Comment 5 of 5, added on May 30th, 2007 at 12:11 AM.
First, before anything else is stated, it ought be mentioned that Ezra
Pound is a brillant writer who, I fear, will not be matched again.
I don't think either one of you are fully correct in your interpretation
and analysis. I think that you have probably both been basically educated
in the study of poetry, have probably been told simple thinking processes
behind analysis which do not sufficently do justice to the works in
question, and have probably never expanded your thinking beyond what you
have ben exposed to/ what you have been taught to think. I think that the
two latter comments bring up decent points, but render each of you
unbalanced in your readings. One must always bring their own subjectivity
and experiences to the poem, while simultaneously looking beyond those
experiences into the reality of the object[of observation; poem, art, etc.]
to what it is subjectivally and introspectively. Additionally in
interperating Pound, one must also take his pieces in relation to his
agenda as an imagist, not forgetting that he founded the imagist movement
and that his images are invaluable in analysis of meaning and purpose.
I like the comment about his fondness for smoking. He clearly did have an
affinity for it, a connection with it, and we can safely assume he did
because we writers write about what we know. It's a very true observation,
and the most valid of all three. This brings me to the crux of the poem;
Pound is revealing his experiences and the world's experiences in smoking
to reveal more deeply that this addiction is a belief system. He claims
Nicotine as a goddess, as a protection (a gaurdian), as a revealation- a
truth if you will, as our origin (our conciousness- memory), as a love- a
women (houri, sylph, queen), as a heavenly liberation and all points
directly to the foundations of most belief systems in our world, and most
specifically points to a Muslim-esque faith or a faith which consumes. He
most clearly points to the idea of addiction, building to the all consuming
and encompassing effects of a drug, rendering all other things useless and
pointless.
Here we have seen how deeply down it goes. It relates to experience in that
we are all so addicted to anything and that relates back to the idea of
belief and to the fact that Pound was probably commenting on the fact that
we all are so consumed to the point that any virtue becomes vice and that
any vice is therefore equivicated with virtue, so that what you believe is
not what matters, and that what instead matters is that you believe in such
a way that you will survive and not be utterly destroyed by belief.
At the end one also gets the feeling of utter distortion of all things
resulting of this deep consumtion and belief. Ultimately Pound is pointing
us toward this realization of the truth in our hearts and therefore
experiences. He is telling us to be aware of the things we trust most-
ourselves.
Ashley from
Canada
First, before anything else is stated, it ought be mentioned that Ezra
Pound is a brillant writer who, I fear, will not be matched again.
I don't think either one of you are fully correct in your interpretation
and analysis. I think that you have probably both been basically educated
in the study of poetry, have probably been told simple thinking processes
behind analysis which do not sufficently do justice to the works in
question, and have probably never expanded your thinking beyond what you
have ben exposed to/ what you have been taught to think. I think that the
two latter comments bring up decent points, but render each of you
unbalanced in your readings. One must always bring their own subjectivity
and experiences to the poem, while simultaneously looking beyond those
experiences into the reality of the object[of observation; poem, art, etc.]
to what it is subjectivally and introspectively. Additionally in
interperating Pound, one must also take his pieces in relation to his
agenda as an imagist, not forgetting that he founded the imagist movement
and that his images are invaluable in analysis of meaning and purpose.
I like the comment about his fondness for smoking. He clearly did have an
affinity for it, a connection with it, and we can safely assume he did
because we writers write about what we know. It's a very true observation,
and the most valid of all three. This brings me to the crux of the poem;
Pound is revealing his experiences and the world's experiences in smoking
to reveal more deeply that this addiction is a belief system. He claims
Nicotine as a goddess, as a protection (a gaurdian), as a revealation- a
truth if you will, as our origin (our conciousness- memory), as a love- a
women (houri, sylph, queen), as a heavenly liberation and all points
directly to the foundations of most belief systems in our world, and most
specifically points to a Muslim-esque faith or a faith which consumes. He
most clearly points to the idea of addiction, building to the all consuming
and encompassing effects of a drug, rendering all other things useless and
pointless.
Here we have seen how deeply down it goes. It relates to experience in that
we are all so addicted to anything and that relates back to the idea of
belief and to the fact that Pound was probably commenting on the fact that
we all are so consumed to the point that any virtue becomes vice and that
any vice is therefore equivicated with virtue, so that what you believe is
not what matters, and that what instead matters is that you believe in such
a way that you will survive and not be utterly destroyed by belief.
At the end one also gets the feeling of utter distortion of all things
resulting of this deep consumtion and belief. Ultimately Pound is pointing
us toward this realization of the truth in our hearts and therefore
experiences. He is telling us to be aware of the things we trust most-
ourselves.
Ashley from Canada