Analysis of Provincia Deserta
Ezra Pound 1885 (Hailey) – 1972 (Venice)
At Rochecoart,
Where the hills part
in three ways,
And three valleys, full of winding roads,
Fork out to south and north,
There is a place of trees . . . gray with lichen.
I have walked there
thinking of old days.
At Chalais
is a pleached arbour;
Old pensioners and old protected \vomen
Have the right there
it is charity.
I have crept over old rafters,
peering down
Over the Dronne,
over a stream full of lilies.
Eastward the road lies,
Aubeterre is eastward,
With a garrulous old man at the inn.
I know the roads in that place:
Mareuil to the north-east,
La Tour,
There are three keeps near Mareuil,
And an old woman,
glad to hear Arnaut,
Glad to lend one dry clothing.
I have walked
into Perigord,
I have seen the torch-flames, high-leaping,
Painting the front of that church;
Heard, under the dark, whirling laughter.
I have looked back over the stream
and seen the high building,
Seen the long minarets, the white shafts.
I have gone in Ribeyrac
and in Sarlat,
I have climbed rickety stairs, heard talk of Croy,
Walked over En Bertran's old layout,
Have seen Narbonne, and Cahors and Chalus,
Have seen Excideuil, carefully fashioned.
I have said:
‘Here such a one walked.
‘Here Cceur-de-Lion was slain.
'Here was good singing.
'Here one man hastened his step.
'Here one lay panting.'
I have looked south from Hautefort,
thinking of Montaignac, southward.
I have lain in Rocafixada,
level with sunset,
Have seen the copper come down
tingeing the mountains,
I have seen the fields, pale, clear as an emerald,
Sharp peaks, high spurs, distant castles.
I have said: The old roads have lain here.
'Men have gone by such valleys
‘Where the great halls were closer together.'
I have seen Foix on its rock, seen Toulouse, and
Aries greatly altered,
I have seen the ruined 'Dorata'.
I have said:
'Riquier! Guido.'
I have thought of the second Troy,
Some little prized place in Auvergnat:
Two men tossing a coin, one keeping a castle,
One set on the highway to sing.
He sang a woman,
Auvergne rose to the song;
The Dauphin backed him.
'The castle to Austors!'
'Pieire kept the singing
‘A fair man and a pleasant.'
He won the lady,
Stole her away for himself, kept her against armed force:
So ends that story.
That age is gone;
Pieire de Maensac is gone.
I have walked over these roads;
I have thought of them living.
Scheme | aabcxdebbfdeaxgdhxaxxaxidaj aajxfxjxjakaba AaxjxjaaaagxaxxhfaaaAakaijdxxbjaaxxllcj |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (31%) Etheree (26%) |
Metre | 11 1011 011 011011101 111101 1101111110 1111 10111 11 10110 1100010101 1011 11100 11110110 101 1001 10011110 10011 1110 1010011101 1101011 11011 11 111111 01110 1111 1111110 111 011 111011110 1001111 110011010 11111001 010110 10101011 11101 001 11110011111 1101111 1110101 11110010 111 11011 1111011 11110 1111011 11110 111111 101110 11101 1011 1101011 1010 11101111110 11111010 111011111 1111110 1011010010 11111111010 101010 1110101 111 110 11110101 1101101 111001110010 1110111 11010 11101 01011 01011 11010 0110010 11010 1001101100111 11110 1111 11111 1111011 1111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,248 |
Words | 417 |
Sentences | 32 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 27, 14, 39 |
Lines Amount | 80 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 595 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 138 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 17, 2023
- 2:04 min read
- 94 Views
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"Provincia Deserta" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13330/provincia-deserta>.
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