Oh Hugh, How You Make my Heart Swoon

Frankly, the title has nothing to do with the idea of this blog post. I just prefer the Hugh Selwyn Mauberly poem by Ezra Pound more than the Cantos. Because honestly, who wants to write about a load of inconsistent ideals? Definitely not a high school senior. So I went with Hugh. I really do not learn anything about this Hugh but the quantity of poetic devices is magnificent and correlates greatly with Ezra Pound's life. For example, allusions are given great emphasize on by Pound. In Hugh part I, Circe is mentioned. In case you did not know, Circe was a minor goddess of magic who murdered her husband and was placed on the island of Aeaea as punishment. So in part I of Hugh, the male character "observed the elegance of Circes' hair rather than the mottoes on sun-dials". This is relevant because it describes how the main character has a sick imagination. Circe is usually taken in a bad light by most of society and the fact that the character would rather gaze at her hair than sun-dials is important. The character obviously does not care what society thinks and sticks to his own way of dealing with life, therefore somehow loving a girl who looks like Circe. This parallels with Pound's life because let me tell you, he most definitely was an independent thinker compared to America/Europe. How many real acquaintances do you know that have been inducted into an insane asylum for the good part of a decade? Exactly. The character in Hugh needs to be sent to an insane asylum too. Another common aspect of Pound's writing was inserting random European language into his primarily English poems. Yet, the additions are not as random as they appear to be. In Part I of Hugh, the third line states "E.P. Ode pour l'election de son sepulchre" meaning "Ezra Pound: Ode for the Choice of his Sepulcher". This translation of the French language adds emphasize to the fact that the poem is written in third person and Pound describes his own hardships in the poem. Without this translation, the fact may have been casually overlooked by the reader and may have obtained the wrong idea about the purpose of this poem. Lastly, Pound usually always adds some type of parallelism to his poems. But for once, part 1 of Hugh does not. Instead it has the rare occurrence of an actual verse form. This is extremely abnormal for the typical Pound poem. The form is very simple: abab cdcd efef and so on. Personally, I think Pound put more effort into the structure of this poem compared to others because he was truly passionate about this particular hate rant toward America. He wanted to insert a more lyrical position of Hugh to maybe gain more readers or maybe add more emphasize on trying to traditional poems. Who knows? Either way, this poetic device may have contributed to the turning point in Pound's career, right before he ran away from England. Hugh definitely has much more biographical details about Pound's personal life which he transcends through his usual poetic devices of allusions, language translations, and typically parallelism but in this case, a real verse form. You go Glen Coco!

Erratic Tone

The erratic tone within the poem A Song of the Degrees matches the author's crazy mind perfectly. The poem is broken into three separate roman numeral sections. Once a different passage starts, the tone grows abstract instead of a crescendo into something spectacular. The first section simply states the fearful problem: "Rest we with Chinese colours, for I think the glass is evil." But then the second section arises into the speaker acting as if they've already known all about this evil, stating that they have seen it for themselves on multiple occasions. During the third section, the speaker suddenly explodes into a fury and persistently asking the glass why it's so evil. The tone changes from neutral to a smart aleck way of dealing with conflicts into an emotional, questioning frenzy. Also, in case one hasn't noticed, the "fearful problem" is simply a glass looking evil. Please tell me why it scares the speaker so much? Given the inconsistent tone and the abnormal subject, I can infer the conclusion that the speaker is certifiably insane. The tone usually reflects the author's mood so the author is obviously in a state of turmoil and anxiety. Of course, this cuckoo author would nevertheless be the extremely famous Ezra Pound. Personally, he must have written this poem in the midst of his mental breakdown when he gave up on preaching to America how perfect they could be post-WWII. Or I'm all wrong and tone is only a minor detail compared to what Pound really wants to master: the Imagist movement. More than likely, this is the correct answer. The tone in the second passage is created by the words "melting", "stone-bright", "silver crashing", etc. These words are more informative, giving the intellectual voice to the poem. The tone in the third passage is made by the parallel questions starting with why, having extremely short phrases, and ending with exclamation points. Obviously, the tone is a sign of distress. The passage also consists of the description words such as "light", "glitter", "powdery gold", and "amber". If writing a poem with an irregular tone was part of the Imagist movement that Pound strives for, I personally think he succeeded. (Even though, I personally find him simply crazy.)

