Amitiés
You wore the same quite correct clothing,You took no pleasure at all in my triumphs,You had the same old air of condescensionMingled with a curious fearThat I, myself, might have enjoyed them.
And we say good-bye to you also,For you seem never to have discoveredThat your relationship is wholly parasitic;Yet to our feasts you bring neitherWit, nor good spirits, nor the pleasing attitudesOf discipleship.
But you, bos amic, we keep on,For to you we owe a real debt:In spite of your obvious flaws,You once discovered a moderate chop-house.
Iste fuit vir incultus,Deo laus, quod est sepultus,Vermes habent eius vultumA-a-a-a--A-men.Ego autem jovialisGaudero contubernalisCum jocunda femina.
Words in this poem
- condescension n.
- The act of condescending; voluntary descent from one's rank or dignity in intercourse with an inferior; courtesy toward inferiors. [L. condescensio.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- discipleship n.
- The state of being a disciple or follower in doctrines and precepts. Jer. Taylor.
- amic a.
- Related to, or derived, ammonia; -- used chiefly as a suffix; as, amic acid; phosphamic acid. Amic acid (Chem.), one of a class of nitrogenized acids somewhat resembling amides. [L. ammonia + -ic.]
- obvious a.
- Opposing; fronting. [L. obvius; ob (see Ob-) + via way. See Voyage.]
- quod v.
- Quoth; said. See Quoth.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Amitiés is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lustra of Ezra Pound, Project Gutenberg ebook #55564; 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, Amitiés, in Lustra (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #55564, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-lustra/amiti-s.html, id L01274.
Form and metre
Amitiés is 22 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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.
- 4 AA--BB- incultusA · sepultusA · vultum · men · jovialisB · contubernalisB · femina
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. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| You wore the same quite correct clothing, | 9 | ·····˘//˘ |
| You took no pleasure at all in my triumphs, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| You had the same old air of condescension | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Mingled with a curious fear | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| That I, myself, might have enjoyed them. | 9 | ···/··˘/· |
| And we say good-bye to you also, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| For you seem never to have discovered | 10 | ···/˘··˘/˘ |
| That your relationship is wholly parasitic; | 13 | ··˘/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Yet to our feasts you bring neither | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Wit, nor good spirits, nor the pleasing attitudes | 12 | ···/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Of discipleship. | 5 | ·˘/˘˘ |
| But you, bos amic, we keep on, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For to you we owe a real debt: | 8 | ········ |
| In spite of your obvious flaws, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| You once discovered a moderate chop-house. | 11 | ··˘/˘·/˘˘·· |
| Iste fuit vir incultus, | 6 | ······ |
| Deo laus, quod est sepultus, | 9 | /˘··˘/··· |
| Vermes habent eius vultum | 7 | /˘····· |
| A-a-a-a--A-men. | 6 | ······ |
| Ego autem jovialis | 7 | /˘····· |
| Gaudero contubernalis | 8 | ········ |
| Cum jocunda femina. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
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.