The river merchant's wife pdf

In pounds rivermerchants wife, there is a complex psychological interaction between the tone of playful, childish innocence, carefree and ironically insouciant i never looked back, and the sorrowful gravity of a young wife suddenly made older by the loneliness and anxiety of separation. Consider, for example, pounds recreation of odysseus voyage or the dramatic monologue the rivermerchants wife. This opening stanza of 6 lines is organized around a central image of the rivermerchant and his wife as a child, confirmed. Analyzing the discrepancies between the two texts from a crosscultural perspective, this article argues that the river merchants wife has produced a decontextualized chineseness by using. I see the moon in it and think of you like you it keeps one face hidden. If you are coming down through the narrows of the river kiang, please let me know beforehand, and i will come out to meet you. By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses, too deep to clear them away. Summarize the force of several of the more daring modern poets, including wallace stevens, hart crane, and ezra pound.

So, the rivermerchant s wife never became a feminist poem. Pounds title, the river merchants wife, suggests that he left for work, but the original title doesnt, and li po gives no direct indication of the husbands profession, except that hes frequently on the river. Ezra pound translated from the chinese of li tai po rihaku. As their advanced placement english literature and composition teacher, i have the privilege and power to change their thinking, to create a new experience, to encourage them to peruse the sunday paper for the next professional play coming to town. In an introduction to the literary essays of ezra pound, t. Authors word choice symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. A letter, images of vegetation appear in several places especially at the beginning and end of the poem and function in various ways. She married him while still young, feeling shy and reticent, but soon she found herself deeply. A lonely housewife hasnt seen her husband for five months, so she decides to write him a letter. In his early career he was the influential and a controversial leader of imagism and vorticism.

A letter while my hair was still cut straight across my forehead. As such, it reverses the gender roles in the chinese source text and pounds version, in which a male poet crossdresses as. An image of separation is developed in these lines as the husband takes on his role as a rivermerchant and travels the waters, conducting his work in the world on a distant island. While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead. While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead the academy of american poets is the largest membershipbased nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting american poets. I have tried to show that chinese poetry can be rendered into english metrical forms, but is the result necessarily poetry. Determine how subtle poetic controls channel verse energy into emergent image and theme. Seen through the eyes of the narrator, who is the teenager, the poem focuses on imagery to create a world of emotions. It first appeared in pounds 1915 collection cathay. Ezra pound was born in hailey, idaho, grew up near philadelphia, but lived much of his adult life overseas. When she was young, she played in the garden with the boy who would become her husband. You went into far kutoen, by the river of swirling eddies, and you have been gone five months. Throughout the poem, the reader sees the girl having increasingly stronger feelings and a deeper appreciation for the man. Each of the first four stanzas is imagecentered, focusing an emotional point in the history of the relationship between the river merchants wife and her husband.

Line 1 mingling dust line 12 mosses growing line 2122 it is talking about a girl who is the age of 16 and is yearning for her husband and and is worried about the. Contemporary faces of the river merchants wife, by. Pound was born in hailey, idaho, in 1885, and raised in philadelphia, the son of homer loomis pound and isabel weston pound. Get an answer for whats an example of imagery from the poem, the river merchants wife. His work with foreign languages, particularly chinese, is considered in relation to imagism in the poems jewel stairs grievance and river merchants. Gerontion perhaps specifically recalled the river merchants wife and its dramatising precision. Until the publication of cathay in 1915, ezra pound was not really known for his poetry.

The rivermerchants wife reflects with nostalgia and ambivalence on all the transformations she has undergone since her idyllic childhood. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. A letter translated by ezra pound originally written by li po slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. A letter ezra pound translated from the chinese of li tai po rihaku pound, ezra 18851972 controversial american poet, editor, and critic who had a major influence on 20th century literature. The portrayal of this woman was originally written by a man, li po, and it was then translated by men, like ezra pound. Among his bestknown works are in a station of the metro, hugh selwyn mauberley, and the.

A letter begins with the speaker reminiscing about childhood, a time when, in her words, my hair was still cut straight across my forehead. River merchants wife while my hair was still cut straight across my forehead i played about the front gate, pulling flowers. Pdf this article provides a detailed comparison of various interpretations of the river merchants wife. This, however, conveys more than it would at first appear. The river merchants wife by lipo linkedin slideshare.

