THE RIVER MERCHANT’S WIFE: A LETTER By Li Po ( ) Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 1 Young Girl –“While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead” (1) Simple haircut suggests a young girl Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 1 Young Girl –Childish Games “pulling flowers” (2) “You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse” (3) Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 1 Young Girl –“Two small people, without dislike or suspicion” (6) Natural innocence of children No romantic interest involved Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 2 14 Years Old –Diction suggests she is shy “never laughed” (7) “bashful” (8) “lowering my head” (9) “looked at the wall” (9) “called to, a thousand times, I never looked back”(10) Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 3 15 Years Old –Diction suggests she has moved beyond her shyness –She is becoming a woman “I stopped scowling” (11) “I desired my dust to be mingled with yours/ Forever and forever and forever” (12-13) Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 4 16 Years Old –He departs Most likely to work –Title: The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter He goes to a dangerous place –“You went into far Ku-to-en, by the river of swirling eddies” (16) »By a dangerous gorge Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 4 He Departs –He has been gone for five months Most likely dead –“You dragged your feet when you went out” (19) Diction –Why “dragged?” »He did not want to leave Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 4 Nature Imagery –“The monkeys make sorrowful noises overhead” (18) Nature literally echoes her pain Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 4 Nature Imagery –“By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses,/ Too deep to clear them away!” (20-21) Suggests a significant length of time has passed Clearing the moss would be his job –Reflecting his absence Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 4 Nature Imagery –“The leaves fall early this autumn” (22) Early Death Premature Death Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 4 Nature Imagery –“The paired butterflies are already yellow with August/ Over the grass in the West garden; They hurt me” (23-25) Butterflies parallel her relationship Premature death West garden –Death imagery The pair found in nature actually causes her pain Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"

STANZA 4 Willing to journey a long way to meet him –200 miles –This unrealistic comment regarding a journey suggests that the River Merchant’s wife is aware that her husband is dead Geschke/Englsih IV "The River Merchant's Wife"