Abstract

Li Bai(701AD – 762 AD), one of the most prominent figures during Tang Dynasty (the period in which there was a flourishing of Chinese poetry), was a great romantic poet. His works were the representatives of High Tang culture. His poems, Pei Min’s swordplay, and Zhang Xu’s calligraphy are known as “Three Wonders”. And in Chinese literature, he was honored as Fairy Poet. He got this title because he is very good at using the expression method of Romanticism in his poems. It is common to find imaginative and detached lines in his poems. After reading his poems, one will have a feeling of being free from vulgarity. Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet and humanist. He was among the most influential poets in American literature, often called the father of free verse. He brought innovation to the form of poems by getting away with the traditional rhyme of sonnet. Walt Whitman was also a great democratic poet. He praised for democracy, freedom, and the laboring people in American society. And his poems left the readers the impression of positive and energetic. 

Since both Li and Whitman are famous as romantic poets, it is reasonable for them to become the objects of comparative literature. On one side, being masters of Romanticism, the two poets have something in common. However, on the other side, they are quite different from each other, and their poems have some distinct features. This thesis is made up of three parts. The first part is about the different ways that Li Bai and Walt Whitman treated rhymes in their poems. The second part is about the emotions expressed in their poems. The emotions to be discussed here will be limited to those that the poets showed respectively to the same general aspect. The third part is about the cultural patterns which influenced the poets most in their poems. 

Key Words: Li Bai; Walt Whitman; Rhyme; Emotion; Cultural pattern

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1  Introduction-1

2  The Rhyme of the Poems by Li Bai and Walt Whitman-2

3  The Emotion inside the Poems of Li Bai and Walt Whitman-8

3.1 The Emotion on Nation-8

3.2 The Emotion on Nature-12

3.3 The Emotion on Love-14

4  The Cultural Pattern that Influenced Li Bai and Walt Whitman-17

Bibliography-21

Acknowledgments-22