Yehuda Amichai: Stages of Life

           Yehuda Amichai’s work is filled with sentiments and ideas that appeal to a wide range of people. His work, “God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children,” is no exception. Within the multilayered work he references the stages of life, their relative ease/difficulty, as well as the religious and secular tones that go along with those stages of life. He also cleverly uses punctuation to help further convey the point of his utterances.

            The stages of life referenced in the work are childhood, the adolescent period, and adulthood. Each of these stages has its own level of pity from God. In childhood God has the most pity. This can be taken literally, for those of a religious disposition, or metaphorically. If taken as the latter childhood represent a naïve time of existence. Everything under the sun is new, exciting, and stimulating. The body grows stronger every day and one’s capacity to learn appears to be limitless. Children have a chance to craft their own destiny and only an act of God can stop them. It’s important to note that the line corresponding with this sentiment ends in a hard stop. Using such punctuation makes it appear as a cold hard fact. As we will see later this is not the case for all stages. It also depicts that Childhood has a defined beginning and endpoint. This endpoint leads into the next stage, adolescence.

            The second stage is adolescence. This too ends in a hard stop signifying a fact and a determined period of time. But, it is also a bit less optimistic about the chance of pity from God. The text states, “He has less pity on schoolchildren” (Amichai ln. 2). This is in part due to the nature of humankind. As we grow older we advance in thought and in body. The world isn’t as fresh as it once was and our fascination with God’s creation begins to take on a jaded hue. The hearts and minds of people are introduced to some of the cold truths of existence and the world no longer seems the perfect place it did when one was a child. The end of this line leads into the brutal realities of adulthood.

            Finally the subject of adulthood it broached. The lines here become longer, adding more information and insight into God having no pity on adults. The hard stop gives way to commas allowing the journey to continue on with only brief respites from the difficulty to be faced in the adult world. Although there is much horror in the world there still remains a glimmer of hope. When referencing this brief times of relief (primarily through love or by reaching old age) there is a lack of stops signifying the fleeting nature of such experience. It also shows how time will continue on like a stone rolling down a steep hill.

            Finally, Amichai’s speaker notes that the power for compassion resides in all of us. He uses only one soft stop in the final stanza giving the reader a moment to pause before the grand message of the poem is laid out. That message is that even if God shows no pity we still harbor the ability to show compassion toward one another through all stages of life.

Works Cited

Amichai, Yehuda. “God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children”. The Norton Anthology of World        Literature: Shorter Third Edition, Two- Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2012. 1620-1621. Print.

Existence's Bandages in Lispector's "The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman"

        Clarice Lispector’s work “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman” is fraught with strings of thoughts relating to the meaning of various states of existence. One of the most prominent themes of these questions relate to what it means to be a woman unable to fully delve into, or fully understand, their problems.  The questions that arise from this dilemma are partially answered by other questions. Which in turn spawns other questions leading both the narrator and the reader further into an existential rabbit hole. The most interesting facet of these questions is that they are never directly addressed. Rather, they are stated matter-of-factly giving the impression that the narrator isn’t overly concerned with solving their dilemma. To put it into a metaphor the narrator prefers to place bandages on top of other previous bandages instead of trying to sew the wound shut so it can heal. In the end nothing is ever answered and all that remains is a large pile of bandages over an open scab of bleeding, pus ridden thought.

                Throughout the work the narrator is continuously trying to understand herself, her actions, and what the combination of the two creates. One of her usual methods of attempting to understand herself this is through self-dialogue. Early in the work, laying stomach down on the bed, she states, “‘Whosoever found, searched,’ she said to herself in the form of a rhymed refrain, which always ended up by sounding like some maxim” (Lispector 1556).  The inclusion of “which always” allows the reader to know this isn’t a onetime occurrence. Rather than continuing to ponder this line of thinking she decides sleep is a better option. She puts off this exploration of self, places the bandage of sleep over it and drifts off into unconsciousness.

                Later in the work we see her remove the bandages with alcohol. After imbibing some alcoholic beverages she explores the surrounding restaurant with a drunkard’s keen gaze. During her exploring she imagines herself more full of something. What that is isn’t directly relayed but her thoughts speak of being somewhat superior to everyone else in the establishment. The text writes, “she peered around the room, and how she despised the barren people in that restaurant, while she was plump and heavy and generous to the full” (1558). Among all of them it is only her that has some fantastic insight into the inner workings of the world.  

