Chinese Poem Analysis: Love, Isolation And The Memory

Name:
Professor:
Course: Date:
Poetry Explication
Poetry Explication
The poem dramatizes love, isolation and the memory of past events of the speaker regarding his beloved husband whom she writes the letter to. The speaker recalls memories about her childhood experiences with her husband and how they got married at a tender age. She goes ahead and opens up to how her love for his husband grew, "I desired my heart to be mingled with yours,”… Pound, Ezra, 12. However, a year later the husband left and was gone for five months. "And you have been gone for five months,”… Pound, Ezra, 17. The speaker stresses that for the five months her husband has been away, she has been in isolation and very lonely. Finally, after describing his love and how she feels lonely, she urges the husband to tell her beforehand when he will be coming back “please let me know beforehand," says Pound, Ezra. 28, so that she meets him on arrival "And I will come out to meet you" says Pound, Ezra, 29. The audience of the poem is the speaker's husband who the letter was addressing. The tone used is sorrowful.
The poem sets the stage by a description of the speaker at some point in her life, "While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead / I played about the front gate, pulling flowers" says Pound, Ezra. The first two lines describe a little girl; her hair was still cut straight across her forehead unlike older women in the Chinese culture who had long uncut hair. The repetition of the verb "playing" (2,3 and 4); the speaker playing the front gate and her husband playing horse and playing with blue plums, has been used to emphasize the playful activities of child...