Premium Essay

The River

In:

Submitted By ekie
Words 3595
Pages 15
"The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter" (1917)
Summary:

This poem takes the form of a letter from a lonely wife who has not seen her husband in five months. She begins by reminiscing about meeting him during childhood. She was pulling flowers at the front gate and he came by on stilts, playing horse. The next two lines, "And we went on living in the village of Chokan/Two small people, without dislike or suspicion," imply that the pair did not grow close right away following that encounter; they continued to grow up separately.

In the next stanza, the wife describes marrying her husband at age fourteen. After that, she was continuously shy, either out of respect, sub-ordinance, or just because of her introverted personality. According to the next stanza, she became more comfortable with the marriage by age fifteen and "stopped scowling." A year later, her husband (a merchant) departed for another village, which is where he has been for the past five months. The monkeys' sorrowful noise mirrors her loneliness. She writes that her husband "dragged [his] feet" when he left - indicating that he did not want to leave her. She ends her letter by writing that if he comes back along the river, he should send word ahead, and she will come out to meet him. The poem is signed "by Rihaku."

Analysis:

Pound was not the creator of this poem; he translated it from the original Chinese version by Li Po. The Chinese original likely had a specific form and identifiable meter, but Pound did not know enough about Chinese poetry to preserve it in his translation. Pound wrote his translation in free verse, structured around the chronological life events of the river-merchant and his wife. This form, though perhaps not Li Po's intent, does actually align with the content of this poem. The free verse makes the letter feel more authentic, as if it is a real letter from a wife to

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

The Will of the River

...home flows a river. For a dozen summers I have visited it, and almost every year I make an effort to trace its course back to its source in the neighboring hills; I do not consider my vacation there complete without doing this. In common with others streams of its kind, our river suffers much from the summer drought. I have seen it so shrunken that fish lay lifeless on the parched sand and gravel of its bed. But this summer I saw something I never had been sufficiently observant in other abnormally dry years, I am sure I could not have failed to notice the same thing earlier. One morning last April, in company with a student friend and also my elder son, I started out for the hill to spend the day by the rapids and cascades at a place called Intongaban. We followed the course of the river. After we had walked a kilometer or more, I saw that the river had disappeared and its bed was dry. I looked around in wonder because past our little country house below and out toward the sea half a mile or so farther down, the river was flowing clear and steady in its usual summer volume and depth. But where we stood at the moment there was no water to be seen. All about us the wide river bed was hot and dry. We pursued our way on toward the hill, however, and walking another kilometer we saw the stream again, though it had spread itself so thin it was lost at the edge of the waterless stretch of burning sand and stones. And yet, continuing our way into the hills, we found the river grow deeper...

Words: 1065 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

River Casestudy

...In July of 2005 an angler reported a fish kill on the river Tolka at Clonee to the ERFB The ERFB sent out fisheries environmental officers. On site inspection reviled a discharge pipe leading from a abattoir close by. The area around this pipe was chemically burned and the water was discolored The area was absent of flora and fauna downstream from this point. This was a point source pollution event. (1) Upstream approx 5M there was small fish alive but were absent downstream They proceeded to take samples of water in a standard method During this process it was noticed that a smell of noxious gases was increasing A shortness of breath and a skin /eye irrigation by the officers accursed The discharge pipe expelled a fluid 5 m into the river with a high flow rate Photos were taken by the EFOs This contained for approx 5 mins This point source smelling of ammonia and the visual impact on the downstream area would give rise to the opinon that this was the pollutant. (3) Samples were collected from pipe directly the river and various positions downstream and upstream Then all the samples were collected and labeled Then EFO s then visited the factory an abattoir owned by KEPAK MEATS Ltd They insisted that guarantees be given to stop this effluent discharge immediately Senior staff gave this guarantee This was the best effort taken by the EFOs to contain the pollution (2) Upon further inspection and a elecrofishing survey completed it was found that a...

Words: 1233 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Nile River

...Noah Crawford 2/17/11 Pr. 3 Africa Essay There are many great rivers in the world, but one out-shines them all. That river is the Nile River. It is the longest river in the entire world, stretching from the very top of Egypt, all the way to the bottom of Uganda where it drains into Lake Victoria. The Nile River greatly affects the people who live along it. The land all along the Nile is very fertile and good for growing crops. Every year, the Nile overflows and sends minerals called silt onto the land. The silt makes the land more fertile for people to grow crops to eat and sell. The Nile also helps with transportation. Since it’s a river, people can from place to place by boat. The Nile, additionally, can be used for drinking water or for irrigating. Africa must be careful to keep its economy well-balanced. If there is not diversity in what in being manufactured, other parts in the economy will fall apart. For example, if Africa spent most of its time towards the mineral industry and were mostly just mining for precious minerals, all of the farmers who grow and sell cash crops will not be able to sell them. Then, they will lose income, not have a job, and not be able to support their family. Also, if Africa spent most of its time to the farming industry, the same thing will happen to miners. On top of all of that, if Africa spent its time too much on either industry, other counties that want to import certain goods from Africa might not be able to because of the...