Through the medium of intoxication she is capable of digging deeper into her self-exploration and the exploration of the human experience. The alcohol works as a tool to escape, if ever so briefly, from the limited realm of experience in which she usually lives. The texts writes, “And everything in the restaurant seemed so remote, the one thing distant from the other, as if the one might never be able to converse with the other. Each existing for itself, and God existing there for everyone” (1558). In this moment she seems to nearly find an answer to all of her questions. Then the tentacles of human life wrap themselves around the narrator once more, pulling her back into her box of reality. It’s through viewing another woman that she returns back into the normal mode of thought.

She becomes jealous and angry toward woman with her boyfriend, not realizing that it is her own self that she is angry with. It has nothing to do with the “pious ninny so pleased with herself in that hat and so modest about her slim waistline” (1559). The narrator finds strength in her ability to have given birth to a child, and that her apparent curvy figure is indicative of pleasure. Nonetheless the narrator wanders through the rest of the text unable to rip off all the bandages and sew the wound shut.

Works Cited

Lispector, Clarice. “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third Edition, Two- Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2012. 1555-1560. Print.

Gender, the "Other", and Desire in "The Rod of Justice"

           The Interactions between the sexes is a well-studied field giving insights into the worlds of fiction and reality. Through the artful writings of wordsmiths real-world truths are conjured and entombed in works of fiction. Joaquim Maria Machado De Assis’s work, “The Rod of Justice”, gives insight into the power-plays of male and female characters all acting to benefit themselves in a way suitable to their given desires. These benefits are kept in the foreground while the wills of other, in so long as they don’t help achieve these goals, are framed as ominous or insignificant “Others”. In order to fully grasp the inner mechanisms of gender and sexuality at play their definitions must first be established. To aid in establishing the definition and context thoughts of Judith Butler and Simone de Beauvoir prove useful.

            Judith Butler in her groundbreaking work, Gender Trouble, helps to establish “woman” as a form of “Other”; an unknown entity in which comparisons to the reigning group can be made. Butler writes, “Far from being subjects, women are, variously, the Other, a mysterious and unknowable lack, a sign of the forbidden and irrecoverable maternal body, of some unsavory mixture of the above” (Butler 202). Not being a subject of their own women take on a mysterious yet hollow presence in literature (and historically the social consciousness). Characters such as Lucretia exhibit this trait in “The Rod of Justice”. Eleven year old Lucretia is described as being, “a little Negress, a frail wisp of a thing with a scar on her forehead and a burn on her left hand” (Assis 913). We gleam little else from the text other than she has a cough, is fearful of her mistress, and wishes no bodily harm comes to her. Her thoughts, hopes, dreams, and anything else helping to create an identity for her are nonexistent.

            Her only interaction with the text is when Damião makes her laugh, which ends in a threat from Sinhá Rita, and in the final scene, where she is about to be beaten for not completing her task. In desperation she calls for the aid of Damião shouting, “Help me sweet young master!” (Assis 916). Though in this moment we find Damião’s earlier vow to protect her less valuable to him than his freedom from the clergy. In this instance the power shifts from his will to protect this frail young girl to saving himself by giving Sinhá Rita the power to bring harm. Lucretia manifests the poor repressed model of all oppressed women; those oppressed by both men and by other women.

            Simone De Beauvoir extends the idea of “Otherness” from just women to many other marginalized groups; albeit her focus is quite often solely on the role of women as “Other”. In her work, The Second Sex, Beauvoir covers the idea of “Other” in its relationship between the sexes. In the introduction of the work she writes, “Otherness is a fundamental category of human thought. Thus it is that no group ever sets itself up as the One without at once setting up the Other over against itself” (Beauvoir 151). This notion of the “Other” as battling both for and against itself can be seen in the character of Sinhá Rita. She battles for Damião in order to see her power over man at work. Yet, she brings harm to womankind by beating other women who she deems inferior to herself. Her power lies in her status as a widow (who likely inherited the power and wealth of her late husband), her ability to charm and domineer her lover (João Carneiro), and her status as “mistress of all this womenfolk—slaves of her own household and from outside” (Assis 915). She has a foot in both the world of women and that of the world of men.

