Envoi
Struck of the blade that no man parriethPierced of the point that toucheth lastly all,'Gainst that grey fencer, even Death,Behold the shield! He shall not take thee all.
With ever one fear at the heart o' meLong by still sea-coastscoursed my Grey-Falcon,And the twin delightsof shore and sea were mine,Sapphire and emerald withfine pearls between.
Through the pale courses ofthe land-caressing in-streamsGlided my barge andthe kindly strange peoplesGave to me laugh for laugh,and wine for my tales of wandering.And the cities gave me welcomeand the fields free passage,With ever one fearat the heart o' me.
An thou should'st grow wearyere my returning,An "they" should call to theefrom out the borderland,What should avail mebooty of whale-ways?What should avail megold rings or the chain-mail?What should avail methe many-twined bracelets?What should avail me,O my beloved,Here in this "Middan-gard"what should avail meOut of the booty andgain of my goings?
Words in this poem
- lastly adv.
- In the last place; in conclusion.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- coursed a.
- Hunted; as, a coursed hare.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Envoi is in the public domain. This text is taken from Personae, Project Gutenberg ebook #41162; 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, Envoi, in Personae (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41162, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-personae/envoi-2.html, id L01210.
Form and metre
Envoi is 37 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 49% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 ABAB parriethA · allB · deathA · allB
- 2 --A-A-A me · coasts · falconA · delights · mineA · with · betweenA
- 4 --ABA-A-A-A--AB- weary · returning · theeA · borderlandB · meA · ways · meA · mail · meA · bracelets · meA · beloved · gard · meA · andB · goings
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Struck of the blade that no man parrieth | 9 | ········· |
| Pierced of the point that toucheth lastly all, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| 'Gainst that grey fencer, even Death, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Behold the shield! He shall not take thee all. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| With ever one fear at the heart o' me | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Long by still sea-coasts | 5 | ····· |
| coursed my Grey-Falcon, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And the twin delights | 5 | ···˘/ |
| of shore and sea were mine, | 6 | ······ |
| Sapphire and emerald with | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| fine pearls between. | 4 | ···· |
| Through the pale courses of | 6 | ···/˘· |
| the land-caressing in-streams | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Glided my barge and | 5 | /˘··· |
| the kindly strange peoples | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Gave to me laugh for laugh, | 6 | ······ |
| and wine for my tales of wandering. | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| And the cities gave me welcome | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| and the fields free passage, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| With ever one fear | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| at the heart o' me. | 5 | ····· |
| An thou should'st grow weary | 6 | ····/˘ |
| ere my returning, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| An "they" should call to thee | 6 | ······ |
| from out the borderland, | 6 | ······ |
| What should avail me | 5 | ··˘/· |
| booty of whale-ways? | 5 | /˘··· |
| What should avail me | 5 | ··˘/· |
| gold rings or the chain-mail? | 6 | ······ |
| What should avail me | 5 | ··˘/· |
| the many-twined bracelets? | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| What should avail me, | 5 | ··˘/· |
| O my beloved, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Here in this "Middan-gard" | 6 | ······ |
| what should avail me | 5 | ··˘/· |
| Out of the booty and | 6 | ···/˘· |
| gain of my goings? | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.