Words: 339 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

River Characteristics

...change along the course of the river. The rivers width is a lot wider downstream than it is upstream and is also a lot deeper which would be shown in the cross profile of the river. The cross profile of a river is a slice through the river this then shows exactly how wide and deep the river is and how rough the river bed is depending on if there is boulders or dips. Upstream it is narrow and shallow and further downstream this begins to change to being wide and deep due to the energy from the water causing lateral and vertical erosion. This then has an immediate effect on the wetted perimeter, length of a river channel in contact with the water at a cross section, as the wider and deeper the river channel the more surface area in contact with the water therefore resulting in a larger wetted perimeter. Further upstream nearer the source of the river the wetted perimeter is likely to be small as there is less surface in contact with the water as it is shallow and narrow whereas in the lower course closer to the mouth of the river the wetted perimeter should be a larger number as the river bed and banks will be larger therefore more surface area in contact with the water. The relationship between these two characteristics is shown through the hydraulic radius, the cross sectional area divided by the wetted perimeter. The hydraulic radius links to the efficiency of a river as the higher the hydraulic radius the more efficiency. Downstream the river is more efficient and has a higher...

Words: 539 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Wag Water River

...of the river. 3. To investigate the impact of humans downstream. methodology On this field trip we went to Wag Water River. We use material such as rulers, stop watch, sketches and description of sites was made; method of observation was used to see how humans use the river for various reasons. Along the river channel group of student did the following at different points; Velocity: we measure the velocity of the river atleast three times to get an accurate measurement, we calculate the average. The velocity of the river was measured with a half filled bottle of water placed in the water at a given distance of 30m for some seconds (velocity=distance/time (seconds).The stream was also measured before and after tributary to show effect of tributaries, and deposit load which affects flow of the river stream and this was calculated by (cross section x velocity), then we compare the stream discharge at different sites and accounted for the differences. After we did that we also measured the depth of the river, we used the meter rule for this measurement, for every meter we measured the depth then we find the average. Rock samples were also taken to classified as: very angular, angular, sub-angular, sub- rounded, rounded and well-rounded and measured with a meter. Hence fort the student identifies bed loading at the three different across the width of the channel (atleast fifteen for each stop). WHEN: November 29, 2012 Where: We went to Golden spring, Toms River and Board...

Words: 1499 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

A2 Response on Rivers

...subject matter, which is rivers. Text A is a part of a conversation. Text B is a poem by Stevie Smith entitled The River God. Text C is an extract from an autobiography by Rory McGrath. Compare Texts A, B and C, showing how the writers or speakers express their feelings about the rivers and their surroundings through their descriptions. The three texts all share the similar theme of rivers, all sharing mixed feeling on the topic of rivers, but mostly positive feelings towards them. Although all of the texts have certain aspects that they have in common with each other, as all texts have taken different approaches from each other for example, text A is a spoken account between two people on the subject of rivers, text B is a poem to display the power of rivers, and text C is an extract that describes the writers personal experience on the river Cam, and it was created to entertain with the main focus being on bird watching. Texts A, B and C all share in common the use of positive adjectives throughout the texts in order to display how they feel about rivers, and they use these adjectives to display how they feel, for example text A uses the adjective ‘beautiful’ when describing the river and how it looks, this also stress’ the view of the writer more through the emphasis that is used on this utterance. In text B we can see a similar use of the adjectives when talking about the river when the same adjective ‘beautiful’ is used to describe the river again, as it pre modifies...

Words: 1608 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Colorado River

...Colorado River Native Riparian Vegetation in Grand Canyon: How Has Glen Canyon Dam Impacted These Communities? by Susan B. Infalt ABSTRACT Native riparian vegetation has changed considerably along the mainstem of the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead since the closure of the dam. Old high water line (OHWL) plant species are in decline despite the shift some species have made into new, lower zones of the riparian area. Plants and sediment substrates directly adjacent to the river have been subjected to much less scour and desiccation with the post-dam hydrograph, and many woody species have been able to colonize much larger areas relative to pre-dam conditions. Novel communities such as return current channel marshes have developed in the canyon due to the lack of scour in backwater habitats. Overall, there has been a significant increase in the areal extent of riparian vegetation along this section of the Colorado River. The 1996 test flood was expected to scour existing riparian and marsh vegetation. Monitoring conducted after the flood revealed that vegetation was buried rather than scoured, and was able to recover to pre-flood levels within six months. Flows the size of the test flood, 45,000 cfs (1,274 m3/s), are inadequate to achieve current vegetation management goals, and will thus need to be modified if vegetation management goals are to be met. INTRODUCTION This paper will discuss the characteristics that make riparian zones in general extremely important...

