The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter
Ezra Pound
How the poem was born
Poetic Devices
Imagery
"While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead / I played about the front gate, pulling flowers. / You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse, / You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums."
Symbolism
"The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead." "The paired butterflies are already yellow with August / Over the grass in the West garden; / They hurt me. I grow older."
Free Verse
The poem does not rhyme, but is rather a narrative. It is not presented in a specific pattern, either. The poem is told as a memory in the form of a letter by the narrator from childhood to adult.
Explanation of the imagery
Explanation of the symbols
The monkeys represent the wife's sorrow. The butterflies represent the absence of the husband. In the poem, the butterflies are paired and this causes the narrator pain because her husband is not with her.
Analysis
Discussion Questions
Can Ezra Pound claim this poem as his own even if he translated it from a Chinese poem? Explain.
How would this poem satisfy some of the Modern Period characteristics?
What is an example of the theme 'love' in this poem?
What would be a great example of isolation in this poem?