An image of Lethe,
and the fields
Full of faint light
but golden,
Gray cliffs,
and beneath them
A sea
Harsher than granite,
unstill, never ceasing;
High forms
with the movement of gods,
Perilous aspect;
And one said:
'This is Actaeon.'
Actaeon of golden greaves!
Over fair meadows,
Over the cool face of that field,
Unstill, ever moving
Hosts of an ancient people,
The silent cortège.
and the fields
Full of faint light
but golden,
Gray cliffs,
and beneath them
A sea
Harsher than granite,
unstill, never ceasing;
High forms
with the movement of gods,
Perilous aspect;
And one said:
'This is Actaeon.'
Actaeon of golden greaves!
Over fair meadows,
Over the cool face of that field,
Unstill, ever moving
Hosts of an ancient people,
The silent cortège.
Ezra Pound
You have a very apt analysis of the allusions throughout the poem, but I'm interested in the enjambment and how it affects these allusions. The enjambment causes there to be a separation between Actaeon and the setting surrounding him in the piece, establishing a disconnect between the myth and the reality in the work. Expanding upon the connection between Actaeon and war, this disconnect serves to illustrate between the myth of war and its reality. This disconnect is formed from the independent lines granted to each detail of the myth, as well as the independent lines granted to the setting.
ReplyDeleteThe independence of these lines leaves little to connect these lines, and this adds a certain sinister tone to the revelation of the myth in the poem. Instead of the arrival of a hero in gold, it is instead the revelation of a falsehood, of something separate from reality. This sinister tone is only reinforced with the mention of "hosts of an ancient people" that remain silent in the presence of this myth.