Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Ezra Pound's "Phyllidula" presents a terse yet thought-provoking look at a character whose very name suggests something diminutive or incomplete. Pound captures in a mere six lines a complex portrait of desire, divine justice, and human agency. Here, Phyllidula is described as "scrawny but amorous," embodying a paradox between physical frailty and emotional or sexual vitality. In just these few words, Pound presents a figure who defies societal expectations of beauty or propriety, and who yet is deeply connected to the sphere of love and desire.

The line, "Thus have the gods awarded her," implicates a divine or cosmic scale of justice. Pound is seemingly deliberating on the notion of fate or predestination, attributing Phyllidula's condition to a higher cosmic order. However, it's an order that doesn't necessarily abide by human judgments of fairness or equity. In a traditional sense, receiving more pleasure than one can give might be considered greedy or unwarranted. However, in the divine logic of the poem, this imbalance is not merely accepted but endorsed.

The final lines of the poem introduce a sense of agency and freedom on the part of Phyllidula. "If she does not count this blessed / Let her change her religion." This is a rather provocative suggestion. It challenges Phyllidula-and by extension, the reader-to reconsider what we deem to be 'blessed' conditions of existence. If we're unable to find happiness or sanctity in the conditions that fate, or the gods, have bestowed upon us, then the poem suggests we have the power, even the obligation, to change our perspective-symbolized here as "religion."

In its brevity, "Phyllidula" encapsulates complex issues relating to destiny, agency, and personal satisfaction. Pound manages to present these heavy themes with a light touch, employing wit and irony to provoke thought rather than dictate a moral stance. He challenges us to question our own preconceptions about what we consider 'fair' or 'blessed,' and in doing so, offers a kind of liberation. The poem encourages embracing one's fate while also actively interpreting what that fate means, suggesting that the power to define our own blessings or curses ultimately lies within us. It is a remarkable feat for a poem of such concision to open up such a broad range of philosophical and ethical considerations.

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