Fighting South of the Castle
They fought south of the Castle,They died north of the wall.They died in the moors and were not buried.Their flesh was the food of crows.“Tell the crows we are not afraid;We have died in the moors and cannot be buried.Crows, how can our bodies escape you?”The waters flowed deepAnd the rushes in the pool were dark.The riders fought and were slain:Their horses wander neighing.By the bridge there was a house.Was it south, was it north?The harvest was never gathered.How can we give you your offerings?You served your Prince faithfully,Though all in vain.I think of you, faithful soldiers;Your service shall not be forgotten.For in the morning you went out to battleAnd at night you did not return.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fighting South of the Castle 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, Fighting South of the Castle, in A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #42290, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waley-chinese/fighting-south-of-the-castle.html, id L18748.
Form and metre
Fighting South of the Castle is 21 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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.
- 1 AAB-BB---C------C-C-C castleA · wallA · buriedB · crows · afraidB · buriedB · you · deep · dark · slainC · neighing · house · north · gathered · offerings · faithfully · vainC · soldiers · forgottenC · battle · returnC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| They fought south of the Castle, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| They died north of the wall. | 6 | ······ |
| They died in the moors and were not buried. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Their flesh was the food of crows. | 7 | ······· |
| “Tell the crows we are not afraid; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| We have died in the moors and cannot be buried. | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| Crows, how can our bodies escape you?” | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘/· |
| The waters flowed deep | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And the rushes in the pool were dark. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| The riders fought and were slain: | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Their horses wander neighing. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| By the bridge there was a house. | 7 | ······· |
| Was it south, was it north? | 6 | ······ |
| The harvest was never gathered. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| How can we give you your offerings? | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| You served your Prince faithfully, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Though all in vain. | 4 | ···· |
| I think of you, faithful soldiers; | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Your service shall not be forgotten. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| For in the morning you went out to battle | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And at night you did not return. | 8 | ······˘/ |
Notes from the edition 1
Arthur Waley's notes to A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918; Project Gutenberg #42290).
- Line 12 There is no trace of it left. This passage describes the havoc of war. The harvest has not been gathered: therefore corn-offerings cannot be made to the spirits of the dead.
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