Canto 4 (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Ezra Pound
- First Published: 1919
- Type of Work: Poetic sequence
- Genres: Free verse, Poetry, Epic, Lyric sequence
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, France or French people, Murder or homicide, Europe or Europeans, Rape, War, Greek or Roman times, China or Chinese people, Greece or Greek people, Cities or towns, Exploration or explorers
The Poem
Canto 4 is one of the 117 cantos, or divisions, that make up Ezra Pound’s sequence the Cantos, one of the major poetic works of the twentieth century. In Canto 4 Ezra Pound introduces the main factors that promote civilizations: urbanization, writing, and religious worship. He describes the ancient city of Troy sacked and destroyed by the victorious Greeks, its palace “in smoky light,” the city “a heap of smouldering boundary stones.” Then he speaks of Cadmus, the Phoenician trader who founded the city of Thebes. Cadmus gave the Phoenician alphabet to...
[The entire page is 1956 words long]
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