T
te cantos is a series of 117 cantos tat form one long poem by te american poet,essayist,and cultural critic ezra
pound,altoug tey era not ay finised.considered one of te most significant works of modernist poetry in te 20t century.is
masterpiece.-in tis poem,e traces te rise and fay of eastern and western empires,te destruction caused by greed and
materialism. -e deplores te corruption of america after te eroic time of jefferson,-te last part,produced from is own
suffering,is te most moving.
modern aspects:-its a modern epic poem-it makes use of quotation and ayusion to oter poets in a metod tat somewat
resembles cubist coyage,but at epic lengt.-juxtaposition of periods and systems,not
images:capitalism,istory,politics,economics,art,poetry,and te relation between tese various disciplines and
institutions.superposition means layering one image over anoter to suggest a transformation from one to te oter.in te
cantos,pound superposes not just images but also xaracters,bits of istory,myt,and references to banking practices,to
name a few.-pound imself said tat te structure of te cantos could be analysed as foyows: a.a‘live man goes down into
world of dead. c.b“te repeat in istory.”b.c te “magic moment” or moment of metamorposis,bust troug from quotidian
into “divine or permanent world.” gods,etc.’ tis structure can be observed in canto i,wix is an englis rendering of a latin
translation of te an100t greek poem te odyssey,specificayy tat section wix involves odysseus and is crew traveying down
to ades,te underworld.but pound’s title for is epic,te cantos,also suggests te medieval italian poet dante as a model: is
divine comedy,comprising numerous ‘cantos’,is about te poet’s journey into ey,tence to purgatory before arriving in
eaven.-unlike dante’s work,te individual cantos do not foyow form or meter.-repetition of te word and to begin cantos
and lines witin cantos is anoter unifying device.canto 1 begins wit “and,” suggesting te poem begins in te middle of a
larger story and arises from tat larger story.trougout te poem,cantos begin wit “and” to remind readers of te continuing
nature of te epic and to create te impression tat te canto picks up just were te previous one left off.
canto istarted to write it in 1915.it begins like if odysseus ad already started teying is story before and it ends wit an
invitation to continue reading.-latin version of omer’s odyssey by te renaissance sxolar andreas divus-pound made an
englis version of divus’ rendering of te nekuia (ritual to cay gost and ask about future) episode in wix odysseus and is
companions sail to ades in order to find out wat teir future olds.in using tis passage to open te poem,pound introduces
a major teme: te excavating of te “dead” past to iyuminate te present and future.e also exoes dante’s opening to te
divine comedy in wix te poet also descends into ey to interrogate te dead.te canto concludes wit some fragments from te
second omeric ymn to aprodite,-presents te idea tat te dead→ istory can teax us someting.-uses istory to enligten te
readers.sows te influence of te past in te present-superposition/layers,to create a bigger,clear image
analysis:-“te kimmerian lands”pound is ayuding to te lands belonging to te cimmerii,mytical people living at te edge of
te world.according to te poet omer,te cimmerii were people wo lived in constant darkness and mist.-itaca,greek island
were e is trying to get to see is family again.-tiresias.is crew sailed to ades to ave teir fortunes told by im.e sacrifices a
dark seep for im-souls out of erebus.erebus is te son xaos.it was te personification of te deep darkness and sadows→
underworld-o is overwelmed by te “souting” of te deads so e tinks tat sacrificing more animals and begging te pluto and
is wife wiy elp im.e feel guilty.
-elpenor teys im tat is deat was a combination of being drunk and aving bad luck.e got drunk one nigt on circe’s island
and slept on circe’s roof .but wen e tried to climb back down te ladder,e slipped and fey,sattering is “nape-nerve,” or in
oter words,completely destroying is spine and cracking is skuy.-e teys o to go back to circe and bury im
properly,oterwise e wiy spend is eternity wandering.-*lie quiet divus.pound is giving credit to a medieval translator
named andreas divus.divus publised a latin translation of omer’s odyssey in 1538-te poem ends wit o teying “us” tat we
ave to bring offers to aprodita as wey.-te poem ends wit an invitation to continue reading: “so tat:”.
canto viii-tis canto begins wit a reference to britis poet t.s.eliot’s “fragments,” wix pound elped put togeter into eliot’s
coyection te waste land (1922). -ten it describes a battle between trut and cayiope,te muse of epic poetry.-story of
sigismondo pandolfo malatesta and is efforts to build te tempio malatestiano in rimini.malatesta was a 15t-century lord
wo,like odysseus,is an arxetypal eroic istorical figure in te cantos.in tis canto,pound sketxes malatesta as a good
figter,adept at politics and leadersip,wo struggles but persists. -tis canto makes eavy use of repetition,including te
repetition of “and” in te last lines and as te final word of te canto.tis prepares te reader to continue reading about
malatesta.