Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"The Social Order" by Ezra Pound is a two-part poem that scrutinizes the hypocrisies and ironies inherent in social interactions and societal norms. This is a poem that holds up a mirror to the façades we maintain and questions the very notion of a 'social order.' It does so through vivid characters and situations that, despite their specificity, achieve universal resonance.

The first part introduces us to a government official who displays an affectation of charm when shaking hands with young ladies, despite being married to a woman "several years his senior." The age difference between him and his wife is pointed out, perhaps to highlight the official's pursuit of youth or to lay bare society's obsession with youthfulness and beauty. His "caressing air" seems a rehearsed, almost mechanical response that he uses to maintain appearances or fulfill societal expectations. It's a subtle yet scathing commentary on the duality of public lives, especially those who hold an office.

The second part, subtitled "POMPES FUNEBRES," introduces an elderly lady who was "so old that she was an atheist," presenting us with a character who has abandoned conventional belief systems. This part of the poem, loaded with satirical undertones, reveals how the old lady is ironically surrounded by religious symbols like candles and a crucifix after her death, despite her atheistic views. The detail that her nephew's second wife "makes hay with the things in her house" exposes the petty opportunism that often accompanies familial relations, and by extension, social interactions. Her two cats are sent ahead of her into "Avernus," a realm of the underworld, in a "chloroformed suttee," an allusion to the Hindu ritual where a widow would self-immolate on her husband's pyre. Here, Pound may be critiquing mindless adherence to rituals, whether they be religious or societal.

Perhaps the most poignant image is of the old lady's cats walking in the afterlife "with their tails up" and with "a plaintive, gentle mewing." The hope that they will do so is rooted in the bleak observation that the lady has left behind "no sound" on this earth, "save a squabble of female connections." This sums up the futile noise of social and familial squabbles that she leaves behind, casting a pall over the human interactions she had known.

Pound's poem not only serves as a satirical commentary on the artificialities and hypocrisies of social norms but also reveals the isolation and loneliness that often lurk behind the façades of respectability and social standing. It raises questions about the emotional and moral bankruptcy that may accompany adherence to a shallow 'social order.' The poem's two vignettes serve as microcosms of society at large, and their implications resonate far beyond the individual characters, compelling the reader to confront the unsettling complexities of the societies we navigate.

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