Poetry probably had     1     (it) origins in traditional folk music tens of thousands of years ago. In that era, there     2     (be) no TVs or films, and writing had not been invented, so people would sit around the fire at night and sing songs     3     (entertain) themselves. These songs reflected themes     4     the people’s daily lives, such as hunting animals or sowing crops. Since nothing was written down, over the years different     5     (version) of these songs developed, and each area would have its own versions rhythm. In addition to this, people would recite stories of past heroes. As these stories were often     6     (extreme) long, they often had rhyme and rhythm to help people remember them more easily. While in     7     beginning such songs and stories had a very simple format, over time they became more     8     (complicate) and more polished. These were no longer the works of amateurs     9     (sit) around a fire, but works of true poets who cared about their art     10     who sometimes made a living from it.

From ancient times to the present, People have been addicted to Poetry. There are various reasons     1    people write poetry. Some poems tell a story or describe something. Others try to convey certain emotions. The poems may not make sense and even seem     2     (contradict)but they are easy to learn and recite. List poems are one simple form of poems     3     lists things. It has a flexible line length and     4     (repeat) phrases which give both a pattern and a rhythm to the poem.     5     simple form of poem that students can easily write is the cinquain. Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that     6     (make) up of 17 syllables. It can give a clear picture and create     7     special feeling     8     (use) the minimum of words. Tang poems also make the English poetry     9     (color).There are so many different forms of poetry for you to choose from, you may     10     (eventual) want to write poems of your own.

10 . As William Shakespeare is to literature in English, so is the poet Du Fu to the Chinese literary tradition. “We have Dante, Shakespeare and Du Fu. These poets create the very values by which poetry is judged,” remarked Harvard Professor Stephen Owen in Du Fu: China’s Greatest Poet, a BBC documentary that aired on April 7.

Aimed at introducing the charm and beauty of traditional Chinese literature to viewers around the globe, the documentary invited the famous British actor Ian McKellen, who played the wizard Gandalf in the film series The Lord of the Rings, to read 15 of Du’s poems that have been translated into English.

The one-hour film traces the poet’s life experiences in detail. Born in 712, Du lived in the reign of the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang(712—756), a time marked by extraordinary prosperity, inclusiveness and glorious cultural accomplishments.

However, as An Lushan’s rebel army floored the empire, the 43-year-old Du, the former civil servant at the Tang court, had to take his family out of his hometown, and faced starvation and sufferings. Through ups and downs, the poet never stopped writing and about 1,500 poems have been kept over the ages.

Even though he never held a high position in the government, Du still cared about common people. For example, in the poem My Cottage Unroofed by Autumn Gales, he wrote that “Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles, I’d house all poor scholars and make them beam with pleasure”.

“That is why he is honored as the Poet Sage by later generations. A difficult life and his spirit of concern about the world helped him create so many masterpieces,” Shi Wenxue, a cultural critic based in Beijing, told the Global Times.

Without doubt Du is a cultural symbol of ancient China, but his brilliant works and core spirits have also inspired people outside China. As the documentary notes, his work represents a precious cultural heritage for the entire world, not just China.