Big Cats
Pound was always a really big fan of the big cats: tigers, panthers, lynxes—you name it. And one of the reasons he likes big cats so much is because they're traditionally associated with Dionysiu...
Human Beauty
Whether it's the beautiful Helen of Troy, the nymph named Tyro, or the little boy-god Dionysius, examples of human beauty pop up throughout "Canto II," and they always seem to lead to some sort of...
Sea Birds
It's easy to miss the way that Pound repeatedly mentions sea birds in "Canto II." That's probably because they don't play any direct role in the action. Instead, they seem to be these weird witness...
The Sea
A good portion of the poem takes place on, near, or under the sea. The sea is a lot of things here: a threat, a means of transport, but, most importantly, it's a source of beauty. Go back and check...
Gods
Dionysius, Poseidon, Lir, Proteus—"Canto II" definitely has its share of gods. And what all of these gods seem to have in common is the way Pound uses them to make the history of western art a mo...