Abstract: This article discusses the prosodic problems of Octavio Paz's The Bow and the Lyre, which illuminates the construction of the prosody of modern Chinese poetry. Paz notices the essential connection between rhythm and time. The function of rhythm, according to Paz, is to reconstruct “archetypical time” and to give a form to the perception of events. At the heart of language, Paz claims, circulates “the invisible rhythmic current,” fighting against the control of logic and reason. This point will be strengthened and furthered in the perspective of prosodic syntax. Paz holds that rhythm and meter are not the same thing. Meter is exterior, abstract measure of senses and images, while rhythm is concrete temporality which already contains images and senses. When a meter is isolated from the rhythmic flux and reflux of language, the verse will engender new forms. Free verse, therefore, is an effort of regaining the rhythmic entity of language. Paz's thoughts shed much light on the study of the prosody of modern Chinese poetry, helping us break the bottleneck of the current research and create a new “paradigm.”

Key words: Octavio Paz, The Bow and the Lyre, rhythm, meter, time, prosody