Analysis of Battle of Red Cliff
Su Tung-po 1037 (Meishan, Sichuan) – 1101 (Huizong of Song)
The Yangtze flows east
Washing away
A thousand ages of great men
West of the ramparts --
People say --
Are the fabled Red Cliffs of young Chou of the Three Kingdoms
Rebellious rocks pierce the sky
Frightening waves rip the bank
The backwash churns vast snowy swells --
River and mountains like a painting
how many heroes passed them, once ...
Think back to those years, Chou Yu --
Just married to the younger Chiao --
Brave, brilliant
With plumed fan, silk kerchief
Laughed and talked
While masts and oars vanished to flying ash and smoke!
I roam through ancient realms
Absurdly moved
Turn gray too soon --
A man's life passes like a dream --
Pour out a cup then, to the river, and the moon
The endless river eastward flows;
With its huge waves are gone all those
Gallant heroes of bygone years.
West of the ancient fortress years
Red Cliff where General Zhou Yu won his early fame
When the Three Kingdoms were in flame.
Jugged rocks tower in the air
And swashing waves beat on the air
Rolling up a thousand heaps of snow.
To match the hills and the river so fair,
How many heroes brave of yore
Made a great show!
The great river surges east,
Its waves have scoured away
Since time began all traces of heroic men.
The western side of the old fort
Was once, so people say,
Known as the Red Cliff of Zhou of the Three Kingdoms.
With piled-up rocks to stab the sky
And waves to shake them thunderously
Churning the frothy mass to mounds of snow,
It's like a masterpiece in paint.
Those ages hide how many a hero!
Think back to those old days;
that first year when Zhou Yu had just married the Young Qiao.
Then, what a hero he became!
With waving fan and silken cap
He talked and laughed at ease
While masts and oars were blotted out in smoke and flame!
My wits that stray to realms of old
Deserve the scorn of all who feel;
Years pass, and hair grows white so soon.
Though a man's life is like a dream,
One toast continues still -- the River and the Moon!
Scheme | ABCXBDEXXXX XFXXXXXXGHG IIJJKKLLMLXF A B C X B D E N M X M X X K X X K X N G H G |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01111 1001 01010111 1101 101 10101111110110 0101101 1001101 0111101 100101010 11010111 1111111 11010101 110 111110 101 110110110101 111101 0101 1111 01110101 110111010001 01010101 11111111 1010111 11010101 1111001111101 10110001 1110001 0111101 101010111 1101001011 11010111 1011 0110101 1111001 110111010101 01011011 111101 110111110110 11111101 011111 1001011111 1101001 1101110010 111111 1111111110011 11010101 11010101 110111 110101010101 11111111 01011111 11011111 10111101 110101010001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,997 |
Words | 376 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 25 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 11, 12, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 61 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 15 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 20, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 118 Views
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"Battle of Red Cliff" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35831/battle-of-red-cliff>.
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