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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE COMING OF WAR: ACTAEON by EZRA POUND

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: AN IMAGE OF LETHE
Last Line: THE SILENT CORTEGE.
Subject(s): WAR;

An image of Lethe,
and the fields
Full of faint light
but golden,
Gray cliffs,
and beneath them
A sea
Harsher than granite,
unstill, never ceasing;
High forms
with the movement of gods,
Perilous aspect;
And one said:
"This is Actaeon."
Actaeon of golden greaves!
Over fair meadows,
Over the cool face of that field,
Unstill, ever moving
Hosts of an ancient people,
The silent cortege.



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