Analysis of The Alchemist
Ezra Pound 1885 (Hailey) – 1972 (Venice)
Chant for the Transmutation of Metals
Sail of Claustra, Aelis, Azalais,
As you move among the bright trees;
As your voices, under the larches of Paradise
Make a clear sound,
Sail of Claustra, Aelis, Azalais,
Raimona, Tibors, Berangere,
'Neath the dark gleam of the sky;
Under night, the peacock-throated,
Bring the saffron-coloured shell,
Bring the red gold of the maple,
Bring the light of the birch tree in autumn
Mirals, Cembelins, Audiarda,
Remember this fire.
Elain, Tireis, Alcmena
'Mid the silver rustling of wheat,
Agradiva, Anhes, Ardenca,
From the plum-coloured lake, in stillness,
From the molten dyes of the water
Bring the burnished nature of fire;
Briseis, Lianor, Loica,
From the wide earth and the olive,
From the poplars weeping their amber,
By the bright flame of the fishing torch
Remember this fire.
Midonz, with the gold of the sun, the leaf of the poplar,
by the light of the amber,
Midonz, daughter of the sun, shaft of the tree, silver of
the leaf, light of the yellow of the amber,
Midonz, gift of the God, gift of the light, gift of the
amber of the sun,
Give light to the metal.
Anhes of Rocacoart, Ardenca, Aemelis,
From the power of grass,
From the white, alive in the seed,
From the heat of the bud,
From the copper .of the leaf in autumn,
From the bronze of the maple, from the sap in the
bough;
Lianor, loanna, Loica,
By the stir of the fin,
By the trout asleep in the gray-green of water;
Vanna, Mandetta, Viera, Alodetta, Picarda, Manuela
From the red gleam of copper,
Ysaut, Ydone, slight rustling of leaves,
Vierna, Jocelynn, daring of spirits,
By the mirror of burnished copper,
O Queen of Cypress,
Out of Erebus, the flat-lying breadth,
Breath that is stretched out beneath the world:
Out of Erebus, out of the flat waste of air, lying beneath
the world;
Out of the brown leaf-brown colourless
Bring the imperceptible cool.
Elain, Tireis, Alcmena,
Quiet this metal!
Let the manes put off their terror, let them put off their
aqueous bodies with fire.
Let them assume the milk-white bodies of agate.
Let them draw together the bones of the metal.
Selvaggia, Guiscarda, Mandetta,
Rain flakes of gold on the water
Azure and flaking silver of water,
Alcyon, Phaetona, Alcmena,
Pallor of silver, pale lustre of Latona,
By these, from the malevolence of the dew
Guard this alembic.
Elain, Tireis, Allodetta
Quiet this metal.
Scheme | a AxxbAcdxxefbCFxdgccdhcxCcchcixeaxxxfixdxcicxxcgxjxjaxFEccxebccfixdbE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110 11111 11101011 11101001110 1011 11111 111 1011101 1010110 1010101 10111010 1011011010 111 010110 111 10101011 111 101101010 101011010 101010110 111 10110010 10110110 101110101 010110 1101101011010 1011010 1101011101101 01110101010 111011101110 10101 111010 11111 101011 10101001 101101 1010101010 101101010100 1 111 101101 101010011110 1011011010 1011110 1111011 1110110 101011010 11110 11101101 111110101 11111011111001 01 1101111 1001001 111 10110 1011111011111 10010110 110101110110 111010011010 111 11111010 1001010110 111 11101101010 11101101 111 111 10110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,296 |
Words | 408 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 68 |
Lines Amount | 69 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 917 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 203 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 10, 2023
- 2:02 min read
- 154 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Alchemist" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13360/the-alchemist>.
Discuss this Ezra Pound poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In