The apex moment of her power comes near the conclusion of the text when she replies to João Carneiro’s letter stating, “Joãozinho, either you rescue the boy, or we never see each other again” (Assis 916). Here we witness the defeat of man through sexuality. She knows in her mind and heart that João Carneiro will do all he can to secure the boys freedom. Even Damião, fearing for his own freedom from the clergy adheres to her power disregarding his previous vow.

            Another connection between “The Rod of Justice” and Beauvoir’s The Second Sex can be found in Chapter XI: Myth and Reality. The text relays the position of man in comparison to that of women stating that, “Each is subject only for himself; each can grasp in immanence only himself, alone: from this point of view the other is always a mystery” (Beauvoir 1268). Damião represents this portion of “Otherness” particularly well. He is only really concerned with being able to leave the clergy. Outside of his own desire those of others only come into play when they may hinder his own goal. The thoughts and wishes of his father, his godfather, and Sinhá Rita are either unknown or marginalized. It isn’t until the final scene in which he becomes aware of this. The text states, “Damião froze… Cruel moment! A cloud passed before his eyes. Yes he had sworn to protect the little girl…” (Assis 916). In that moment he must make a choice between his own life and wishes or take a shot trying to protect the young girl. The latter choice would indubitably turn the fierce wrath of Sinhá Rita his way; possibly leading to his return to the clergy.

            Returning back to the work of Simone De Beauvoir it is here that Lucretia, the metaphorical “everywoman” learns a valuable lesson. As Beauvoir states, “while normally a woman finds numerous advantages in her relations with a man, his relations with a woman are profitable to a man only in so far as he loves her” (Beauvoir 1268). Although Damião wishes the best for this young girl he has no real love for her; therefore she suffers the rod. This dynamic can be seen in in contrast to that of Sinhá Rita and João Carneiro. João Carneiro risks bodily harm (at the hands of Damião’s father) and losing a friend for the love of Sinhá Rita.

            “The Rod of Justice” is an excellent microcosm of gender power roles involving “Otherness”, love, inferiority, and self-preservation. Within the works few pages volumes of issues and ideas are waiting to be brought to light. This truly shows how artful and poignant the works of Joaquim Maria Machado De Assis are, and furthermore, how the theories of feminist thinkers can be applied to them.       

Works Cited

Assis, Joaquim Maria Machado De. “The Rod of Justice”. The Norton Anthology of World             Literature: Shorter Third Edition, Two- Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2012.                     911-916. Print.

Beauvoir, Simone De. “Introduction”. The Second Sex. Identities: Race, Class, Gender, and           Nationality. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., Ed. Alcoff, Linda, and Eduardo Mendieta. 2006.        149-157. Print.

---. “Chapter XI: Myth and Reality”. The Second Sex. The Norton Anthology of Theory and            Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton. Ed. Leitch, Vincent B. 2010. 1265-1273. Print.

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble, Feminist Theory, and Psychoanalytic Discourse. Identities: Race, Class, Gender, and Nationality. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., Ed. Alcoff, Linda, and         Eduardo Mendieta. 2006. 201- 210. Print.

Martí and Darío : A Hypthetical Trip to the Pub with Walt Whitman

In order to fully demonstrate the commonalities of authors and thinkers it can, often enough, be useful to create a hypothetical situation in which authors, separated by time and/or space, meet and converse. Stepping into the great expansive realm of hypothetical we witness Walt Whitman, José Martí and Rubén Darío walk into a pub.

 What do they talk about? Is it the mob of people shouting and shifting among the smoky air? Is their topic of debate the well-endowed scandalous looking woman at the end of the bar in the revealing red dress? The lonely bar fly who never became a bride? The foul-smelling homeless man with one shoe sleeping in the dirt and muck around the corner? In all likelihood their topics would be concentrated on how to best portray the sorrows, the pain, the joy, and the bond between all of these people—and by extension all those who collectively makeup humankind. Sitting around a tall table on wobbly wooden stools perhaps they would each share a piece or two of their own works showing how even in poetry they are connected by this human bond.  

