Lu-Shih

A lu-shih is a type of poem that was originally practiced by Chinese poets in classical times and which was borrowed by Vietnamese poets like Ho. A lu-shih is similar to the Italian sonnet—which itself has been borrowed by many poets writing in English. Like the sonnet, which consists of four- teen lines and which requires poets to adhere to a system of rules, the lu-shih is a rigid form of poetry. Lu-shihs, like "Spring-Watching Pavilion," always have eight lines, and each line always has seven syllables. Unfortunately, in Balaban's English translation, the syllable structure is one aspect that is sacrificed. Instead of seven syllables per line, each line in Balaban's version contains anywhere from seven to twelve syllables. In addition, in a lushih, rhymes generally occur at the end of the first, second, fourth, sixth, and eighth lines. This unyielding structure made lu-shihs a challenge to...