Introduction
This is such an excellent
poetry book, regarding the “Cry of Wisdom—Leaving Darkness!” It’s really
a time-honored tradition as stated in the forward written by Paul Hartal. The
lack of wisdom’s light is truly perilous to humanity. This marvelous text is
filled with the essence of wisdom for readers to achieve enlightenment on their
respective journey.
Beginning with the poem
written in regular quatrain format, “The Hand of Wisdom,” it sheds light
with gracious refreshment. It shows steps taken in a series by knocking,
talking, touching, and taking hold of the soul. Wisdom operates in such a way
that it brings blessings to each soul. As our author states in the
encapsulating lines of the last stanza, “It calls in a flight of doves flying
down.” The presence of the doves is very significant. It brought great news to
Noah, the people, and animals in the ark, who survived the great flood (Genesis
6-9). It’s also symbolic of an olive branch of peace, love, godliness, and
prosperity for humanity.
The next poem, “Love Prevails
Over Hate,” is very inspiring. Excerpts are as follow:
Freezing wind of hate
Like angry animal people fight against each other
Voices from the heaven echoes
Come back to me
Love from God is sunshine in winter
Dissolves the ice of selfishness
The power of love melts the iceberg of hate.
Here we find our gracious
author calling out hate in a special way. He is on the side of God against
hate. God is calling back people who are lost in hate, selfishness, and
fighting against each other. He proliferates peace, joy, and love for all to
live as brothers and sisters. He sees love lighting up people’s hearts, and
bringing them back to the kingdom of God with inspiration and gracefulness.
The next poem is one of great
revelation “If Force Could Rule The World.” The nature of this poem
answers the question in a very diplomatic manner. Excerpts follow:
If force could rule the world:
Why did the Roman empire fell?
Why was the World’s Trade Center hit and crumbled?
British Empire’s flag drop from its colonies?
India liberated by non-violence?
Why do women suicide attacks harm soldiers?
Soviet Union dismantled?
The answer should become
clear based on the probing questioning technique, which draws the reader into a
more in-depth understanding of the poem. The perceived answers based on the
poem and from other listed questions are as follow: The World’s Trade Center in
New York, was hit by highjacked aircrafts because of hate; thus, generating
more hate in the hearts of Americans. Women suicide attacks against soldiers,
were conducted as a sign of hate against them. Conversely, in these two events,
one is also able to glean a spark of love. Regarding the retaliation generated
against the attackers of the World’s Trade Center, many saw this as love
pursuing hate for decades until war’s end. Women suicide bombers could be
viewed as love for their country and fellow citizens, as a tactical action in
warfare; however, it goes against moral standards, established by ethical
thesis against suicide in violation of God’s biblical Commandments, and
principles of love (Exodus 20). The bottom-line from the poem reflects, God is
still in control and not the atomic bomb. God’s people are resilient, and His
name has eternal power over creation.
The next poem, “Peace of
Mind Brings Peace of The World,” is right on point. The analogy of peace of
mind is like the serene sky covering the hustling and bustling earth which is
significant. It shows what reigns in God’s realms has more power over humanity
to bring calm, like a shower of rain, fresh autumn’s breeze, or winter’s snow.
The spirit of such peacefulness, is like a cup of cooling water putting out the
fire in people’s heart, which is truly refreshing to the mind, body, and soul.
Without peace there exists friction and war. Peace is the healing oil which
calms the heart, and heals the soul, not the opposite. Therefore, humanity
should proliferate peace for the world, and not war.
“The History of Killing” is very intriguing. It counts down and analyzed data
starting from 5,000 years ago to the present era. It’s amazing how death
exponentially increases statistically. Historically, 5,000 years ago, death was
one by one with stones. Then one hundred years ago, it increased from one by
one, to thousand by thousand, killing with bombs. Without expectation, a
phenomenal leap took place fifty years ago from thousand by thousand to million
by million, killing with atoms. Today we are looking at genes which may produce
countless numbers of death, similar to the coronavirus pandemic. One would hope
to see a reversal in the death rate, as humanity becomes more educated and
supposedly developed enhanced rational thinkers. It obvious such thoughts were
mistaken, because people in the business of killing, continue with their acts
of irrationality, and miseducation of good faith regarding life!