            Being the legend that he is Walt Whitman would undoubtedly go first in performing a line or two from “Song of Myself.” First, after taking a large gulp from his tall hoppy pint, he’d proclaim, “I pass with the dying and birth with the new-washed babe, and am not contained between my hat and boots [!]” (Whitman ch. 7 ln. 3-4). Those within earshot would nod their head in approval; a man is not all that he appears to be on the outside. Whitman, standing up from his stool, would proclaim his stance among the natural world or compare himself with the animals which live so happily without the social conventions humankind uses to espouse their woes. Speaking on their behalf he’d shout above the crowd yelling, “They do not sweat and whine about their condition,/ They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,/ They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God” (Whitman Ch.32 lns.4-6). Turning to the natural world to show how the capability for bliss and peace is always around humankind, but nevertheless is difficult to find inside the canister of the human body. At this point all three would clink their glasses together, all three sharing the sentiment of humankind yearning for the natural state in which they were derived. After returning to their stool José Martí would raise his glass signaling it was time for him to take his turn in the discussion.

            Standing tall, and tipping his well-worn hat to Whitman, he would recite some lines from “I am an Honest Man”,

In the mountains, I am a mountain.

I know the strange names

Of the herbs and the flowers

And of mortal deceits

And of sublime pains. (Martí lns. 8-12)

Whitman seeing the natural imagery connecting to his own work would slap him on the back and tease him hinting about plagiarism. Martí would share his two cents about how all things are connected and that among humans he, and all others, are humans—whether black, brown, white, or purple—all belong to the great human experience.

Afterward, finding himself preaching to the choir, Martí would take his seat. A dark grey mood brought on by spirits would overcome them. Leaning in close they’d begin talks of life, love, and deceit. Another topic would float through their conversations. The conversation of death, in one form or another, and the ways in which humankind continues on even in the face of great adversity. As the ruckus of the pub rages on Martí would whisper,

I have seen a man live

With his dagger at his side,

Without ever saying the name

Of she who had killed him. (Martí lns. 21-24)

He’d talk more about when he had seen his soul counting one of two times being when “she said good-bye to [him]” and an ominous silence would spread across the table (Martí ln.27). Rubén Darío, seeing that the creative energies of his comrades slowly being spent for the evening, would then stand, pour some of his drink to the floor and begin his own speech.

            Knowing that each of them is well aware of the shared burden of human life he’d speak without great pomp reciting from his work “Fatality.” He would say,

The tree is happy because it is scarcely sentient;

The rock is happier still, it feels nothing:

There is no pain as great as being alive,

No burden heavier than that of conscious life. (Darío lns. 1-4).

They three would sit for a quiet moment reflecting on this heavy load they must carry throughout life. Whitman would consider the power of life and the freedom offered but not always taken. Martí would consider the potent emotions conjured across the span of a lifetime. Darío would consider how we are all bound across nations and times in the great drama of human life. Together they’d sip on their beer in silence. Their table an isolated gossamer bubble among the hustle and bustle of the pub.

            Each nearly reaching their peak thinking, the moment before self-realization, until Walt Whitman would stand up from his stool and flip over the table sending the empty bottles and glasses crashing to the floor. The pub would become as quiet as a cemetery on a foggy night until Whitman, with an animalistic look on his face, shouted, “I too am not a bit tamed, I too an untranslatable,/ I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world[!]” (Whitman ch. 52 lns. 3-4). After which they’d be thrown out of the pub and, after a few slaps on the back and their half-hearted drunken goodbyes, return once more to their private lives contemplating the human condition’s interweaving relationship with the natural world in which it resides. 

Works Cited

Darío, Rubén. “Fatality”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third            Edition, Two- Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2012. 695. Print.

Martí, José. “I am an Honest Man”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third        Edition, Two- Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2012. 681. Print.

Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third Edition, Two- Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2012. 648-653. Print.

An Essay on Man: Evil for Good? Good for Evil?

