Two Poems
My charioteer hastens to yoke my carriage,For I must go on a journey far away.“Where are you going on your journey far away?”To the land of Wu where my enemies are.But I must ride many thousand miles,Beyond the Eastern Road that leads to Wu.Between the rivers bitter winds blow,Swiftly flow the waters of Huai and Ssŭ.I want to take a skiff and cross these rivers,But alas for me, where shall I find a boat?To sit idle is not my desire:Gladly enough would I go to my country’s aid.
In the North-west there is a floating cloudStretched on high, like a chariot’s canvas-awning.Alas that I was born in these times,To be blown along like a cloud puffed by the wind!It has blown me away far to the South-east,On and on till I came to Wu-hui.Wu-hui is not my country:Why should I go on staying and staying here?I will give it up and never speak of it again,--This being abroad and always living in dread.
Words in this poem
- charioteer n.
- One who drives a chariot.
- skiff n.
- A small, light boat. [F. esquif, fr. OHG. skif, G. schiff. See Ship.]
- 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,]
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Two Poems 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, Two Poems, in A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #42290, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waley-chinese/two-poems.html, id L18768.
Form and metre
Two Poems is 22 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 79%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.7 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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.
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 -AA--------- carriage · awayA · awayA · are · miles · wu · blow · — · rivers · boat · desire · aid
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My charioteer hastens to yoke my carriage, | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| For I must go on a journey far away. | 11 | ······/˘·˘/ |
| “Where are you going on your journey far away?” | 12 | ···/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| To the land of Wu where my enemies are. | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| But I must ride many thousand miles, | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| Beyond the Eastern Road that leads to Wu. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Between the rivers bitter winds blow, | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| Swiftly flow the waters of Huai and Ssŭ. | 10 | /˘··/˘···· |
| I want to take a skiff and cross these rivers, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| But alas for me, where shall I find a boat? | 11 | ·˘/········ |
| To sit idle is not my desire: | 10 | ··/˘···˘/˘ |
| Gladly enough would I go to my country’s aid. | 12 | /˘˘/·····/˘· |
| In the North-west there is a floating cloud | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Stretched on high, like a chariot’s canvas-awning. | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Alas that I was born in these times, | 9 | ˘/······· |
| To be blown along like a cloud puffed by the wind! | 12 | ···˘/······· |
| It has blown me away far to the South-east, | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| On and on till I came to Wu-hui. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Wu-hui is not my country: | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Why should I go on staying and staying here? | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| I will give it up and never speak of it again,-- | 13 | ······/˘···˘/ |
| This being abroad and always living in dread. | 12 | ·/˘˘/·/·/˘·· |
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.