Poem III
Ed eran due in uno, ed uno in due.Inferno, XXVIII, 125.
“Bewildering spring, and by the AuvezerePoppies and day’s-eyes in the green émailRose over us; and we knew all that stream,And our two horses had traced out the valleys;Knew the low flooded lands squared out with poplars,In the young days when the deep sky befriended.And great wings beat above us in the twilight,And the great wheels in heavenBore us together ... surging ... and apart ...Believing we should meet with lips and hands.
High, high and sure ... and then the counter-thrust:‘Why do you love me? Will you always love me?But I am like the grass, I can not love you.’Or, ‘Love, and I love and love you,And hate your mind, not you, your soul, your hands.’
There shut up in his castle, Tairiran’s,She who had nor ears nor tongue save in her hands,Gone--ah, gone--untouched, unreachable!She who could never live save through one person,She who could never speak save to one person,And all the rest of her a shifting change,A broken bundle of mirrors ...!”
Words in this poem
- inferno n.
- The infernal regions; hell. Also used fig.
- bewildering a.
- Causing bewilderment or great perplexity; as, bewildering difficulties.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem III 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, Poem III, in Lustra (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #55564, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-lustra/poem-iii.html, id L01325.
Form and metre
Poem III is 24 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 3 --AA- thrust · me · youA · youA · hands
- 4 AA-BB-- tairiran'sA · handsA · unreachable · personB · personB · change · mirrors
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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ed eran due in uno, ed uno in due. | 12 | ·····˘/·˘/·· |
| Inferno, XXVIII, 125. | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| “Bewildering spring, and by the Auvezere | 11 | ˘/˘˘······· |
| Poppies and day’s-eyes in the green émail | 9 | /˘······· |
| Rose over us; and we knew all that stream, | 10 | ·········· |
| And our two horses had traced out the valleys; | 12 | ·/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Knew the low flooded lands squared out with poplars, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| In the young days when the deep sky befriended. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| And great wings beat above us in the twilight, | 11 | ·········/· |
| And the great wheels in heaven | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Bore us together ... surging ... and apart ... | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Believing we should meet with lips and hands. | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| High, high and sure ... and then the counter-thrust: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| ‘Why do you love me? Will you always love me? | 11 | ·······/··· |
| But I am like the grass, I can not love you.’ | 11 | ··········· |
| Or, ‘Love, and I love and love you, | 8 | ········ |
| And hate your mind, not you, your soul, your hands.’ | 10 | ·········· |
| There shut up in his castle, Tairiran’s, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| She who had nor ears nor tongue save in her hands, | 11 | ··········· |
| Gone--ah, gone--untouched, unreachable! | 9 | ···˘/˘/˘˘ |
| She who could never live save through one person, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| She who could never speak save to one person, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And all the rest of her a shifting change, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A broken bundle of mirrors ...!” | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/˘ |
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.