Words: 5067 - Pages: 21

Free Essay

The Verde River

...Verde River The Verde River is a valuable resource in Arizona. In a state where perpetual flowing water is rare, the riparian haven of the Verde River stands out against the dry uplands through which it meanders. The river begins below the damn at Sullivan Lake, southwest of Flagstaff. It twist and turns southeastward 195 miles through private, state, tribal, and federal lands to the confluence with the Salt River. The river and vegetation provide habitat for many wildlife and fish species. Many aquatic, terrestrial, arboreal and aerial animal species depend upon the river and its streams (“Verde River Watershed Conservation Plan,” 2009). Included within the Verde River’s flora and fauna are plants and animal listed as threatened or endangered by Arizona or the federal government. Watershed Conservation Plan The Verde River Watershed Conservation Plan is an effort by The Nature Conservancy to implement the most effective actions for maintaining or restoring the native plants and animals of this watershed. While this preservation is vital to wildlife and recreation in Arizona, it is also necessary to the vigor of the river’s water flow, which serves many communities downstream. The constant need for water is placing pressure on the watershed. The looming development of the aquifer which feeds the Verde River could potentially reduce the flow of water not only to the downstream communities, but to the plant and animals that rely on it. During the yearlong planning process...

Words: 788 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Red River Floodway Expansion

...Introduction The Red River Floodway commonly known as the Duff’s Ditch is an artificial flood control waterway that stretches for approximately 42 kilometers. The floodway is located in Canada and was built between 1962 and 1968. The Floodway was constructed after a major flooding that led to property destruction and loss of life in 1950. It inflicted significant damage to the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. During the period of floods, the Red River Floodway takes part of the Red rivers flow and diverts it around the city before discharging it back to the river below the dam at Lockport. The floodway had the ability to carry floodwater at a rate of approximately 1,700 cubic meters per second. An expansion project was later initiated in 2005 to increase the carrying capacity of the floodway so that it can carry flood water at a rate of up to 4,000 cubic meters per second. The decision of expanding the floodway was reached after its containment system reached the maximum capacity in 1997 (Water-Technology.net, 2014). The main purpose of the...

Words: 1212 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

River Colorado

...River Colorado This extraordinary river has many unique features and runs through 7 American states including Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Baja, California, and Sonora. Humans have benefitted from the river for the last 2000 years due to its huge potential. More water is exported from the colorado basin than from any other river basin in the US. However these human uses have caused various effects on the river discharge. Key Features: Big Thompson Trans-Basin Diversion Reservoirs including Mead, Powell, Flaming, Gorge and Fontenelle Dams such as Hoover, Davis and Parker Glen Canyon Grand Canyon The Colorado River Delta Figure 1 - shows the course of the river. The Upper Colorado starts at the source at La Poudre Pass Lake in the Rocky Mountain national Park in Colorado. Here the annual precipitation is very high in the park with as much as 2540mm of snow during the winter. Under the Rocky Mountains there is the Big Thompson Trans-Basin Diversion, which diverts water to 2 million people living in Colorado. The Colorado River begins to flow to the west into Grand Lake in Colorado. Once the Colorado River meets the U.S. southwest, it begins to meet several more dams and reservoirs including the Fontenelle (the first of 11 dams) and receives its principle tributary, the Green River before it reaches the Glen Canyon Dam which forms the reservoir Lake Powell in Southern Utah. Here the Colorado also joins with San Juan River. From here...

Words: 1335 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

San Joaquin River Project

...I concur with Bill McEwen’s article “ River Plan Too Fishy for my Taste Buds” on the San Joaquin River Restoration Program. The San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP) planned on restoring the water flow to San Joaquin River from Friant Dam and its convergence with the Merced River, and revitalize the Chinook Salmon. McEwen has a much more superior expertise due to his 35 year career at Fresno Bee. He has become one of the papers biggest illustrious personalities as a sports and news columnist and opinion page editor.With an extremely further experience in the journaling world, it has won him an award-winning in reporting and he has a deep understanding of Fresno politics. His article was published in the Fresno Bee, located in Fresno,...

