This poem is Ezra Pound’s reinterpretation of Chinese writer Li Bai’s work. (known as Li Po by Pound). It is a letter from a young wife written to her merchant husband that has been away for five months. She recounts memories of her relationship and love for him evolving. They grew up in the same village of Chokan. At this point, they had no feelings for each other, “Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.” One she married him at the tender age of 14, she still didn’t love him. Instead she was shy and couldn’t even look or respond to him. Perhaps, they were married due to societal pressures and she was expected to act a certain way. But after a year of marriage, she fell deeply in love with him, to the point where she said: “I desired my dust to be mingled with yours / forever and forever and forever.” I found this line to be a bit disturbing because after just one year, she wishes that they will die and be together forever. It is clear that her feelings are intense, but at the same time, this thought shows that she is still young and naive. The intensity of her love that evolved so rapidly shows the unexpected and transformative power of love. It is a feeling that comes with time and changes in ways you don’t expect. After another year, the husband has left for a journey and it has been five long months so she writes a letter. It is not clear when he will return if ever, but she asks him to let her know when he will return so she will wait for him. It is also not clear how or if he will ever receive this letter in the first place. The separation of the two adds another complexity to their relationship and love. The husband’s absence makes the speaker miss him and love him even more. And the uncertainty of his return strengthens her love and longing for him. She is both sorrowful and hopeful as the seasons change, time passes, and she grows older. It is ironic she mentions that she is growing older since she is still only 16 years old during this time, but perhaps it is the speaker acknowledging the passage of time and her own mortality in the face of love, devotion, and anticipation.
The River-Merchant’s Wide: a Letter
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I liked reading your concise description of the events that the wife is reminiscing on when writing to her husband. It is clear that she, despite initial indifference, has had a change of heart about her husband. But this poem proposes much more open-ended questions; firstly, is the wife’s love true if she only acknowledges it when her husband is away from her? Additionally, can indifference be molded into love, or does time just mask acclimation as love? I agree with your comment on the eeriness of her sudden shift (from scowling at the husband to willing to die for him), and this ambiguity certainly adds more layers to the poem’s true meaning. It is very unique for the wife to recognize the true extent of her feelings for her husband only when he is gone. It is possible that she has begun to understand loss, or its possible that she loves him the most when she can think only of the good aspects about him (and forget the nuisances that she had to deal with when he was with her).