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Ezra Pound

Decent Essays

Nathan Hubschman
Nathan Hubschman

Ezra Pound Response: “The Tree” by Ezra Pound is about how Pound identifies with the tree-like state in which the nymph, Daphne, of Greek myth finds herself in order to escape Apollo. Pound begins the poem explaining how he was a “tree amid the wood” meaning a changed being amid a familiar yet under-perceived environment. He likens this form to the myth of Apollo who chases Daphne until she asks the god, Peneus, to change her into a tree. Even though she is transformed into a “laurel”, which happens to be the Greek word for Daphne, Apollo is still able to recognize her by the inner-beauty of the tree before him. He then claims the tree as his own, just as he would if Daphne was still in her nymph …show more content…

The first and last identical lines are, “The eyes of this dead lady speak to me.” This repetition makes me believe that he did not know who the lady was, but he feels a haunting connection to her somehow. Pound recognizes a passion in the woman that is so strong, it is conveyed even from a two-dimensional image of her. This must have meant that she moves Pound in a way he has experienced before. His desire to feel this emotion again is no less just because she is dead. By repeating the first line at the end of the poem, Pound drives home the strength of his feeling for the woman considering that the entire poem is only four lines in total. The title does not give much away about the poem except that it is about a picture. Nevertheless, it does tell that the picture means something to Pound because he titled it “The Picture”, not “A Picture” which would probably be about pictures in general. Ezra Pound reveals his emotional side in this poem and demonstrates his passion and perception of unspoken language. Ezra Pound explains his view on marriage in his poem, “The Altar”. He says in the first line “Let us build here an exquisite friendship.” The exquisite friendship is a symbol for marriage and the altar is the place where that marriage begins. He goes on to call it “a place of wonder”, because it is the place where the everlasting bond is consecrated. The altar is holy ground where God makes two people’s love for

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