"These Fought in Any Case" by Ezra Pound
These fought in any case,
and some believing
pro domo, in any case ..... Died some, pro patria,
walked eye-deep in hell
believing in old men's lies, then unbelieving
came home, home to a lie,
home to many deceits,
home to old lies and new infamy;
usury age-old and age-thick
and liars in public places.
Daring as never before, wastage as never before.
Young blood and high blood,
fair cheeks, and fine bodies;
fortitude as never before
frankness as never before,
disillusions as never told in the old days,
hysterias, trench confessions,
laughter out of dead bellies.
Analysis: Pound utilizes caesura to emphasis the significance of each line in the poem. Each line describes how the poet feels about the aftermath of world war one. Lines of particular importance end with "as never before", and alludes to the kind of violence and bravery that has no precedent in history. Pound describes two things simultaneously, the sacrifice and horror that defines the troops and the lies and violence inclined leaders who started the war. The lines dedicated to the troops consist of the experiences of those at war:"walked eye-deep in hell", "fortitude as never before" and "laughter out of dead bellies". Ezra pound also uses an allusion to reference Dulce et Decorum est by Wilfred Owen in 1917 condemning world war one. She sites the line "Died some, pro patria", from his work.
Imagist poem
ReplyDeleteThis poem gives me the feeling that the speaker did not support the war, which makes me wonder if it is refering to the Viewtnam War rather than WWII. I know that Vietnam was largely unsupported by the populace, and that the reasons to go into it were partially ficticious. This would explain the line that says the soldiers were "believing in old men's lies", if the old men were the political powers at the time. Furthermore, the speaker asserts that there are "liars in public places", so this furthers the idea of mistrust of government.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker notes how the soldiers unknowingly went off to experience the treacheries of war going, “eye-deep in hell,” for they were tricked into believing “old men’s lies” that they were honorably fighting “pro domo” and “pro patria.” However, the places they came back to were no better then when they left them as they “came home to a lie” and “many deceits.”
ReplyDeleteWhile it is possible that Pound refers to Vietnam War, I find it more apt for him to be referring to World War I because of the word “trench” when referring to confessions as trench warfare was common in World War I. Despite this, the Pound’s message is that young and old are pointlessly tossed into war, dying for what they believe is a just cause, but merely one conceived by the “liars in public places” who are the politicians and world leaders.
I thought that this poem has apocalyptic end. I agree with Dimitri in that this poem is directed at how the young and old are wrapped in war because of the usage of descriptions such as “Young Blood” and “Fair Cheek”. But then the speaker talks about “liars in public places” otherwise known as the politicians. It is ironic that in his vision the young and old have the most passion but the middle aged are the ones who are in power. It is the cry of dead people that condemns civilization to savagery. Dimitri appears to be right about the trenches and how it is relevant to the First World War. According to her bibliography she would have been middle-aged at that time. This middle-aged attitude could be a reason why she looks to the young and old in the mists of war.
ReplyDeleteClearly this poem is woven with very subtle but at once profound political and cultural redirect and stigma. WHile i could see Jared's analysis as somewhat true, there are plenty of old people in politics and policy making so i really don't buy the whole middle-aged conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dimitri this poem clearly refers to WW1 opposed to the vietnam war. WHile the vietnam war was extremely unpopular in America, WW1(at least at the time) did not experience the same national negative sentiment. Nevertheless though it is clear that the author thinks extremely poorly of the war and its adverse effects.
I would also like to thank Dimitri for pointing out how the "places they came back to were no better then when they left them as" i didnt realize that when initially reading the poem and find it quite interesting.
The author in this poem or the point of view he is writing from is annoyance with the casualties of war and all that goes along with it. There are many different types of people that are thrown into warfare, including people with "fair cheeks and fine bodies". It makes me wonder whether Ezra is a war veteran himself, and that is why he is so put-off by the war. I picture the speaker as monotone, because there is no passionate hatred or love for the war or any type of energy for that matter, just a simple displeasure. The soldiers are "believing in old men's lies" because of the politicians that tell them there is reason for war and reason to shoot, but once they are thrown into the chaos of it all and see the truths they "then [are] unbelieving". The soldiers are "daring as never before" because in reality they are not crazed and told to shoot their enemies. The ending seems very dark, specifically because "laughter" cannot come from "dead bellies". I have not seen many poems out there that actually support war, so this seems typical.
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