An acclaimed Japanese poet was once asked as to how a Chinese poem is composed.
The poet went on to explain, "The usual Chinese poem consists of four lines. The first line consists of the initial state, the second line is a continuation of the initial phase, the third takes a diversion from the subject, introducing a new one. The fourth line brings the first three lines together. A popular Japanese song illustrates thus :
"Two daughters of a silk merchant live in Kyoto.
The elder is twenty, the younger, eighteen.
A soldier may kill with his sword.
But these girls slay men with their eyes."
The poet went on to explain, "The usual Chinese poem consists of four lines. The first line consists of the initial state, the second line is a continuation of the initial phase, the third takes a diversion from the subject, introducing a new one. The fourth line brings the first three lines together. A popular Japanese song illustrates thus :
"Two daughters of a silk merchant live in Kyoto.
The elder is twenty, the younger, eighteen.
A soldier may kill with his sword.
But these girls slay men with their eyes."
