Canto 1 (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Ezra Pound
- First Published: 1925
- Type of Work: Poetic sequence
- Genres: Free verse, Poetry, Epic, Lyric sequence
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, Ghosts or apparitions, Legends, Gods or goddesses, Heroes or heroism, Prophecy or prophets, Greece or Greek people
The Poem
Canto 1 is the first poem in a long sequence of 120 cantos making up what the poet, Ezra Pound, conceived of as a twentieth century epic. Pound worked on the Cantos for nearly fifty years, weaving scores of subjects and themes into the longest important poetic work of the modern era. When he set out on his poetic odyssey, Pound conceived of his poem as a modern version of Dante’s The Divine Comedy (c.1320); his intention was to mirror Dante’s epic organization into “inferno,” “purgatory,” and “heaven.” Pound, following Dante, called the...
[The entire page is 1551 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
