The Coming Of War: Acteon Analysis

Ezra Pound, a writer bothered by the violence and destruction of the first World War uses the ancient myth of Acteon to fully show the hopelessness the loss of innocence brought upon the man. Within the Ezra Pound’s disjointed stanza alignment and the diction of opposing characters to expose the damage to innocence due to the horrors of war.

  Within the arrangement of stanzas of “The Coming of War:Acteon” does one see the broken and disjointed feelings of the narrator as each line is continually disjointed and plain. Each line in it’s own disjointed way expresses the broken thoughts of the writer. For just as “A sea/ Harsher than granite/ unstill, never ceasing”(Pound 7- 9) so is the mind of the narrator, for the lines are broken up specifically to communicate this indecision as Ezra to is uneasy and confused. Ezra also uses the sea as a metaphor for the mind as it to is unstill and ceasing when agitated. This can also be seen through the disjointed description of “Acteon of golden greaves! / over fair meadows” the narrator is unsure of the hero of old for this can be seen as he continues to switch between Acteon and the pastoral landscape of golden fields. This helps to show the innocence of Acteon and those who’s innocence was so selfishly taken away as Pound uses the pastoral scene to heighten the tragedy of the rape of innocence. 

 This continual switching within the last stanza itself and between stanzas creates a disjointed feeling, a feeling of uneasiness. For between either stanza the narrator switches between the description of Lethe and the hero Acteon. For “An image of Lethe”(1 Pound) brings to mind turmoil and destruction just as the river within Hades that carries its name contrasts the “Acteon of golden greaves” a hero of old. This contradiction helps to expose both the good and evils of war as both horrendous and courageous actions are wrought upon the field. Within either stanza both of these facts are exposed as Pound moves between stanzas helping him to fully expose the horrors of war.

 Similarly Within For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway the pains and torments of war is seen through the continual changing of perspectives similar to that of Ezra Pound’s poem “The Coming of War:Acteon”. For within each piece the switching of perspectives be that through line arrangement or perspective of the viewer each allows the reader to see the true horrors of war. Throughout For Whom The Bell Tolls Hemingway continually switches perspectives to that of the enemy exposing a man whom vocalizes “what a bad thing war is”(331 Hemingway). Yet like Robert this enemy follows the orders given to him by his people. The similarity in diction echoes that of Ezra Pound whom vocalized that war is  “an image of Lethe/and the fields”(1-2 Pound) are the waters of the river of oblivion. For within war good men are killed by good men and this is exposed through the subtle use of line arrangement and diction within both pieces

 Through the use of diction and Line arrangement both Ernest Hemingway and Ezra Pound truly expose the horrors of war causing a loss of innocence within man.  As each man works to use the symbolism of each word to fully express their true emotions. For within Ezra Pound’s poem the “Coming of War Acteon” the loss of hero through that of the disjointed structure showing the hysteria caused by war. Hemingway on the other hand uses the diction of two characters, men whom speak with the same bitter tone for the violent nature of war itself.