You went into far kutoyen, by the river of swirling eddies. It is a powerful expression of the wifes feelings and an attempt to demonstrate to the rivermerchant how she has grown into a mature and more complete stage of love. A letter is a poem loosely translated by ezra pound from a poem by chinese poet li bai. His early work was poorly received and was a bit preoccupied with an outdated victorian style. A letter while my hair was still cut straight across my forehead i played about the front gate, pulling flowers.

In the station of the metro a pact the river merchants wife. He made his first visits to europe with his family in 1898 and 1902. Ezra pound biography 3 it is unclear whether climb the lookout in line 14 is a reference to a ritual performed in this culture by a wife after death, perhaps to look for other offers to marry that might come her way. The allusions to different places arent that important to the reader, as long as you know that the wife wants to travel hundreds of miles just so she can see her husband a few weeks sooner. If you enjoyed this poem, visit both authors pages for more of. A letter while my hair was still cut straight across my forehead while my hair was still cut straight across my forehead the academy of american poets is the largest membershipbased nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting american poets. Chinese history presents a rich and complex tapestry. The speaker never explicitly states her husbands reasons for leaving. The rivermerchants wife character analysis course hero. A letter the garden learn with flashcards, games, and more for free. This article provides a detailed comparison of various interpretations of the river merchants wife.

While my hair was still cut straight across my foreheadi played about the front gate pulling flowers page. Theoretical issues are so often raised that it seems best just to try. A letter by ezra pound 1885 1972 while my hair was still cut straight across my forehead i played about the front gate, pulling flowers. A letter offers rich allegory, metaphor, and symbols, often studied by high school students. Lets begin, as a river or a journey might, at the beginning. The river merchant s wife is a straightforward poem, especially as far as pound is concerned. A letter, in turn based on the first of li pos two letters from changkan in the evening the boats and people leave.

A letter li po the explanation symbolsmetaphors butterflies. The river merchants wife printing free download as powerpoint presentation. Back in the 9th century in china there were two great poets. A letter is an avantgarde poem that appears in ezra pounds third collection of poetry. As a result, the wife falls into a female stereotypeshe is naive, bashful, stubborn, loyal to her husband, and subordinate to her husband.

Pounds early poem, in a station of the metro, and pounds comment on the poems composition are studied as imagist statements. The most famous and successful of pounds renderings in cathay is the river merchants wife. For this collection, pound used translation notes left behind by eastasian scholar ernest fenollosa to translate chinese poemseven though pound did. After making hundreds of broadcasts for the italian facist regime, he. In addition to the jewell stairs grievance and the exiles letter, also included in the collection, zhaoming qian has referred to the river merchants. This study guide consists of approximately 28 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the river merchants wife. Please let me know when and by what route you are returning, so that i may come to meet you. This opening stanza of 6 lines is organized around a central image of the rivermerchant and his wife.

This poem takes the form of a letter from a lonely wife who has not seen her husband in five months. This opening stanza of 6 lines is organized around a central image of the rivermerchant and his wife as a child, confirmed by the first component of the central image. Analyzing the discrepancies between the two texts from a crosscultural perspective, this article argues that the river merchant s wife has produced a decontextualized chineseness by using. It is the most widely anthologized poem of the collection. The wifes statement of the length of his absence is expressed in one line, giving it full and emphatic force. But by making the wife say that the way is not long, li po brings out the girlishness of the speaker the works of lipo, p. She begins by reminiscing about meeting him during childhood. It was written by li bai, and skillfully translated by ezra pound. In context, her childhood haircut is a physical aspect of her appearance that separates her past self from her current self. Ust 111 faculty of engineering group project for world literature based on the poem river merchants wife.

Introdution in 1915, ezra pound published his poetic collection cathay as an anthology of trans lations for some classical chinese poems, in which, the river. Of all the major literary figures in the twentieth century, ezra pound has been one of the most controversial. In these closing lines of the poem and the letter the river merchants wife reaches out from her lonely world of sorrow to her husband in a direct request. You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse, you walked about my seat, playing with blue plums. Whats an example of imagery from the poem, the river. One example of symbolism in our poem is by the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses, too deep to clear them away. A letter tells the story of a sixteenyearold teenager who is married to a river merchant. Poems summary and analysis of the rivermerchants wife.