Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Famam Librosque Cano" by Ezra Pound presents an introspective exploration of the legacy that a poet leaves behind through his work. This poem contrasts two kinds of audiences: the immediate, innocent audience of "little mothers" and "little rabbit folk" and the future audience represented by a "scrawny, be-spectacled" man. The piece functions as a dialogue between the two different perceptions of artistic legacy, probing the value of both immediate impact and long-term remembrance.

The opening lines delve into the immediate, childlike audience who enjoy the speaker's songs. Their world is one of twilight, dawn, and the simple joys and "serious child business" of pulling on shoes. It's an audience that engages with the poetry in a direct and visceral way. Here, the 'tale' of the song's life is one that goes hand in hand with the cyclical rhythms of nature and human experience. The songs enter into the everyday lives of children, acquiring an intimate, domestic quality.

The second part of the poem shifts dramatically to envision the audience of the future. This audience is no longer innocent or childlike but is instead a down-and-out man with "tobacco ashes scattered on his coat," picking a "ragged, backless copy" of the poet's work from a stall. In this imagined future, the poet's work is not widely known; it's almost an archaeological artifact. The speaker seems to say that the worth of a book is determined by those who read it, and this reader, disheveled and marginalized, becomes the interpreter of the poet's legacy. He analyzes "form and thought" to understand why the poet escaped "immortality," implying a degree of neglect or obscurity.

Pound seems to suggest that both these audiences are essential in defining the worth and longevity of a poet's work. The immediate audience brings the work into the fabric of everyday life, embedding it in the collective memory. Meanwhile, the future audience, represented by an almost pathetic figure, brings a critical, analytical eye, raising questions about the poem's artistic merit and historical value. This dual audience serves as a humbling reminder that while poetry can become a part of daily rituals and familial memories, it can also fade into obscurity, left to be pondered by those who stumble upon it by chance.

The poem itself becomes an exercise in meta-poetry, contemplating the life span of songs and poems, including possibly the very one we're reading. Pound seems to acknowledge the transient nature of fame and the unpredictability of how work will be received and remembered. In doing so, he sets up an open-ended question about the nature of artistic legacy, offering no easy answers but a nuanced tableau of possibilities. The poem serves as both a critique and a reconciliation of these varying forms of legacy, acknowledging their roles in the complex interplay between art and time

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...