Allusions at The Lake Isle

After reading The Lake Isle by Ezra Pound, it is obvious that the poetic device of allusion plays an important role in the poem. From the very first line, the speaker is pleading with these Gods for a little tobacco shop: "O God, O Venus, O Mercury, patron of thieves". The tone is full of such hope and for longing, the reader instantly feels sympathetic toward the speaker. Personally, I felt pity for this man because of the act of him begging to these gods. If it was not for this act of desperation, I do not think it would as emotional and using the ethos way of persuasion. The gods themselves are deemed more powerful in society, making the speaker's pleading also seem more worthy of his calling the "great" gods. For example, Mercury was a major Roman god and the patron of financial gain, communication, and luck. These are the main three events that the speaker severely seeks. Financial gain will let the speaker's dream tobacco store become a reality and also obtain prosperity from the profits; communication is needed in order to even persuade the other gods to listen to his prayers; and of course, pure luck is always a necessity when aspiring for a hard goal such as securing a tobacco shop. Also, in the beginning of the second stanza in this short poem, the speaker repeats his original plea of : "O God, O Venus, O Mercury, patron of thieves" to address the main reason for even wanting a tobacco store so much. The reason is that the speaker passionately hates his job of writing that requires too much effort. Once again, the speaker frantically prays to these majestic gods for their dominant patrons and hope for answered wishes. Simply, the allusion of these three gods and the speaker craving for their help, dramatically add to the whole aspect of the poem. If not, it would simply be a poem with an image about a tobacco store and the random hate for a profession. The allusions puts the entire content and subject into a better explained perspective.

Pound's Views on America

Within the poem Salutation by Ezra Pound, I first thought the content was just the narrator's observation on society. But after learning more about Ezra Pound's absolutely crazy life, the poem definitely represents Pound's hostility toward America. When he did not know any better, Pound thought America had the potential to achieve perfection, especially when it comes to lyrical poems that consist of art. Yet, during post-WWII, Pound was declared insane. His reaction to America being cruel to Germany and Japan is reflected within Salutation. For example, the very first line consists of "O generation of the thoroughly smug and thoroughly uncomfortable," one can instantly see Pound is speaking to an audience that includes America and her undesirable qualities. Hence, the negative connotation of the words "smug" and "uncomfortable". Although, the people that habitat in America are ignorant of the corrupt engagements going on in their country: "I have seen their smiles full of teeth". Pound thinks society could care less which is why they still go on in life acting pleasant. But Pound knows the truth about America which is why he has the illusion that he is better than everybody else in this country, given the line "And I am happier than you are". Basically, Pound addresses the Americans who are full of fake laughter and Pound gains a persona of righteousness. This short poem concludes only a small part of the unhinging that is happening within Pound's disabled mind. Soon after, Pound is declared legally insane after broadcasting anti-American propaganda in some European countries. Obviously, Pound has an attachment to America's society as reflected in the Salutation poem. Given the title itself, Pound is making a farewell to America's morals and standards. Luckily for Pound's readers, this is only one of many, many, many poems that represent this author's wonderful and depressing feelings toward America.

Why Ezra Pound, Why?

Because of Ezra Pound's declared insanity in 1945, he has forced me to declare insanity too. His poems often consist of inconstant ramblings about how America could be oh so perfect if poetry was taken more seriously. Pound had many economist theories. Funny, considering he was a very controversial POET, not an ECONOMIST. Yeah, makes total sense. Pound participated in both Imagism and Vorticism. Which, morally are completely different from one another. One is about how language should create a clear-cut example of art while the other is employed in abstract art. Just like his brain, Pound has no clue what to do. He wants to be everything, yet be absolutely nothing. This is killing me. How am I suppose to find common themes in his poetry when he is not consistent? It doesn't even say WHY he became crazy. So dead end there. Can I change my poet? I can't write a five page paper about Ezra Pound before I leave for Germany in 18 days. I would like to graduate, get a job, and be in my mid-50s when I become crazy, just like Ezra Pound, not when I'm 17 years old. *Note: this is just a rant, not an actual blog so please don't grade this because I can't afford anything under a B. Otherwise I'll loose my scholarship to college. I blame Ezra Pound for my current problems so just like Ezra Pound blamed America for his problems (maybe?). Who really knows for sure why he became crazy- crazy people don't have a sane basis for what they believe in. He was hardly a poet, definitely more of a critical analysis of other poets. HE COPIED SO MANY POEMS, THERE'S NO ORIGINALITY TO WRITE ABOUT. I should just write about Robert Browning instead since Pound paralleled so many of his literary techniques and imagery in Cantos. So yes, it's only been two hours of researching Ezra Pound and I hate him. The end.

