The Hat Given to the Poet by LI Chien
Long ago to a white-haired gentlemanYou made the present of a black gauze hat.The gauze hat still sits on my head;But you already are gone to the Nether Springs.The thing is old, but still fit to wear;The man is gone and will never be seen again.Out on the hill the moon is shining to-nightAnd the trees on your tomb are swayed by the autumn wind.
Words in this poem
- nether a.
- Situated down or below; lying beneath, or in the lower part; having a lower position; belonging to the region below; lower; under; -- opposed to upper. [OE. nethere, neithere, AS. ni, fr. the adv. ni downward; akin to neo below, beneath, D. neder down, G. nieder, Sw. nedre below, nether, a. & adv., and also to S]
- swayed a.
- Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Hat Given to the Poet by LI Chien 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, The Hat Given to the Poet by LI Chien, in A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #42290, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waley-chinese/the-hat-given-to-the-poet-by-li-chien.html, id L18859.
Form and metre
The Hat Given to the Poet by LI Chien is 8 lines in a single verse paragraph. 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 75%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Long ago to a white-haired gentleman | 10 | ·˘/····/˘˘ |
| You made the present of a black gauze hat. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The gauze hat still sits on my head; | 8 | ········ |
| But you already are gone to the Nether Springs. | 12 | ··˘/˘····/˘· |
| The thing is old, but still fit to wear; | 9 | ········· |
| The man is gone and will never be seen again. | 12 | ······/˘··˘/ |
| Out on the hill the moon is shining to-night | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And the trees on your tomb are swayed by the autumn wind. | 13 | ··········/˘· |
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.