Alarm at First Entering the Yang-Tze Gorges
Above, a mountain ten thousand feet high:Below, a river a thousand fathoms deep.A strip of green, walled by cliffs of stone:Wide enough for the passage of a single reed.At Chü-t’ang a straight cleft yawns:At Yen-yü islands block the stream.Long before night the walls are black with dusk;Without wind white waves rise.The big rocks are like a flat sword:The little rocks resemble ivory tusks.
We are stuck fast and cannot move a step.How much the less, three hundred miles?Frail and slender, the twisted-bamboo rope:Weak, the dangerous hold of the towers’ feet.A single slip--the whole convoy lost:And my life hangs on this thread!I have heard a saying “He that has an upright heartShall walk scathless through the lands of Man and Mo.”How can I believe that since the world beganIn every shipwreck none have drowned but rogues?And how can I, born in evil daysAnd fresh from failure, ask a kindness of Fate?Often I fear that these un-talented limbsWill be laid at last in an un-named grave!
Words in this poem
- convoy v. t.
- To accompany for protection, either by sea or land; to attend for protection; to escort; as, a frigate convoys a merchantman. [F. convoyer, OF. conveier, convoier. See Convey.]
- 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,]
- scathless a.
- Unharmed. R. L. Stevenson.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Alarm at First Entering the Yang-Tze Gorges is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #42290, the Arthur Waley translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Various, Alarm at First Entering the Yang-Tze Gorges, in A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #42290, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waley-chinese/alarm-at-first-entering-the-yang-tze-gorges.html, id L18850.
Form and metre
Alarm at First Entering the Yang-Tze Gorges is 24 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Above, a mountain ten thousand feet high: | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| Below, a river a thousand fathoms deep. | 11 | ···/˘·/˘/˘· |
| A strip of green, walled by cliffs of stone: | 9 | ········· |
| Wide enough for the passage of a single reed. | 12 | ·˘/··/˘··/˘· |
| At Chü-t’ang a straight cleft yawns: | 7 | ······· |
| At Yen-yü islands block the stream. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Long before night the walls are black with dusk; | 10 | ·········· |
| Without wind white waves rise. | 6 | ······ |
| The big rocks are like a flat sword: | 8 | ········ |
| The little rocks resemble ivory tusks. | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘˘· |
| We are stuck fast and cannot move a step. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| How much the less, three hundred miles? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Frail and slender, the twisted-bamboo rope: | 10 | ··/˘·/˘˘/· |
| Weak, the dangerous hold of the towers’ feet. | 11 | ··/˘˘···/˘· |
| A single slip--the whole convoy lost: | 9 | ·/˘···/·· |
| And my life hangs on this thread! | 7 | ······· |
| I have heard a saying “He that has an upright heart | 13 | ····/˘····˘/· |
| Shall walk scathless through the lands of Man and Mo.” | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| How can I believe that since the world began | 11 | ···˘/····˘/ |
| In every shipwreck none have drowned but rogues? | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘····· |
| And how can I, born in evil days | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And fresh from failure, ask a kindness of Fate? | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| Often I fear that these un-talented limbs | 11 | /˘·····/˘˘· |
| Will be laid at last in an un-named grave! | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 5
Arthur Waley's notes to A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918; Project Gutenberg #42290).
- Stanza 1, line 4 See Odes, v, 7. * * * * * We are stuck fast and cannot move a step. How much the less, three hundred miles?[83 Frail and slender, the twisted-bamboo rope: Weak, the dangerous hold of the towers’ feet. A single slip--the whole convoy lost: And my life hangs on this thread! I have heard a saying “He that has an upright heart Shall walk scathless through the lands of Man and Mo.”[84 How can I believe that since the world began In every shipwreck none have drowned but rogues? And how can I, born in evil days[85 And fresh from failure,[86] ask a kindness of Fate? Often I fear that these un-talented limbs Will be laid at last in an un-named grave!
- Stanza 2, line 2 The distance to Chung-chou.
- Stanza 2, line 8 Dangerous savages.
- Stanza 2, line 11 Of civil war.
- Stanza 2, line 12 Alluding to his renewed banishment.
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.