An Immorality by Ezra Pound - analysis and interpretation.

Analysis, Interpretation and Summary of Ezra Pound's poem An Immorality

 "An Immorality"

 

Sing we for love and idleness,

Naught else is worth the having.

 

Though I have been in many a land,

There is naught else in living.

 

And I would rather have my sweet,

Though rose-leaves die of grieving,

 

Than do high deeds in Hungary

To pass all men's believing.

 

Critical Analysis:

To unlock the hidden meaning of the poem we need to understand the narrative framing of this poem. It seems that there are two narrators in this poem. The first narrator is the author himself who gives the title “An Immorality” to the poem. This title further reveals that what follows after the title is considered immoral by the poet, Ezra Pound. The second narrator is the one who sings the song of “love and idleness”. He is of the opinion that there is nothing worth to live for, only “love and idleness” are worth living. The narrator claims that he has traveled around the world and he has experienced that everything is fickle; only love, idleness and peace are something that people enjoy without any boredom, "Though I have been in many a land,/There is naught else in living." He claims that he will have his beloved and would enjoy love, rather than participating in any war or bringing about high deeds. He simply wants to enjoy life and avoid war and conflicts. He does not need appreciation from anyone.


 Whatever the speaker is saying, the poet or the first narrator is against him. He is against the ideals of the speaker that is why he is calling his song “An immorality”. This title is significant in a sense that it highlights the anti-liberal and anti-semetic opinions of the first narrator (Ezra Pound). The poet is preferring war over love and enjoyment . Participating in war is moral and ethical for the first narrator while love, peace and idleness is immoral for him.  The line “Than do high deeds in Hungary '' is referenced towards the conflict with Jews living in Hungary over language. This highlights his anti-semetic views. The tone of this poem is optimistic and the writer has used slant rhyming technique, in which each word of the second verse of each couplet has identical rhyming sounds. Having, living , grieving, and believing are the examples of slant rhymes. 

Comments

  1. UnknownJune 1, 2022 at 8:00 AM

    T"hough rose-leaves die of grieving" - this is poetry? who is interested in rose leaves? and do they dier of grieving?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Abdullah SaifMay 29, 2024 at 12:06 PM

      Yes, this is poetry. That is what narrator is saying that he will have his beloved.

      Delete
  2. Abdullah SaifJune 2, 2022 at 2:00 AM

    These lines are symbolic the poet is actually talking about soldiers dieing in war.

    ReplyDelete

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