire on religion. This genre of poems is by no means an isolated case， to westerners， they have Bible in hand and God overhead， religion not only means a belief， but a part of their spiritual life. However， things are different in Chine， though Chinese people also has religions world as heaven，pure land or Elysium in Buddhism， and fairyland in Taoism， but，few can go into heaven，Buddhism can not guarantee everyone a Buddhist，how many become immortals in Taoism？ In Chine，there is never a religion really go into the hearts of Chinese，so skimming Chinese classical poems，religious poems are rare，even none. Chinese poets haven’t supernatural god in minds， they sing high praise of ideal， of life； they write natural landscapes， such as wind， flower， snow and moon， they write travels， political setbacks， and they write the national economy and the people’s livelihood… they describe and eulogize everything in reality and in nature. Yes， if say that Chinese poets also bear a “god” in mind， then， the eternal and mysterious nature fully deserves this title， to which， Chinese poets through all ages devoted enormous enthusiasm， just like Lake School appears in the West， China also possesses a kind of pastoral or mountain and river poetry represented by Wang Wei， Meng Haoran and Chang Jian，there is a poem by Wang Wei named In Response To ShaoFu Zhang[1] expressed poet’s desire to retreat to nature， “ …You ask for the way to total awareness， the fisherman’s song[2] resonates deep into the bay.” （Ren， 25） How subtle and implying is the smiling poet！ Yes， prosperity， how can it match being “monarch of green mountains， master of blue waters”？ In Chinese classical poetry， the image of fisherman and woodsman’s free casual life represents an artistic realm， and is always the utmost mental pursuit of Chinese intellectuals， whether officials， scholars， or hermits.

Second， for the effects of different religious consciousnesses， Sino and Western poetry demonstrate different styles.

Christianity in the West built a forever “the other shore” world as souls’ final residence， life in the present world is only a way one must follow to “the other shore”， and God is the pilot between the two shores. On the scale of present life and next life， Westerners weight the later， to them， present life is not valueless， existence is not meaningless， but living in the world， except for the basic pursuits for a living， the ultimate transcending the worldly pursuit is more essential. Thus， they usually adopt a cool and far attitude to life， reflected in poetry， a style of restraint and reason appears.

For example， romantic school is often passionate， but， they are not apt to be captured completely by emotion even when they are passionate most. Wordsworth’s poems are enthusiastic， but， we can easily feel the cool observing note within， according to his own words， his poem “takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” in aging time， more he took the standpoint of “eternity”， looking back his whole life with cool observing attitude and wrote the serene Prelude. Whiteman is also indulgent to his feeling， in the poem When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d， he claimed again and again that the mental wound caused by Lincoln’s death on him is hard to heal immediately， but he is clear in mind that it will disappear certainly. In this way， the whole poem finished a process from exciting to harmonious and calm. To the Westerners， life is only a short span， the people writing poems just stand afar， observing philosophically， therefore， Western poetry seldom shows worldly worries or concerns， even feel pessimistic to the present life， an ultimate home in their Eternal Kingdom of Heaven is available.

However， China has different cultural focus， Owing to various reasons， religion or divine power has never ruled in China， people cares present life much more than after life， one owns one life only， the important thing is to make this life meaningful. So even monks renounced the world sometimes evolved themselves in worldly disputes， especially Wang Wei， addressed as “Poet of Buddhist”， can’t forget his ideal of serving the country； the great poet Lu You wrote in his poem To My Son， “Knowing as we do that everything’s vain when we die， Still it’s sad that the Nine States[3] has yet as one to unite. The day the King’s Legions[4] secure the Central Plain， Don’t forget to tell your Dad at the ancestral shrine.”（Ren， 253） When dying， What lingers in Westerners’ minds is usually “ascending paradise， meeting God”， but what this Chinese poet thinks is the state’s unity and the nation’s fate. Therefore， in the long time of present life， Chinese people outweigh reality， and formed the living attitude of “In success of official career， serve the country； if failed politically， retreat reclusively to pay attention to the moral uplift.” As a result， no matter Realism or Romanticism， Chinese poetry is freer， more realistic and more vehement in style.

3. Conclusion

With the comparison， we can see that Chinese classical poems emphasize expressing ambition， pregnant with the ideal of serving the present world； Western poems emphasize laying out process， stressing the creation of vision. Accordingly， different criteria of evaluating pomes come force in China and the West， top grade regarded in China is not necessarily so in West， and vice versa. It is natural of this phenomenon for different cultural spirits possessed， but with the development of civilization， people should try to leap out of their respective cultural fetters. Knowing enables mutual appreciation， difference accesses to perfection. Religion is an old and special art， understanding its relationship with English poems will help us savor the mysterious cultural charm of another nation.