The next poem for analyses is
“Human Heart.” This shows the span of flexibility of the heart. Selected
excerpts follow:
The black heart gets bigger
When drills with hate
The red heart when fills with love
Warm blood flows longer
The fragile heart enticed by materials
Greed gets deeper
Strong heart encourages by dreams
Cheers louder!
We are keenly aware
flexibility and variations exist in the heart.
Human emotion does play a critical part keeping the heart alive. It
appears if one dreams more often of the rainbow, and maintain a loving heart
more regularly, humanity will be on the right track of peace and happiness,
which we must do!
“Love Talks Louder Than
Money,” should be a mantra for
humanity. However, putting wealth over heath brings tragic discourse for the
heart. Many people love money, some even do over God. Money buys a house;
however, love makes a home. Wars are produced by money; however, love brings
peace. Some believe money turns the world upside down; however, love makes the
world goes around. As a result, money talks; however, love has a greater voice!
The next poem “Life
Attitude,” has two stanzas, one in the regular quatrain format of four
lines and the other in the Quintet format of five lines. The quatrain stanza
illustrates principles of those who dislike life and are disregarded by
life. The quintet proliferates lovers of
life are always beautiful. They are like a great picture, and/or an
inspirationally uplifting poem!
“Experience vs. Wisdom,” is written in the couplet format. It’s short,
specific, and gets straight to the point with brevity and clarity of thoughts.
It illustrates, the road behind is experience, and the life ahead is wisdom.
Wisdom jumps upwards while experience steps forward. New ideas in a cocoon
reflect experience, while the key of innovation is wisdom. The similarities and
differences are specific regarding both sides. Certainly, they move in a
forward direction; however, wisdom is a more advanced mode of travel over
experience.
“The next poem “Ruler vs.
Governor,” is written in the anaphora format, where each line begins with
the same word. The analysis is very gripping. It’s a great inspiration to know
that majority jurisdictions are not ruled by rulers and are governed by
governors. Excerpts follow:
A ruler is not ruled
A governor is governed
A ruler is above the law
A governor is under the law
A ruler kills his opponents
A governor shakes hands with his challengers!
This is quite a great
contrast. One side shows a democratic style of leadership, where free thinking
takes place with the governor making the ultimate decision based on
recommendations from the people. The other is purely autocratic and dictatorial
resulting in tyranny. There are still places where freedom of speech in the
marketplace does not exist. Civil liberties and human rights are oppressed. The
rule of law only exists for tyrannical ruler on one side. Freedom is a wild
dream manifesting itself after one’s demise. Equal protection exits only in a
vacuum, and things of that nature. These are very interesting contrasts with
eye opening consequences impacting humanity.
“The Power of
Resurrection,” is magnificent. The
words flow very well and are uplifting with reverence. It shows the Son of God
as one with perfection saving a sinful world. He was not accepted by the world
of darkness. His words are like lightning shaking the power of evil. He was
feared and crucified, sacrificing His body for our sins, and fulfilled His
mission of salvation. His resurrection proved He is the Son of God with eternal
life. The herald of His resurrection summons worldwide humanity to Him, brought
the Gospel from West to East with a soothing spring wind. Like thunder, He
manifest the mighty power of God, and shines a heavenly light showing the way
to enteral life (Philippians 3:7-11).
The poem “Why Cage Me,”
reflect words from the book, “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,” by
Professor Maya Angelo, indicating “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the
past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible. Excerpts from
“Why Cage Me” follow:
I am blessed with two wings
Fly freely
Sings songs every day
A big hand captured me
Put me in a cage
I did nothing bad
Why put me in a prison?
