Personae
Lord God of heaven that with mercy dightTh' alternate prayer-wheel of the night and lightEternal hath to thee, and in whose sightOur days as rain drops in the sea surge fall,
As bright white drops upon a leaden seaGrant so my songs to this grey folk may be:
As drops that dream and gleam and falling catch the sun,Evan'scent mirrors every opal oneOf such his splendour as their compass is,So, bold My Songs, seek ye such death as this.
For I was a gaunt, grave councillorBeing in all things wise, and very old,But I have put aside this folly and the coldThat old age weareth for a cloak.
I was quite strong--at least they said so--The young men at the sword-play;But I have put aside this folly, being gayIn another fashion that more suiteth me.
I have curled mid the boles of the ash wood,I have hidden my face where the oakSpread his leaves over me, and the yokeOf the old ways of men have I cast aside.
By the still pool of Mar-nan-othaHave I found me a brideThat was a dog-wood tree some syne.She hath called me from mine old waysShe hath hushed my rancour of council,Bidding me praise
She hath drawn me from mine old ways,Till men say that I am mad;But I have seen the sorrow of men, and am glad,For I know that the wailing and bitterness are a folly.And I? I have put aside all folly and all grief.I wrapped my tears in an ellum leafAnd left them under a stoneAnd now men call me mad because I have thrownAll folly from me, putting it asideTo leave the old barren ways of men,Because my brideIs a pool of the wood, andThough all men say that I am madIt is only that I am glad,Very glad, for my bride hath toward me a great loveThat is sweeter than the love of womenThat plague and burn and drive one away.
Aie-e! 'Tis true that I am gayQuite gay, for I have her alone hereAnd no man troubleth us.
Once when I was among the young men....And they said I was quite strong, among the young men.Once there was a woman........ but I forget.... she was........ I hope she will not come again.
.... I do not remember....I think she hurt me once, but....That was very long ago.
I like one little band of winds that blowIn the ash trees here:For we are quite aloneHere mid the ash trees.
Words in this poem
- dight v. t.
- To prepare; to put in order; hence, to dress, or put on; to array; to adorn. [OF. dihten, AS. dihtan to dictate, command, dispose, arrange, fr. L. dictare to say often, dictate, order; cf. G. dichten to write poetry, fr. L. dictare. See D]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
- rancour n.
- The deepest malignity or spite; deep-seated enmity or malice; inveterate hatred. [OE. rancour, OF. rancor, rancur, F. rancune, fr. L. rancor rancidity, rankness; tropically, an old grudge, rancor, fr. rancere to be rank or rancid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Personae 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, Personae, (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41162, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-personae/personae.html, id L01193.
Form and metre
Personae is 60 lines in 12 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 45% 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.
- 1 AAA- dightA · lightA · sightA · fall
- 2 AA seaA · beA
- 3 AA-- sunA · oneA · is · this
- 4 -AA- councillor · oldA · coldA · cloak
- 5 -AA- so · playA · gayA · me
- 6 -AA- wood · oakA · yokeA · aside
- 7 ---A-A otha · bride · syne · waysA · council · praiseA
- 8 -AA-BBCCD-D-AA--- ways · madA · gladA · folly · griefB · leafB · stoneC · thrownC · asideD · men · brideD · and · madA · gladA · love · women · away
- 10 AAA-A menA · menA · womanA · was · againA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lord God of heaven that with mercy dight | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Th' alternate prayer-wheel of the night and light | 10 | /˘········ |
| Eternal hath to thee, and in whose sight | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Our days as rain drops in the sea surge fall, | 10 | /········· |
| As bright white drops upon a leaden sea | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Grant so my songs to this grey folk may be: | 10 | ·········· |
| As drops that dream and gleam and falling catch the sun, | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| Evan'scent mirrors every opal one | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Of such his splendour as their compass is, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| So, bold My Songs, seek ye such death as this. | 10 | ·········· |
| For I was a gaunt, grave councillor | 9 | ········· |
| Being in all things wise, and very old, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| But I have put aside this folly and the cold | 12 | ····˘/·/˘··· |
| That old age weareth for a cloak. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I was quite strong--at least they said so-- | 9 | ········· |
| The young men at the sword-play; | 7 | ······· |
| But I have put aside this folly, being gay | 11 | ····˘/·/˘/· |
| In another fashion that more suiteth me. | 11 | ·˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| I have curled mid the boles of the ash wood, | 10 | ·········· |
| I have hidden my face where the oak | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Spread his leaves over me, and the yoke | 9 | ········· |
| Of the old ways of men have I cast aside. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| By the still pool of Mar-nan-otha | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Have I found me a bride | 6 | ······ |
| That was a dog-wood tree some syne. | 8 | ········ |
| She hath called me from mine old ways | 9 | ···˘····· |
| She hath hushed my rancour of council, | 10 | ···˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Bidding me praise | 4 | /˘·· |
| She hath drawn me from mine old ways, | 8 | ········ |
| Till men say that I am mad; | 7 | ······· |
| But I have seen the sorrow of men, and am glad, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| For I know that the wailing and bitterness are a folly. | 14 | ·····/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| And I? I have put aside all folly and all grief. | 13 | ·····˘/·/˘··· |
| I wrapped my tears in an ellum leaf | 10 | ··˘······· |
| And left them under a stone | 7 | ······· |
| And now men call me mad because I have thrown | 11 | ··········· |
| All folly from me, putting it aside | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| To leave the old barren ways of men, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Because my bride | 4 | ···· |
| Is a pool of the wood, and | 7 | ······· |
| Though all men say that I am mad | 8 | ········ |
| It is only that I am glad, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Very glad, for my bride hath toward me a great love | 13 | /˘··········· |
| That is sweeter than the love of women | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| That plague and burn and drive one away. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Aie-e! 'Tis true that I am gay | 8 | ········ |
| Quite gay, for I have her alone here | 9 | ······˘/· |
| And no man troubleth us. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Once when I was among the young men.... | 9 | ········· |
| And they said I was quite strong, among the young men. | 12 | ············ |
| Once there was a woman.... | 6 | ····/˘ |
| .... but I forget.... she was.... | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| .... I hope she will not come again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| .... I do not remember.... | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| I think she hurt me once, but.... | 7 | ······· |
| That was very long ago. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| I like one little band of winds that blow | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In the ash trees here: | 5 | ····· |
| For we are quite alone | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Here mid the ash trees. | 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.