Jen Tessie Cahn

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Devoured and Inheriting

After doing some more research on the poem "The Garden" by Ezra pound I came to find that it may have been a reaction to the poem Au Jardin De L'Infante by Samain (the author of the opening line). And it was written as a reaction to the end of WWII and the rise of fascism.
Fascism being a group that believes there is power in unity and seems to welcome the combining of class, races, political parties etc. it is interesting that the poem seems to depict an upper class woman being eaten away little by little as a "piecemeal" and lacking vitality because of "emotional anemia". This may be a picture of the lowering of the upper class. Some have even said that the "skein of silk" represents the American flag - interesting shift in perspective.
Then the very next paragraph depicts the strength of the poor as they inherit the earth. If this is a picture of the lower class rising up - are they going to meet in the middle in unity? Further more, we see that the last stanza depicts a women who longs for social connection, unity, but is afraid of it. Does this mean that she is in favor of fascism yet scared of whether or not it would prove successful.
Overall, I don't know if this is necessarily the correct interpretation or if it can just be accepted as one of many meaning. However, I did find it interesting that the poet may be reacting as an American to the political happens as a direct cause for WWII. This really does bring a whole new light to the poem and can completely transform how a reader visualizes the different analogies and similes throughout the poem.

1 Comments:

Blogger Alex Thermenos said...

"I don't know if this is necessarily the correct interpretation..."
Whether this is or not, I'm impressed with your experimental theorizing here. That was bold of you to put an uncertain, somewhat original idea out here for us all to see. Good job.

December 7, 2009 at 6:34 PM  

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