Analysis of Tao Yuan-Ming
The River of Stars
shine upon the earth,
spinning webs of light,
into a story of silk:
On the River of Eternity
a stranger drifts thru the wilderness.
A trail of red petals float,
like footprints on water,
leading the stranger to shore.
A mountain looms above his head,
disappearing into blue mist.
The fortress of stone gives way,
like a crack in the world,
revealing a crevice--barely visible.
The stranger slips thru.
The known world disappears.
Light appears at the end of the tunnel.
The stranger walks into paradise.
The lost world of Peach Blossom Spring.
A place of mystery and magic,
where white clouds make a terrace
across the Blue Palace.
A waterfall cascades
into the jade-green valley.
A rainbow of trees and flowers:
red peach trees,
orange and yellow apricots,
golden chrysanthemums,
white and pink magnolias,
purple orchids.
At the edge
of the "universe's eight corners,"
the Nine Dragons of Heaven
play with the Sun and Moon,
while Tao Yuan-Ming sleeps
and dreams, inside a dream.
Scheme | XXXX ABXXXXXXXCXXCXXXBBXADXXXXX XDXXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011 10101 10111 0101011 101010100 010110100 0111101 11110 1001011 01010111 0100111 0101111 101001 01001010100 01011 01101 1011011010 01010110 01111101 011100010 1111010 010110 01001 0101110 0111010 111 1001010 100100 101010 1010 101 101110 0110110 110101 110111 010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,015 |
Words | 202 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 26, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 264 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
About this poem
The poem is a biographical fantasy.
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Written on March 06, 2015
Submitted by learnott1958 on December 18, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
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"Tao Yuan-Ming" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/146761/tao-yuan-ming>.
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