All partial evil, Universal Good

-Alexander Pope

(An Essay on Man ln. 292)

The existence of “evil” has always been at odds with the concept of an omnipotent divine force. Such a dichotomy has spawned a rich literary tradition addressing the battle of “good” versus “evil”. Ancient thinkers such as Plato attributed the disorder and “evil” within the world to something Other than God. Other philosophers, such as Friedrich Nietzsche, believe that concepts such as “good” and “evil” are nothing more than ideas conjured by humans to disassociate the nothingness that is the reality of being.  A differing opinion lies with Alexander Pope and his contemporaries. They espoused a divinely ordered system in which humankind is not able to see beyond their given station in a great chain of order (ranging from the lowest of lifeforms up to God). As Pope writes in An Essay on Man, “All are but parts of one stupendous whole, / Whose body Nature is; and God the soul” (Pope, lns. 267-268). Being limited by their own position within the chain humankind cannot understand the purpose which the concept of “evil” plays in the grander scheme of things. Pope postulates that mankind’s understanding of “evil” is essentially a teleological argument. Meaning that the outcome or goal of evil is not comprehensible by humankind but nonetheless serves some greater unknown purpose. By allocating evil into this category Pope is able to justify the existence of an anthropomorphic deity harboring supreme “goodness” and their subsequent allowance of “evil”.

First turning an eye to the ancient world we will take a look at how the ancient Greeks answered the question of why “evil” exists. Plato addressed this issue in Book II of the Republic attributing the existence of “evil” to something outside of God. Plato states, “Since [God] is good he cannot be responsible for everything, as is commonly said,” furthermore, “He and he alone must be held responsible for the good things, but responsibility for bad things must be looked for elsewhere and not attributed to God” (Plato 48). The locus of this “other” place isn’t directly addressed by Plato, nonetheless he was decidedly satisfied with such an answer.

Other, more contemporary thinkers, decided that concepts such as “good,” “evil” and even God are hollow and only come into being due to the thoughts and dispositions of man. Such thinkers believe that it was humankind which first created a dichotomy between “good” and “evil”. Furthermore, humankind has quite often created anthropomorphic figures embodying one or the other (for instance God and Satan). The infamous 19th century thinker Friedrich Nietzsche noted this phenomenon in many of his works including in On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense. In the work he posits that, “[people] are deeply immersed in illusions and dream-images; their eyes merely glide across the surface of things and see ‘forms’; nowhere does their perception lead to truth” (Nietzsche pg. 765). An argument can be made that the concepts of “good” and “evil” are illusions helping people to justify the various emotional states associated with happenings of their lives. People believe that certain actions are “good” or “evil” for a myriad of reasons but such thoughts are shattered when a wide array of cultures and time periods are exposed by the work of anthropologists. Both “good” and “bad” are subjective terms created by various societies throughout time.

            In Nietzsche’s work Human, All Too Human A Book For Free Spirits he flips the notions of “good” and “evil” on their head showing how they can be framed in a subjective way. He writes, “Is good perhaps evil? And God only an invention and subtlety of the devil? Is everything, in the last resort, false? And if we are dupes are we not on that very account dupers also? Must we not be dupers also?” (Nietzsche ch. 3). Perhaps it is humankind who has created the distinction between “good” and “evil”, order and disorder, right and wrong, etc.. If “good” and “evil” can be framed in opposing ways who is to say what exactly is “evil”?

With these two options in mind we can now think about Alexander Popes’ idea as a differing point between these two theories. Instead of Plato’s ambiguous “evil Other” and Nietzsche’s human-made mirage Pope offers a third option for the existence of “evil”.

Pope espouses that within the scope of our link we cannot begin to fathom the other links of the great chain. It is with this in mind that the notion of “evil” is transformed into something that appears to be “evil” when viewed through a human lens—but may be serving some larger purpose when viewed macroscopically. Pope, in his work An Essay on Man, alludes to this in the following lines:

So Man, who here seems principle alone,

Perhaps acts second to some sphere unknown,

Touches some wheel, or verges to some goal;

‘Tis but part we see, and not a whole. (Alexander Pope, lns. 57-60)

The labors of humankind are only a small piece of the grand scheme and what we do here on earth may only be a small cog in the universal machine. By doing so he releases humankind from the burden of “evil” and allocates this idea to one of many forces at work within universe. It is a cog which helps propel the universal machine ever-forward into the future; for the greater good of all.

