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Madelyn Divino
Mrs. Hope
Honors World Literature and Writing Workshop
9 November 2015
Authors Craft Analysis

The poem, I Beg of You, Chung Tzu, from The Book of Songs, translated by Arthur
Waley clearly incorporates Confucian values. Confucianism is a philosophy that focuses very
much on human relationships and peoples roles in society to improve society overall. Through
the use of parallelism, repetition, and symbolism, the author displays the poems correlation to
benefiting society and controlling unruly people to help them understand Confucianism.
Parallelism and repetition, which are used throughout the poem, adds to the poems effect
and meaning. For example, in the first stanza, it says Do not climb into our homestead, / Do not
break the willows we planted (I.2-3). These two particular lines are an example of parallelism,
specifically repetition with variation. While both lines start the same with Do not, they differ in
what they say after that (1.2-3). The first line specifically talks about keeping Chung Tzu (who
represents an uneducated, non- Confucian person how to behave) away from his home, and the
second line talks about keeping him away from the beautiful flowers that he planted. The
repetition of the phrase do not emphasizes the importance of controlling this civilian and
teaching him of all the unacceptable actions in a Confucian society (1.2-3). More repetition is
used throughout the poem, which can be seen when, at the beginning of each stanza, the line says
I beg of you, Chung Tzu, and the last line of every stanza is, Indeed I am afraid (I. 1, 8; 2. 9,
16; 3. 17, 24). These two examples of repetition help convey that the speaker is making a point

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about his beliefs through repetitive phrases. Clearly, the speaker is afraid of what Chung Tzu
may do to him, and is very much focused on trying to control him. Every stanza, when the author
says, Chung Tzu I dearly love, it is also made clear that Chung Tzu, this civilian, is not a
villain, but he is a dear friend or loved one of the speaker (I. 6; 2. 14; 3. 22). By examining the
authors use of repetition, the speakers situation and his emotions are complicated. For example,
it is clear that he is conflicted, because while he loves Chung Tzu, he is slightly scared of what
he is capable of. The speaker does not want Chung Tzu to do anything that would affect him in a
negative way, hence his repeated phrase Indeed I am afraid (1. 8; 2. 16; 3. 24).
To add on, the symbolism that is used in the poem aids to poems correlation to
Confucianism. To begin, in each stanza, the author includes a couple of lines that are devoted to
explaining what Chung Tzu is not allowed to do. He cannot climb over our wall or break the
hardwood we have planted along with many other off-limits actions (2. 10; 3. 19). These lines
that occur in each stanza symbolize destroying other peoples hard work and respecting others.
This is a very important Confucian fundamental value that is shown through the poem, because
Confucians strongly believe in respecting others and working hard to have a positive impact on
society. All the speaker wants is for Chung Tzu to stay away from the special creations that he
built, but not necessarily for his own sake. As the poem continues, it is clear that the speaker is
more concerned of what others might think of him. To illustrate, in each stanza, after the speaker
tells Chung Tzu what he is not allowed to do, the speaker explains why. In the first stanza, for
example, after telling Chung Tzu not to climb into our homestead or break the willows we
planted, he says Not that I mind about the willows, / But I am afraid of my father and mother,
and continues to say, But of what my father and mother say/ Indeed I am afraid (1. 2-5, 7-8).
This displays that the speaker is very worried to disappoint his mother and father, so he is telling

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Chung Tzu to refrain from doing anything that would make his make them angry. Clearly, the
author value0s the relationship between parents and children, believing that it is important to fear
parents and treat them with respect. This is yet another Confucian message, for Confucians
highly value relationships, one of them being parent-child. Another relationship that is seen
through this poem is one between sibling-sibling, which can be seen in the second stanza. The
speaker says here that he is afraid of his brothers, showing that he respects them and he would
not want to disappoint them (2. 13). Finally, the third relationship, one that represents the entire
goal of Confucianism, can be seen in the third stanza, when the speaker says, But I am afraid of
what people will say, showing that the speaker wants to be a benefit to society, not the person
who has a negative impact on others around them (3. 21). The goal of Confucianism is to create a
structured, content society, and the speaker clearly just wants to follow the rules of Confucianism
in order to achieve this. The entire poem is dedicated to the speaker telling Chung Tzu what not
to do, which symbolizes exactly how a person should behave to be a good member of society.
The speaker had societys best interests in mind as he was telling Chung Tzu (who symbolizes an
uneducated, non- Confucian person) to behave.
In sum, the poem translated by Arthur Waley, I Beg of You, Chung Tzu, includes many
elements of authors craft. This includes syntax (repetition and parallelism) and figurative
language (symbolism). All of these crafts help convey the true meaning of the poem and how it
relates to Confucian ideology. In addition to this, these crafts add to the poems overall effect to
make the poem flow very nicely and create a thoughtful tone. The words that the author uses
provokes thought in the reader, and helps them imagine how a Confucian society operates, along
with the behavior expectations for people living there.

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