Cantos (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: Ezra Pound
- Type of Work: Epic Poetry
- Genres: Free verse, Poetry, Epic, Lyric sequence
- Subjects: Culture, Jews or Jewish life, Anti-Semitism, Greed, Money, Capitalism, Jews and Gentiles, Banks, bankers, or banking, Fascism, Anglo-Saxons
The above summary somewhat begs the central question regarding the Cantos because many ask whether it has any central message or overarching form at all. This is partly due to its serial creation over 50 years of Pound’s life, and partly because it is the epitome of the modernist poetic style of allusion (often arcane or private), juxtaposition, fragmentation, and the like.
Whatever else it is, the Cantos is a poem that centers on history--the history of Europe, of the East, of America, and, mixed in throughout, Pound’s own personal history. One interpretation...
[The entire page is 520 words long]
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- The Cantos (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
See Also:
Canto 1 (Poetry)Canto 4 (Poetry)Canto 29 (Poetry)Canto 49 (Poetry)Canto 74 (Poetry)Canto 81 (Poetry)Canto 116 (Poetry)
See Also:
- - The Cantos summary and study guide in the eNotes.
- Add The Cantos to your favorites