Analysis of Poem By The Bridge At Ten-Shin
Ezra Pound 1885 (Hailey) – 1972 (Venice)
March has come to the bridge head,
Peach boughs and apricot boughs hang over a thousand
gates,
At morning there are flowers to cut the heart,
And evening drives them on the eastward-flowing
waters.
Petals are on the gone waters and on the going,
And on the back-swirling eddies,
But to-day's men are not the men of the old days,
Though they hang in the same way over the bridge-rail.
The sea's colour moves at the dawn
And the princes still stand in rows, about the throne,
And the moon falls over the portals of Sei-go-yo,
And clings to the walls and the gate-top.
With head gear glittering against the cloud and sun,
The lords go forth from the court, and into far borders.
They ride upon dragon-like horses,
Upon horses with head-trappings of yellow metal,
And the streets make way for their passage.
Haughty their passing,
Haughty their steps as they go in to great banquets,
To high halls and curious food,
To the perfumed air and girls dancing,
To clear flutes and clear singing;
To the dance of the seventy couples;
To the mad chase through the gardens.
Night and day are given over to pleasure
And they think it will last a thousand autumns,
Unwearying autumns.
For them the yellow dogs howl portents in vain,
And what are they compared to the lady Riokushu,
That was cause of hate!
Who among them is a man like Han-rei
Who departed alone with his mistress,
With her hair unbound, and he his own skiffsman!
Scheme | XXAXBCBXXX DXXXXCXXXBXXBBXXEAAXXXEXD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011 110101110010 1 11011101101 01011101010 10 1011011001010 01011010 111111011011 111001110011 0111101 001011010101 0011100101111 011010011 111100010101 0111101001110 110110110 0110111011010 001111110 10110 101111101110 11101001 100110110 1110110 1011010010 10111010 10111010110 0111110101 11 1101011101 01110110101 11111 1011101111 1010011110 1010101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,388 |
Words | 257 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 25 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 558 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 128 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 17, 2023
- 1:17 min read
- 125 Views
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