Good grief, no, Wang Wei does not like how the words “water” and “north” rhyme. They do not rhyme because Wang Wei did not speak modern Mandarin. 水 is in the rhyme category 上聲四紙, while 北 had three pronunciations during the Tang and is found in the rhyme categories 去聲十一隊，入聲八黠，and 入聲十三職. You also say that he includes a word for river that rhymes with south. This is also incorrect. 南 is in the rhyme category 下平聲十三覃, and 川 is in the rhyme category 下平聲一先. This poem is therefore not happy or playful in the manner you suggest.
No problem. My point is not merely technical about what did or not rhyme during the Tang dynasty. My point is that Tang poets did not stuff their poems with internal rhymes as is common in some Western poetry. In fact, most 五言絕句 contain only two lines that rhyme, three rhyming lines many poets considered excessive.
What I find remarkable about this particular poem is that the last line does not seem to follow the rules for 五言絕句. Most of the other poems in Wang Wei’s 輞川集 strictly follow these rules, but this one does not. I think most contemporary readers would have expected the last line to be 平平仄仄平，but instead it’s 平仄平平平, which is quite incorrect on a couple of levels. Wang Wei being a great poet of course knew this, and so my question is, was he making a special point by breaking the rules in this line, or am I just misinterpreting the rules?
This is where you really show me up, because I have looked into the 平仄 rules, and completely failed to fully understand or appreciate them.
My problem with them is precisely what you're pointing out. There are often inconsistencies, and it's far from clear what they mean. I don't know, and I haven't found anyone who does know. I've tried to look at 古体 vs 近体 poems, and I'm not seeing the difference between them. For the moment, I'm just accepting this as a gap in my (everyone's?) knowledge.
If you have any pointers for books/papers on how to read 律诗 - I mean, beyond the lists of formal rules, which I've read - then I'd be really grateful.
Perhaps an appropriate metaphor for two lines of Chinese regulated verse is that they are quantum entangled, each term is not only apposite, their tonal “spins” are also opposite. I think this is what is really happening
Lovely play with words
Good grief, no, Wang Wei does not like how the words “water” and “north” rhyme. They do not rhyme because Wang Wei did not speak modern Mandarin. 水 is in the rhyme category 上聲四紙, while 北 had three pronunciations during the Tang and is found in the rhyme categories 去聲十一隊，入聲八黠，and 入聲十三職. You also say that he includes a word for river that rhymes with south. This is also incorrect. 南 is in the rhyme category 下平聲十三覃, and 川 is in the rhyme category 下平聲一先. This poem is therefore not happy or playful in the manner you suggest.
Oh, damn. Of course you're right, and I should have known better. Thank you! I will think more about this one.
No problem. My point is not merely technical about what did or not rhyme during the Tang dynasty. My point is that Tang poets did not stuff their poems with internal rhymes as is common in some Western poetry. In fact, most 五言絕句 contain only two lines that rhyme, three rhyming lines many poets considered excessive.
What I find remarkable about this particular poem is that the last line does not seem to follow the rules for 五言絕句. Most of the other poems in Wang Wei’s 輞川集 strictly follow these rules, but this one does not. I think most contemporary readers would have expected the last line to be 平平仄仄平，but instead it’s 平仄平平平, which is quite incorrect on a couple of levels. Wang Wei being a great poet of course knew this, and so my question is, was he making a special point by breaking the rules in this line, or am I just misinterpreting the rules?
This is where you really show me up, because I have looked into the 平仄 rules, and completely failed to fully understand or appreciate them.
My problem with them is precisely what you're pointing out. There are often inconsistencies, and it's far from clear what they mean. I don't know, and I haven't found anyone who does know. I've tried to look at 古体 vs 近体 poems, and I'm not seeing the difference between them. For the moment, I'm just accepting this as a gap in my (everyone's?) knowledge.
If you have any pointers for books/papers on how to read 律诗 - I mean, beyond the lists of formal rules, which I've read - then I'd be really grateful.
This is indeed the problem, complicated by the fact that almost all apps that purport to explain these rules are total BS and easily shown to be false
Perhaps an appropriate metaphor for two lines of Chinese regulated verse is that they are quantum entangled, each term is not only apposite, their tonal “spins” are also opposite. I think this is what is really happening