Plutarch's Eleusinian Rites (XX)

Notes

High epopte at the beginning. Pound is using non-English language so we can’t trust our model to treat the content well, nor of course does our model have any notion of reference, but the song of love is clear — one can almost assume it in Provençal — and we might happily discern this stanza as epoptic. More via The Cantos Project.

First Region

This is a successful reading. The dromena covers an expanse of confusion and unknowing, where Pound and Levy both wonder about the meaning of the Provençal “noigandres.” The epopte covers a region of “green” language; the tone of the poem shifts and our regions amplify it.

Be it by chance, or credit to the change in language, our pivot is actually significant. The first line of the epopte, line 34, “‟Noigandres, eh, noigandres,” contains an epiphany. Pound lays the grunt, the sound of conjecture “eh” right before the troubling word “noigandres.” This is a subtle moment of realisation, and the first occurance of the answer to the question. Noigandres is a form of d’enoi ganres, or “free from boredom.” Pound puts this translation onto the page later, in line 42, “And never tired of being there,” before making it clear in line 49. But the genesis of this knowledge lies in line 34, “eh, noi...” gives “enoi”.

Our measurements and region identification for this experiment have given us an insight into The Cantos. Though we have not discovered an initiator of the order of a near-death experience, we do have some kind of initiation, some moment of epiphany. I would say, then, that the “green” language, as indicative of paradise, is very closely linked to Pound’s pleasure in learning. This is a beautiful passage and there is much to say about smell, sight, and perception, but I will limit my comment to what I perceive as the pleasure Pound takes in learning, loudest in:

By the clear edge of the rocks
The water runs

Second Region

Amazingly the peak of dromena in line 77, ‟Tan mare fustes!”, is measured 0.99 in frustration. I don’t know why or how, but it’s a good result (translates as “You came at a bad moment”).

Lines 87 and 88 measure very highly (above 0.8 or 0.9) in divine, sacred, religious respect and grace, magic moment, sacred, divine respectively. Well there might be a magic moment, but these aren’t quite right...

In fact the dromena might be extended to the beginning of this stanza and then continue till the third region’s epopte.

Third Region

Instead of responding to the Canto here, we should notice that the values for dromena in the dromenic region are very low, and this indicates another flaw in our region identification algorithm. The epopte is however confident, and should continue across the fourth region’s dromena. Around l.96 we have the change from dromena to epopte across this stanza.

Fourth Region

Epopte dips at around l.133, “On toward the fall of water;” Generally this sequence is epoptic, it’s lucid if not psychedelic, and Pound is very clear/apparent here as he looks back over The Cantos so far. The cataract, l.134 and later l.145, seems to be a reservation of Pound’s; but my conjecture is currently highly subjective.

Fifth Region

Firstly the graph for this identification is very strong; a long and high dromena followed by a long and high epopte. This is the only other region identified by this experiment that has 14 lines of dromena and 14 lines of epopte. (There was a prior region of this length identified using the smaller set of labels — see Plutarch's Eleusinian Rites — it was Canto XVIII (δ = 72..87, ε = 88..102) and was lost in this run.)

The dromena covers a passage where Odysseus’s dead crewmates are complaining of his behaviour. (Or rather some party are making a complaint on their behalf, in the third person.) Dromena is valid here, and a tough read since Odysseus is a hero of The Cantos. The next stanza, partly identified as epoptic, is full of “green” language, and talks of beasts and “suave turf.” It is clear (to anyone who has read Fugue and Fresco) that we have entered a Triumph from the Schifanoia Frescoes; a divine and thus epoptic scene. If it were not for a small inversion of dromena and epopte around line 210 (ll.207-210 measure highly in difficult), our epopte might extend towards the end of the Canto. The higher dromena readings there are invalid & could be corrected.

The last line of the dromena (and stanza) is Greek, “Ligur’ aoide.” which was previously used in the first stanza of this Canto and is Homer’s description of the sirens’ song. Pound translates the line as “song with an edge on it” (The Cantos Project). If viewed under the guise of Plutarch’s Eleusinian Rites, as an initiator, we might read into this line as conclusive of a dromena and granting epopte, for the complaint laid out over Odysseus would have even been trouble to Pound who heralds Odysseus. Associated with the sirens, the line speaks to the enchanting nature of song (its standard translation is “clear-toned song”). Associated with the first stanza, the line drops the doom associated with the sirens and joins with the beauty of Provençal fin’amor. Thus sufficiently charged, the line takes on a final meaning in its conclusion of the complaint, not only shining a light on the critical capabilities of song (“the edge on it”), but enhancing the political ability of song and the song’s capacity to make change. Within this Canto which, as I read it, sees Pound reflecting on his work so far, the line becomes a consolation for any damage done and a cause to keep going with the poem. It is, in a sense, an initiator; Pound realises again the purpose of his art, and its capacity to fulfill its purpose.

Further Notes

The start of Canto XXI supports the reflective nature of Canto XX. In the first line, “Where are we?” suggests the poet is getting his bearings having paused, and means to continue. The last lines of Canto XX and the first lines of XXI appear as if the poet is waking from a dream; apt for XX’s use of “reclining.” “Where are we?” joins this discombobulation. The charge of language provides us with multiple narratives.