Song of the Men of Chin-Ling (Marching Back into the Capital)
Chiang-nan is a glorious and beautiful land,And Chin-ling an exalted and kingly province!The green canals of the city stretch on and onAnd its high towers stretch up and up.Flying gables lean over the bridle-road:Drooping willows cover the Royal Aqueduct.Shrill flutes sing by the coach’s awning,And reiterated drums bang near its painted wheels.The names of the deserving shall be carved on the Cloud Terrace.And for those who have done valiantly rich reward awaits.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- ling n.
- Heather (Calluna vulgaris). Ling honey, a sort of wild honey, made from the flowers of the heather. Holland. [Icel. lyng; akin to Dan. lyng, Sw. ljung.]
- aqueduct n.
- A conductor, conduit, or artificial channel for conveying water, especially one for supplying large cities with water. [F. aqueduc, OF. aqueduct (Cotgr.), fr. L. aquaeductus; aquae, gen. of aqua water + ductus a leading, ducere to lead. See Aqua, Duke.]
- awning n.
- A rooflike cover, usually of canvas, extended over or before any place as a shelter from the sun, rain, or wind. [Origin uncertain: cf. F. auvent awing, or Pers. awan, awang, anything suspended, or LG. havening a place sheltered from wind and weather, E. haven.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of the Men of Chin-Ling (Marching Back into the Capital) 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, Song of the Men of Chin-Ling (Marching Back into the Capital), in A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #42290, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waley-chinese/song-of-the-men-of-chin-ling-marching-back-into-the-capital.html, id L18798.
Form and metre
Song of the Men of Chin-Ling (Marching Back into the Capital) is 10 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is trochaic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%). 83% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.8 syllables. 3 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 trochaic hexameter.
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 trochaic hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Chiang-nan is a glorious and beautiful land, | 12 | ····/˘˘·/˘˘· |
| And Chin-ling an exalted and kingly province! | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| The green canals of the city stretch on and on | 12 | ··˘/··/˘···· |
| And its high towers stretch up and up. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Flying gables lean over the bridle-road: | 11 | /˘/˘····/˘· |
| Drooping willows cover the Royal Aqueduct. | 12 | /˘/·/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Shrill flutes sing by the coach’s awning, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And reiterated drums bang near its painted wheels. | 13 | ·˘/˘·˘····/˘· |
| The names of the deserving shall be carved on the Cloud Terrace. | 15 | ····˘/˘······/˘ |
| And for those who have done valiantly rich reward awaits. | 13 | ······/˘·˘/˘/ |
Notes from the edition 1
Arthur Waley's notes to A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918; Project Gutenberg #42290).
- Line 9 The Record Office.
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