            Pope’s argument can appear rather similar to that of Plato’s in its final form. Both place the existence of “evil” outside the concept of God. Though Pope’s allows for “evil” to serve a purpose that can’t be understood from the position of humankind. Perhaps the answer lies somewhere between these three thinkers. Maybe the notion of “evil” is just an idea conjured by a young species desperately attempting to make sense of the reality in which they find themselves; and the things which they deem to be “evil” are actually the stumbling blocks leading to a greater good further down the road.

Works Cited

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Human, All Too Human A Book For Free Spirits. Trans. Alexander Harvey.             Charles H. Kerr & Company, 1908. N. Pag. EPUB File.

---. On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense.  The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism.                          Ed. Vincent B. Leitch et al. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010. 765. Print.

Plato. Republic. The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch et al. 2nd ed.                   New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010. 45-76. Print.

Pope, Alexander. An Essay on Man. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third                        Edition, Two- Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2012. 90-97. Print.

Classic of Poetry

The umbrella term “education” has taken on many shapes and sizes throughout recorded history. I hasn’t always been long lines of uncomfortable desks with plastic chairs made in the pits of hell. There have been, and continue to be places, where education has been carried on through oral traditions. In fact a majority of historical education has been purely through cultural modes of conveyance; for example poetry. In classic Chinese poetry all one needed to know, or so they said, was written among the lines of eloquently composed poems. There are poems helping to incite social order, those displaying traditional familial roles, others giving a sense of historicity to a powerful group of people and even the structure of the poems themselves helped aspiring poets and readers (both past and present) to bathe in their unique construction and elegant styles. Education, for an untold amount of souls, was to be found in the Classic of Poetry.

Many of the original author’s names have been lost to history and a great number of works have been honorably attributed to Confucius. As stated in the Norton Anthology of World Literature, “Confucius believed that political order depended on the ability of individuals in society to cultivate their moral virtue and thus contribute to social order” (“Classic of Poetry” 756). Throughout many of the works varying cultural niches are displayed giving all facets of society routes in which to help the society in which they live. This use of “feng” allows poetry to sway the opinions of those who are the poem’s audience (757). One such cultural norm displayed throughout many works is the role of a young woman.

One example can be found in “VI. Peach Tree Soft and Tender,” in which a young woman goes from being a blooming bride to a mother and progenitor of future generations. The initial stanza uses the images associated with springtime blossoms and a beauty that is fresh and fertile. This is followed by a tree beginning to bear fruit (an allusion to children) and finally “[her] leaves begin to spread thick and full” (“Peach Tree Soft and Tender” 760). In the final stanza we see her family tree branching further and further out into the future. The values shown here are that women were needed and expected to be the “soft and supple” peach tree of familial life; as they married, made and raised babies, they honor their home and family (760). By first blooming, then bearing fruit, then being the strong tree holding up the rest of the family a woman was capable of fulfilling her role in the family and in the world.

Other types of moral lessons can be found in “CCXLV. She Bore the Folk” in which we are able to see the birth of a tradition, the inherent goodness of hard work, and the roles of men and women through the birth and life of Lord Millet. It’s important to note that this work is also closely tied to the ancestry of the Zhou clan which also helps to create a social cohesion of sorts (758).  The use of rhetorical devices is imperative in legend establishing longer works such as “She Bore the Folk”.

The works created their own styles effectively using a certain style of rhetoric in order to create cultural adherence to acceptable values and ideas; one important mechanism was enumeration. “Enumeration [is] the telling of sequences of events in a straight forward narrative fashion” (758). By utilizing rhetorical tools such as this authors and readers could mimic or expound upon standards already set. Although not everyone was capable of reading these works there was still a large significance to their oral power as well.

These poems have lived on for over 1300 years and have influenced common people and prolific poets since their creation, Ezra Pound being one of the most notable in contemporary times. These works, some now nearing their 3000^th birthday, are still alive both in their native land and all across the globe; a true testament to their skill and ability to give some insight into the past and the human condition.

Works Cited:   

Puchner, Martin Et. Al.. “Classic of Poetry” The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third Edition. Two-Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2013. 756-766. Print.       

“VI. Peach Tree Soft and Tender”. Classic of Poetry. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third Edition. Two-Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2013. 760. Print.  

   

“CCXLV. She Bore the Folk”. Classic of Poetry. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third Edition. Two-Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2013. 756-766. Print.