South-Folk in Cold Country
The Dai horse neighs against the bleak wind of Etsu,The birds of Etsu have no love for En, in the north,Emotion is born out of habit.Yesterday we went out of the Wild-Goose gate,To-day from the Dragon-Pen.Surprised. Desert turmoil. Sea sun.Flying snow bewilders the barbarian heaven.Lice swarm like ants over our accoutrements.Mind and spirit drive on the feathery banners.Hard fight gets no reward.Loyalty is hard to explain.Who will be sorry for General Rishogu,the swift moving,Whose white head is lost for this province?
"You know well where it was that I walkedWhen you had left me."
"Drawing sword, cut into water, water again flow:Raise cup, quench sorrow, sorrow again sorry."
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- turmoil v. t.
- To harass with commotion; to disquiet; to worry.
- accoutrements n.
- Dress; trappings; equipment; specifically, the devices and equipments worn by soldiers. [F. accoutrement, earlier also accoustrement, earlier also accoustrement. See Accouter.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
South-Folk in Cold Country is in the public domain. This text is taken from Cathay, Project Gutenberg ebook #50155; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ezra Pound, South-Folk in Cold Country, in Cathay (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #50155, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-cathay/south-folk-in-cold-country.html, id L01245.
Form and metre
South-Folk in Cold Country is 18 lines in 3 stanzas. 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 --AABBB---B--- etsu · north · habitA · gateA · penB · sunB · heavenB · accoutrements · banners · reward · explainB · rishogu · moving · province
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Dai horse neighs against the bleak wind of Etsu, | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| The birds of Etsu have no love for En, in the north, | 13 | ···/˘········ |
| Emotion is born out of habit. | 9 | ˘/˘····/˘ |
| Yesterday we went out of the Wild-Goose gate, | 11 | /˘········· |
| To-day from the Dragon-Pen. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Surprised. Desert turmoil. Sea sun. | 8 | ˘//˘/··· |
| Flying snow bewilders the barbarian heaven. | 13 | /˘·˘/˘·˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Lice swarm like ants over our accoutrements. | 12 | ······/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Mind and spirit drive on the feathery banners. | 12 | ··/˘···/˘˘/˘ |
| Hard fight gets no reward. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Loyalty is hard to explain. | 8 | /˘˘···˘/ |
| Who will be sorry for General Rishogu, | 12 | ···/˘·/˘˘··· |
| the swift moving, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Whose white head is lost for this province? | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| "You know well where it was that I walked | 9 | ········· |
| When you had left me." | 5 | ····· |
| "Drawing sword, cut into water, water again flow: | 13 | /˘····/˘/˘˘/· |
| Raise cup, quench sorrow, sorrow again sorry." | 11 | ···/˘/˘˘//˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.