Quotation

Quote by Bai Juyi

The root of poetry is in its emotions, its branches in its wording, its flowers in its rhyme and voice, and lastly its final culmination in the fruits of its meaning.

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Understanding this quote

The quote compares poetry to a growing tree. Its deepest source is emotion; words give those feelings shape; rhyme and voice make the poem bloom; and meaning is the final fruit. In this view, a poem’s sound and language matter, but they ultimately serve the understanding and significance that the reader receives from it.

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University of Oregon Scholars’ Bank thesis, “Bai Juyi and the New Yuefu Movement”
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