The People of Tao-Chou
In the land of Tao-chouMany of the people are dwarfs;The tallest of them never grow to more than three feet.They were sold in the market as dwarf slaves and yearly sent toCourt;Described as “an offering of natural products from the land ofTao-chou.”A strange “offering of natural products”; I never heard of one yetThat parted men from those they loved, never to meet again!Old men--weeping for their grandsons; mothers for their children!One day--Yang Ch’ēng came to govern the land;He refused to send up dwarf slaves in spite of incessant mandates.He replied to the Emperor “Your servant finds in the Six CanonicalBooks‘In offering products, one must offer what is there, and not whatisn’t there’On the waters and lands of Tao-chou, among all the things that liveI only find dwarfish people; no dwarfish slaves.”The Emperor’s heart was deeply moved and he sealed and sent a scroll“The yearly tribute of dwarfish slaves is henceforth annulled.”The people of Tao-chou,Old ones and young ones, how great their joy!Father with son and brother with brother henceforward kept together;From that day for ever more they lived as free men.The people of Tao-chouStill enjoy this gift.And even now when they speak of the GovernorTears start to their eyes.And lest their children and their children’s children should forgetthe Governor’s name,When boys are born the syllable “Yang” is often used in theirforename.
Words in this poem
- yang n.
- The cry of the wild goose; a honk. [Of imitative origin.]
- dwarfish a.
- Like a dwarf; below the common stature or size; very small; petty; as, a dwarfish animal, shrub.
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- henceforward adv.
- From this time forward; henceforth.
- forename n.
- A name that precedes the family name or surname; a first name.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The People of Tao-Chou 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 People of Tao-Chou, in A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #42290, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waley-chinese/the-people-of-tao-chou.html, id L18827.
Form and metre
The People of Tao-Chou is 32 lines in a single stanza. 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.6 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 A--A--A-BB-------------------C-C chouA · dwarfs · feet · toA · court · of · chouA · yet · againB · childrenB · land · mandates · canonical · books · what · there · live · slaves · scroll · annulled · chou · joy · together · men · chou · gift · governor · eyes · forget · nameC · their · forenameC
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the land of Tao-chou | 6 | ······ |
| Many of the people are dwarfs; | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| The tallest of them never grow to more than three feet. | 13 | ·/˘··/˘······ |
| They were sold in the market as dwarf slaves and yearly sent to | 15 | ·····/˘····/˘·· |
| Court; | 1 | · |
| Described as “an offering of natural products from the land of | 17 | ˘/··/˘˘·/˘˘/˘···· |
| Tao-chou.” | 2 | ·· |
| A strange “offering of natural products”; I never heard of one yet | 18 | ··/˘˘·/˘˘/˘·/˘···· |
| That parted men from those they loved, never to meet again! | 14 | ·/˘·····/˘··˘/ |
| Old men--weeping for their grandsons; mothers for their children! | 14 | ··/˘··/·/˘··/˘ |
| One day--Yang Ch’ēng came to govern the land; | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| He refused to send up dwarf slaves in spite of incessant mandates. | 16 | ·˘/········˘/˘/· |
| He replied to the Emperor “Your servant finds in the Six Canonical | 19 | ·˘/··/˘˘·/˘····˘/˘˘ |
| Books | 1 | · |
| ‘In offering products, one must offer what is there, and not what | 16 | ·/˘˘/˘··/˘······ |
| isn’t there’ | 3 | /˘· |
| On the waters and lands of Tao-chou, among all the things that live | 16 | ··/˘············ |
| I only find dwarfish people; no dwarfish slaves.” | 12 | ·/˘·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| The Emperor’s heart was deeply moved and he sealed and sent a scroll | 16 | ·/˘˘··/˘········ |
| “The yearly tribute of dwarfish slaves is henceforth annulled.” | 14 | ·/˘/˘·/˘··///˘ |
| The people of Tao-chou, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Old ones and young ones, how great their joy! | 9 | ········· |
| Father with son and brother with brother henceforward kept together; | 18 | /˘···/˘·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| From that day for ever more they lived as free men. | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| The people of Tao-chou | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Still enjoy this gift. | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| And even now when they speak of the Governor | 12 | ·/˘······/˘˘ |
| Tears start to their eyes. | 5 | ····· |
| And lest their children and their children’s children should forget | 14 | ···/˘··/˘/˘·˘/ |
| the Governor’s name, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| When boys are born the syllable “Yang” is often used in their | 15 | ·····/˘˘··/˘··· |
| forename. | 2 | /˘ |
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.