The (Passive) Jungle

The use of pathos is extremely relevant in the infamous novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. As many people should know, the publishing of this book caused the United states government to create stricter rules for running a healthy and clean meat factory. Why? It was Sinclair's obvious appeal to make the readers feel emotion. In the historical story, Jurgis has just immigrated to Chicago with his family of twelve. Work is hard to find among the thousands of homeless people during this age. Yet, Jurgis is still full of energy, strength, and youth when he first arrives at the slaughter houses and therefore, easily finds an unskilled job as a day laborer with cheap wages. Before landing this "wonderful" job, Jurgis takes a tour of the meat factory- this is where the pathos argumentation appears. Sinclair's use of loaded images such as "The meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit." This inhumane and gruesome description is only a minuscule activity compared to the rest of the detailed explanation of the working conditions at the Chicago meat factory. Doesn't this statement just make one want to barf? The fact that rats are the least toxic thing being blended in with the meat, is a troublesome worry. Who knows what worse objects land in the mixture- poison? Lard? Pieces of human flesh? The list of possible bulk of contamination is infinite and just outright disgusting. There is seriously no surprise why the government had to create a healthier environment for the workers and for the production of meat. Personally, if I wasn't already a vegetarian, I would definitely become one after this. Even if I didn't buy from this specific Chicago meat market, what makes any of the other production markets any better? Especially considering the meat monopolies are competing with the top firms in the nation and must make a larger quantity for an increased profit. Sinclair's use of pathos in the novel is definitely a perfect case of argumentation that upturned my already bad view on meat production. So I'm sure these images had a profound affect on other citizens in the United States who have read the novel. Thus, this is truly a fundamental pathos work of literature.

What is Wrong with Society?

I just finished reading the famous short story called A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. Even though it was written and based in the 1930s, one can see all of the hypocrital gossip that is still in the modern world. Except, during this past decade, it is not nearly as bad as the current times. During this short story, the reader receives all of the information through the mouths of the neighbors: "Emily did this" *speculate* "Oh crap! She did this!" *speculate*. Yet, their imaginative educated guesses were never correct. Want to know why? Because they never heard from Emily's own mouth what was happening in EMILY's world. (Ironically, Faulkner's dry sense of humor shows up at the end of the story with an amusing cliffhanger.) Either way, the endless chattering of the noisy neighbors that kept inquiring about Emily's exclusive life, relentlessly annoyed me the entire eight pages. Probably because I find it very relative on a personal level. When I first transferred to St. Mark's in the middle of sophomore year, I did not expect this type of social atmosphere. See, I have always gone to public school since kindergarten, so at the time, a "Catholic" education was beyond my level of comprehension. As a transfer, I didn't have many friends at first, so I just sat around and listened to the conversations going on around me. Man, I was so disgusted. The nerve some of the kids had at this school, just put me into disbelief. They called themselves Christians, yet they did so many unholy things, that it became totally hypocritical. As I have just now realized, even though I might have thought they were the contradictions in the beginning, I was really the hypocrite at the end. I didn't know these strangers on any personal level; they might have misbehaved this way because they were going through their own troubling times. Who am I to judge? This is the epiphany I wished Emily's neighbors would have come to realize. Obviously, Emily knew they were slandering her actions, but she had the right mind to not saying anything. And for this, I respect her strong character. I just dislike the neighbors that didn't mind their own business. If I learned how to be more open-minded and not judge the kids at St. Mark's during this modern world, the neighbors from a century ago, could have grown up a little bit too.