The River-Merchants

Wife : A Letterby: Li Po

Translated by: Ezra Pound

Republic of the PhilippinesPhilippine Normal University

The National Center for Teacher EducationMindanao

Multicultural Education Hub

Lea Mae Languido-Gonida BEE II-2Discussant

Authors Background

Li Bai (701 – 762), also known as Li Po, was a Chinese

poet acclaimed from his own day to the present as a

genius and a romantic figure who took traditional poetic

forms to new heights. He and his friend Du Fu (712–770)

were the two most prominent figures in the flourishing

of Chinese poetry in the Tang Dynasty that is often called

the "Golden Age of China". The expression "Three

Wonders" referred to Li Bai’s poetry, Pei Min’s swordplay,

and Zhang Xu’s calligraphy

Around a thousand poems attributed to him are extant. His poems have

been collected into four Tang dynasty poetry anthologies,and thirty-four of

his poems are included in the anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems, which

was first published in the 18th century. In the same century, translations of

his poems began to appear in Europe. The poems were models for

celebrating the pleasures of friendship, the depth of nature, solitude, and

the joys of drinking wine. Among the most famous are "Waking from

Drunkenness on a Spring Day", "The Hard Road to Shu", and "Quiet Night

Thought", which still appear in school texts in China. In the West, multi-

lingual translations of Li's poems continue to be made. His life has even

taken on a legendary aspect, including tales of drunkenness, chivalry, and

the well-known fable that Li drowned when he reached from his boat to

grasp the moon’s reflection in the river.

The River-Merchant’s Wife: A LetterLi Po

Translated by: Ezra Pound

?

!

Who is speaking?

To whom is the speaker speaking?

What is the situation?

What is the dominant mood?

What does every stanza convey?

Stanza 1

Lines 1-6

The opening 6 lines are centered around them as children.

The mark of adult women in Chinese culture was elaborate

arrangements of long hair.

The repetition of the verb "playing" in three separate lines

emphasizes the activity of children.

Stanza 2

Lines 7-10

These lines are centered around the woman and man as

adults. Lines 8-9 establish the wife's shyness by painting a

picture of her with her head bent and looking down to the

ground.

Stanza 3

Lines 11-14

These lines are centered around the growth of love between

the young couple. lines 12-13 are similar to wedding vows

almost meaning "till death do us part" emphasized by the

triple repetition of the word "forever".

Line 14 shows her deep love for him.

Stanza 4

Lines 15-18

These lines give an image of separation when her husband

takes his job as a river merchant and has to travel in

dangerous waters.

In line 18 the use of the sorrowful sounds of the monkeys are a

reminder to the wife of her own sorrows.

Stanza 5

Lines 19-21

These lines are centered on the river merchant’s absence. In

line 20 the phrase "by the gate" implies she has returned to

the gate and is a memory of when/where he left.

Stanza 6

Lines 22-25

In line 22 the river merchant’s wife is again reminded of her

sorrow by the falling leaves of autumn and by the "paired"

butterflies who are turning yellow and changing with the

season. She says the butterflies hurt her because they make

her realize she is growing old too but not with her husband.

Stanza 7

Lines 26-29

In the final lines of the poem it emphasizes the woman's

desire to be with her husband and to shorten the distance

between them. She is willing to walk hundreds of miles

upstream just to meet her husband and to lessen their

distance from one another.

WORDS DENOTATIVE MEANING CONNOTATIVE MEANING

hairstyle hairdo youthful daysflowers Part of plant that is often brightly

colored, that usually lasts a short time, and from which the seed or fruit

develops

fresh feelings

plum A round juicy fruit that has red or purple skin, sweet yellow flesh, and

hard seed at the center

sweetness

dust Fine powder made up of very small pieces of earth or sand

self

River Large natural flow of water that crosses an area of land and goes into

an ocean

life

Mosses A type of green plant that has very small leaves and no flowers and that grows on rock, bark, or wet ground

longing

butterflies A kind of insect that has a long thin body and brightly colored wings and

that flies mostly during the day.

pain

Falling leaves Green plants that grow from a stem or twig.

time passes by

bashful

forever

month

wind

august

hurt

time

sorrow

hair

flowers

bamboo

horse

blue plums

people

dust

monkey

gate

mosses

Abstract Words Concrete Words

butterflies

garden

River

wall

Figures of Speech

Hyperbole

"The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.“

“Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.”

Implication of the Title