Words: 692 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

River Regeneration

...Reconnecting to a Forgotten River An Ecological Solution Design Thesis | Aaron Hanson Reconnecting to a Forgotten River A Design Thesis Submitted to the Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture of North Dakota State University By Aaron Hanson In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelors of Landscape Architecture Primary Thesis Advisor Thesis Committee Chair May, 2012 Fargo, North Dakota Ma, 0 2 y2 1 table of contents abstract problem statement statement of intent narrative user/client description major project elements site information project emphasis plan for proceeding previous studio experience theoretical premise research case studies climate data historical context project goals site analysis an ecological solution personal identification reference list 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 - 12 13 14 15 16 - 34 35 - 58 59 - 65 66 - 71 72 73 - 88 89 - 108 109 110 - 111 abstract Waterways are a vital and productive resource to our environment. Rivers provide a variety of amenities and services to communities across the world such as drinking water, food, travel, recreation, wildlife habitat, connection to place, aesthetic appeal, economic development, etc. This thesis project examines the importance of the Mississippi River to its urban community and how riverfront design can function as a unifying element for the city center and its ecosystem. Over half of the world’s future population will be living in urban environments...

Words: 18617 - Pages: 75

Free Essay

Asjes Hollow River Investigation

...Ashes Hollow River Investigation. Aim: In this investigation the aim was to compare the characteristics of a river that we visited (Ashes Hollow) to the Bradshaw Model. This is a good river to test certain theories and other predictions, as the river is easily measured and fits into the upper and middle course of a river which is helpful to me. It is also relatively near to me so is very convenient. Hypothesis: My hypothesis is looking for a relationship between two features. They were: Velocity increases further down the stream, as the rivers gradient decreases, the rivers width increases and as velocity increases, so does bed-load size. Location: Ashes Hollow stream is located in Shropshire, which is near Church Stetton. The valley where the river is is a V-shaped valley. This valley gets steeper the further up the river. There are a few minor waterfalls located in the upper and middle course, and there is a large amount of vegetation all along the river with decreasing amounts nearer the top. To investigate the river I chose 8 sights along the river. I selected these sights by working out how far from the bottom of the river it was to a point near the top and then dividing the number by 8. Working this out gave me 8 sites that were exactly the same length apart. Methods: Width – To measure the rivers width I used a tape measure. I did this by placing the start end on one side of the river bank at water level, and then I moved the measure along to...

Words: 1149 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Indus River

...The Indus River Basin: The Continuing Water Disputes Between India and Pakistan Anise Ko August 7, 2014 Professor Beth Bennett Introduction The Indus River was a key factor in the development of the Asian civilization. It originates in the Tibetan plateau and flows through four different countries: Tibet, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan to end in the Arabian Sea. The Indus River catchment area is as follows: sixty percent of the area belongs to Pakistan, about twenty percent belongs to India, five percent belongs to Afghanistan and fifteen per cent belongs to Tibet (Aljazeera, 2011). There are a total of six main tributaries: Sutlej, Ravi and Beas flow through Punjab and the other three rivers of the Indus basin - Indus, Jhelum and Chenab run through the territory of Jammu and Kashmir (Harvard, 2011). Since the partition of the British Indian empire in 1947, Pakistan and India have fought over the province of Punjab and the state of Kashmir, which resulted in a partition of the area between the two countries. The water dispute is also closely related to partition of the Kashmir region, too. The six rivers run through India which controls Jammu and Kashmir, before reaching Pakistan and the part of Jammu and Kashmir governed by Pakistan (Harvard, 2011). The geological allocation described above brought out significant disadvantages to Pakistan in early the1950s as a consequence of the political conflicts between the two countries. The help of the World Bank together with...

Words: 3473 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

San Joaquin River Restoration

...The san joaquin river restoration project is a project trying to restore the once energetic river where families went to go swim and fish. They need biology scientists and many other tools and time to do this restoration to the point where there's many people against the idea. The debate of the two articles between River Plan To Fishy for my Taste Buds by Bill McEwen In Fresno Bee and River Restoration Project Offers a sprinkling of Hope by Daniel Weintraub in sacramento bee. McEwen basically states that its a waste of time, and money while Weintraub says the River restoration is a good project to revive the once thriving river. Bill McEwen has worked for the fresno bee for 35 years with a reputation of an outstanding working person. Daniel Weintraub sacramento Bee for 15 years , a blogger , and a reporter and also writes for three popular newspapers like La times, sacramento bee, and Orange Country and even works on CNN. While McEwen can't be trusted Weintraub can. I agree with Weintraub and I think that the river restoration project should be passed and started. I believe that the San Joaquin River project was worth the 400 million...

Words: 834 - Pages: 4