Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"IMPRESSIONS OF FRANCOIS-MARIE AROUET (DE VOLTAIRE)" by Ezra Pound offers a compelling triptych of moments-each a vignette that encapsulates the essence of an interaction, feeling, or circumstance. Pound, known for his experiments with form and intricate layering of themes, illustrates here different facets of desire, love, and loss as they are experienced across the arc of human life.

The first section, "Phyllidula and the Spoils of Gouvernet," is imbued with a sense of melancholy and loss. It speaks to the idea that luxury and wealth may not necessarily bring happiness, touching on the universal theme of the impermanence of material satisfaction. "Where, Lady, are the days," asks the speaker, harking back to a time when life was simpler and perhaps more meaningful. The cataloging of possessions-"carpets from Savonnier," "plates from Germain," and "the lustre of diamonds"-serves to emphasize the void that these material things can sometimes be used to fill. The repeated "Etcetera, etcetera, and etcetera" points to the endless pursuit of materialism, a cycle that is seldom fulfilling in the way emotional or spiritual pursuits might be.

The second section, "To Madame du Chatelet," delves into the pangs of lost love and the inexorable passage of time. The speaker demands the impossible, "Will you give me dawn light at evening?" highlighting the unattainable desire to reclaim past emotions and experiences. The segment becomes a lament for lost time and for the impossibility of turning back the clock to a moment when love was new, vital, and rich with potential. "Time has driven me out from the fine plaisaunces," says the speaker, asserting that time not only erodes love but also expels us from those sacred spaces where love once blossomed. The phrase "The other is little beside it," is particularly poignant, emphasizing that the cessation of the capacity to love and be loved is the truest form of death.

Finally, in the third section, "To Madame Lullin," the poem grapples with the persistence of desire and creative impulse even in old age. Despite the speaker being an "old man of eighty," he continues to write verses, suggesting that the need to express oneself, to love, and to engage with life persists even as one ages. The line "Grass showing under the snow, / Birds singing late in the year!" emphasizes the idea that the vitality of life can be found even in unexpected places and times. The segment becomes a meditation on legacy and the persistence of memory and emotion, as exemplified by the allusion to Tibullus and his Latin verse, "Delia, I would look on you, dying."

Each section of the poem serves as a snapshot, capturing the complexities and contradictions inherent in our relationships with love, time, and materiality. Pound uses these sketches to evoke the broad spectrum of human experience, illustrating how these themes remain vital at every stage of life, from the naivety and impulsiveness of youth to the reflective melancholy of old age.

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