Question

How does the imagery in "A Poem of Changgan" and "We Both Live in the Same Village" highlight and reflect the cultures the poets come from?

Answer 1

The poem "A Poem of Changgan" is already contextualized in China because of the towns named such as Ch'ang-kan and Ch'u-t'ang.

Besides naming the location of the story, the culture of the author is reflected in the imagery of the poem  trhough the description of situations that were common in China (Where the author came from). One of these situations was the juvenile marriage, narrated by the woman who speaks in the poem, for this culture marriage seems to be really important and sacret, because she waits and respects her husband who is in a long trip. Another situation that reflected Chinese culture was the fact that the women couldn't smile to her future husband during years because she was too shy. In the Chinese culture is really important the family and the power distance between relatives, it is also very common to not show emotions openly to others or by touching them.

On the other hand, the poem "We Both Live in the Same Village" reflects the spiritual conception of beauty to the author, who borned in Calcuta. The author of this poem was characterized by a sense of universalism and the perception that the oriental culture should have learned from the occidental culture, this is reflected in the style of writing because of the intention of tell to the world about his feelings, an uncommon practice in Indian culture.

Answer 2

In "We Both Live in the Same Village," the mention of the flowers "kadam" and "kusm" and the river Anjana evoke scenes of rural Bengal. The kadam flower and first showers of rain are often mentioned in Tagore’s love poems and songs, and they are widely used symbols in Bengali literature.

The mention of the "Gorges of Ch'u-t'ang" and "Chang-feng Sha" place the narrative poem in China. The child throwing green plums at his playmate and trotting about on a bamboo pole are significant symbols in Chinese literature. Because green plums and bamboo are known to withstand harsh winters, they are considered symbols of resilience and loyalty in China.