On the Rhythmical Function of Antithesis in Poems

The rhythm of poems can be divided into rhythm system and sound system. The form of poetry does not apply the abstract sound but the peculiarity of language. The Chinese poetic rhythm consists of two elements---basic elements and subordinate elements. In Chinese Poems, antithesis is used to form special rhythm by means of sentence structure and semantic relations, and through this special rhythm to strengthen sound rhythm. Therefore, antithesis used in poems creates a stronger sense of rhythm than in ordinary sentence and it has the function to form and strengthen the rhythm.