An Argument Against War: Thinking of Home on the 7th Month, 16th Day

COOL POEMS: Introduction > THE POEMS

Topic: An Argument Against War

Author: Mei Yaochen (1002-1060)

Thinking of Home on the 7th Month, 16th Day (1052)

The sun sinks before me, the moon follows my back.
Pensive liquid light meanders up the old willow.
That willow faces my room, and with the wind makes wild shadows on my window.
My horse rests beside it; my attendant’s weary head propped in hands.
In this emptiness, the door closes heavily; alone, I think of my wife at home:
Two baby boys at her breasts, who every night cry for their mother.
Night after night, they ask where Dad has gone, but I shouldn’t complain of my fate.
I do not fret that, serving in battle, I rest on my pillow alone, nor do I envy by the birds with their mates.
Within, we share our memories together; without, we cherish the same moon together.
Why these endless wars? Amidst the dirt and dust, the sounds of a fierce struggle.

Comments: Mei begins with a lengthy, detailed description of his physical surroundings. The liquid light with its shifting patterns stimulates the imagination, ultimately arousing a pensive mood in the poet. This poem could have been inserted under the “Family” heading or the “Love” category as it is, for the most part, an expression of the poet’s longing for his wife and his appreciation for her daily travails. In the end, however, we realize that this long, confessional meditation on Mei’s innermost longings is a Confucian argument against war. We easily sympathize with Mei’s brooding because we, too, have wives and children whom we love—this is the basic Confucian argument for our shared humanity. On a more personal note he takes solace in knowing that his bond with his wife transcends physical separation, for they share the same memories of personal love and devotion. In doing so he takes for granted the Song concept of marriage, a romantic ideal which construed wife as as a partner in romantic love. Note he avoids falling into self-pity—he never shirks his duty—but he does invite us to consider, how many other soldiers also have loving wives and nursing children, yet may lose their lives in some meaningless war?

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