And Thus In Nineveh

Ezra Pound 1885 (Hailey) – 1972 (Venice)



Aye! I am a poet and upon my tomb
Shall maidens scatter rose leaves
And men myrtles, ere the night
Slays day with her dark sword.

'Lo ! this thing is not mine
Nor thine to hinder,
For the custom is full old,
And here in Nineveh have I beheld
Many a singer pass and take his place
In those dim halls where no man troubleth
His sleep or song.
And many a one hath sung his songs
More craftily, more subtle-souled than I;
And many a one now doth surpass
My wave-worn beauty with his wind of flowers,
Yet am I poet, and upon my tomb
Shall all men scatter rose leaves
Ere the night slay light
With her blue sword.

‘It is not, Raana, that my song rings highest
Or more sweet in tone than any, but that I
Am here a Poet, that doth drink of life
As lesser men drink wine.’

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 18, 2023

47 sec read
156

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCD EXXCXXXXFXXABCD XFXE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 753
Words 157
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 15, 4

Ezra Pound

Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic of the early modernist movement. more…

All Ezra Pound poems | Ezra Pound Books

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1 Comment
  • msharpe01
    Like so many of Pound's poems they have to be read several times (which is probably true of most good poetry) to really grasp and appreciate what is going on in the poem. There are some really brilliant and crisp lines in this one; i.e. "Ere the night slay day with her dark sword!" and later with "her blue sword!". His use of archaic language while it may seem cumbersome is fitting in the context. 
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"And Thus In Nineveh" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/13195/and-thus-in-nineveh>.

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