The Reaction on Book of Odes - Essay Example

The number 52 poem on the Odes of Yong which makes up, among others, the fourth chapter of Shi Jing (the Book of Odes) goes: “Look at a rat, it has its skin, But a man should be without the dignity of demeanor If a man has no dignity of demeanor, What should he but die? Look at a rat, it has its teeth, But a man shall be without any right of deportment. If a man has not have the right deportment, What should he wait for but death? Look at a rat – it has its limbs, But a man shall be without rules of propriety.

Why does he not quickly die?” (The Book of Odes). The comparison of these analogs, therefore, qualifies the images as metaphors, with the common similarity between the images and the ideas they are being compared to as both necessary for survival: in the physical world for rats, and in the social world for man. The fact however that every image (of a rat), consisting of one line, is immediately followed by three lines about human conduct and social etiquette gives the whole stanza a puzzling character and compels the reader to look closer and understand the significance and relation of the first line to the other three.

In this respect, it could be said that the images in this particular poem are used not only as metaphors but also to engage the attention of the readers and highlight the importance of the ideas that the poem is driving.