A Comparative Study of Ezra Pound's Cantos on the domain of symbolism and W. B. Yeats's occultism through A Vision

Ayşe Güvel

doi:10.47577/tssj.v20i1.3506

Abstract

The Cantos by Ezra Pound serves in a quintessential way to focus on the Modernist idea of literature. By defining the Modernist movement, it is emphasized in what aspects this movement penetrates the monumental poem, The Cantos. Alongside showing a sequence as to how modernism was formed and developed in time, the research provides a deeper understanding through Ezra Pound’s modernist perception and W. B. Yeats’s occultism over his work of art, A Vision. Pound’s epic poem, The Cantos and Yeats’s unique work, A Vision fulfill the need of a literary satiation in The Modernist period. By juxtaposing The Cantos and Yeats’s occultist perspective, the research probes the extent that the two works create a literary escapism, which attempts to balance the sanctity of human sanity. In the Modernist period, the period of picturing the frustration of the First World War, the interrelation of these works of art turns out a reflection of a literary recuperation from the cataclysm led by The Modernist world.

Highlights

As 19th and 20th centuries witnessed great catastrophes, disasters, and wars, the literature these centuries became a mirror in which the desperate and fallen men’s dreams vanished
According to Pericles Lewis (2007), considering the fact that Modernism come out as a reaction to the frustration of the First World War, it continually sought a new angle of literary history to rescue civilization in the chaotic period
As Modernism became a label for ideas that struggled with the challenges of the day, the expression of history was demarcated by the Modernists including T

Summary

Introduction

As 19th and 20th centuries witnessed great catastrophes, disasters, and wars, the literature these centuries became a mirror in which the desperate and fallen men’s dreams vanished. B. Yeats’s A Vision fill the void left by the Modernist world. In presenting the Modernist period, the research provides an answer why occultism is crucial to Yeats’s poetry and The Cantos. Modernism began to be cultivated shortly after the First World War in the late 1920s. After the First World War, people began to question the reasons of the turmoil and major upheavals of the day. According to Pericles Lewis (2007), considering the fact that Modernism come out as a reaction to the frustration of the First World War, it continually sought a new angle of literary history to rescue civilization in the chaotic period. As Modernism became a label for ideas that struggled with the challenges of the day, the expression of history was demarcated by the Modernists including T.

Objectives

Conclusion