The oppression against
freedom is distinctly understood in this poem. It certainly expresses the
philosophy outlined in the poems, “History of Killing” and “Leader vs. Ruler.”
It’s truly the opposite of, and contrary to the poems, “The Power of
Resurrection,” “Love Prevails Over Hate,” “Love Talks Louder Than Money,” “Human
Hearts” and others, which should cease to exist.
“Why No Home,” reflects the suffering of humanity in various ways.
Excerpts follow:
Snowflakes dancing in air
Darkness walking down quietly
Homeless man lying on a bench
Sparrow leaped around him
Say “Buddy it’s cold and dark.
I go home now, how about you?”
He answered, “I have no home!”
This poem is reminiscence of
the Synoptic Gospel, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests but the Son of man
has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). Here the sparrow asked an
interesting question, “All the birds have homes, why not all people have
homes?” There is a presumption the man could not answer the question, otherwise
he would. There is also a Native American story outlining how and why dog
became man’s best friend and having a home, which occurred when direct
communication between man and animals ceased to exist, and the dog became man’s
best friend. Here the sparrow is playing
a major role as an advocate and helper for the man, just like the dog advocated.
It’s possible, the sparrow could have helped the man, like the ravens helped
Elijah with food, hiding in the Kerith Ravine, east of Jordon (1 Kings 17:
2-5). Sparrows are great builders of nests to lay their heads.
The final poems to be review
in this excellent book are “Because of Love,” and “Proverbs.” This is best written in the excerpt format as
follow:
Because of love:
We have breath of life
Families become a harbor
Hearts are not hard anymore
Money no longer our master
Church is not merely a cold building
Wondering souls find their destiny
We have the expectation of eternal life
Because of love!
The Poem “Proverbs,”
runs right in line with the above poem as follows: “There is no enemy in the
world, there are enemies only in one’s heart!” Such a potentially solvable
paradigm which exists, because of love for humanity as stated above!
Conclusion
This is a very excellent
poets’ text by Haotian Dai. It consists of metaphor and simile with analysis of
different elements and reaching a conclusion. Additionally, it focuses on
analogy, showing similarity between two things, on which a comparison may be based.
Other English literary
elements included are: repetition, reinforcement, comparative analysis,
symbology, refrain, questioning technique, statistics and others. These
principles add brevity, and clarity of thoughts with visionary insight to
understand the poems more clearly.
Our illustrious author, makes
his thesis clear, regarding living life with love and abiding fellowship for
humanity. On the other hand, it becomes more clearer, with the elimination of
hate, friction, and wars in God’s earthly world, temporarily occupied by us,
where we should live our best in fellowship with humanity.
About The Author
Poet
Haotian Dai, advocates, “Being a man—a real universal man. Be a talent—a
sparkling talent, and be a friend—a perpetual friend." The preceding lines
have been a life objective of Haotian Dai in his thoughts, words, and deeds.
They were bestowed upon him at graduation from the university of his choice.
Almost three decades have elapsed since, and he in traveling the right path. He
is now a true multi-cultural renaissance man, a philosopher and—a true
bilingual poet!
About The Reviewer
Prof. Dr. Joseph S. Spence,
Sr, (Epulaeryu Master), authored nine poetry books and numerous peer-reviewed
published articles. His writings have appeared globally. He has membership in
various international scholastic honor society. He taught at Marquette
University, and Bryant and Stratton University. He retired from the U. S. Army
as an officer; is a Goodwill Ambassador for Arkansas, USA. He created “Epulaeryu,”
“Linking Pin Sonnet,” “God’s Dynamic Steps,” and “Seventh Heaven” poetry forms
while studying English literature, creative writing, the African Diaspora, and
poetry at University of Wisconsin. He has received numerous poetry award
worldwide and resides in Wisconsin USA.
