Text analysis
“The Garret”
by Ezra Pound, Lustra (1916)
Approaching Literary Genres p. 48
Millennium
The Garrett
Come, let us pity those who are better off than we are.
Come, my friend, and remember
that the rich have butlers and no friends,
And we have friends and no butlers.
Come, let us pity the married and the unmarried.
Dawn enters with little feet
like a gilded Pavlova
And I am near my desire.
Nor has life in it aught better
Than this hour of clear coolness
the hour of waking together.
FOCUS ON THE
MEANING
1.
The poem is built on a series of clear, distinct images. Stanza one contrasts the carefree life of those who
have no social privileges, but also no obligations, with that of the rich. Why should the poet and his friend
pity the rich?
• Because they have only servants (“butlers”) but no friends; all their life is based on money.
2. The poet – who is also young and in love – looks upon ordinary people with mild irony. Explain by quoting
from the poem.
•
With the expression “let us pity the married and the unmarried” the poet means that no one in the world
can be as happy as they are now.
3. The tone changes to lyrical in stanza 2 when Dawn enters the room with light steps. Which simile does Pound
employ to describe dawn? Is it common or not?
•
Dawn is compared to Anna Pavlova, a famous Russian ballet dancer of the late 19th and the early 20th
centuries. The simile here used is an unusual one, typical of Pound’s attitude to mix the human and the natural.
The common traits are the little feet, that symbolise gentleness and grace, and the gilded colour.
4.
Why is the poet happy?
•
Because he is waking next to his lover (l.11) and he is near his desire (l.8)
5.
•
What is the most valuable richness in life according to the poet?
Friendship and love. They are contrasted with richness.
FOCUS ON RHETORICAL
PATTERNS
6.
You will have probably noticed that the poem has no rhyme and no fixed number of syllables. What
would you call this form of poetry.
•
It is called free verse.
7.
•
8.
Highlight in red one more example of anaphora.
And (ll.4, 8)
Describe the chiasmus highlighted in green (if you can’t, have a look at text 10).
• The chiasmus “have butlers and no friends” / “have friends and no butlers” is used here to stress the anthitesis between
“friends” and “butlers”. The rich have only servants (“butlers”) but no friends , while lovers have friends but no servants (i.e
money).
9.
•
Stanza 1 is also characterized by the use of the consonance /m/. Underline more examples.
“my”, “remember”, (l 2), “married”, “unmarried” (l.5)
10.
•
•
Highlight in blue one more enjambement.
Why is “clear coolness” a synesthesia ? Which different senses are involved in the same image?
Underline in the second stanza the consonance with the sound /n/.
Another enjambement is in ll. 9-10
“Nor has life in it aught better / Than this hour of clear coolness”. The effect thus obtained is one of extreme
fluidity even in absence of rhyme;
•
“clear coolness” is a synesthesia because two different senses are involved in the same image: sight
(“clear”) and “touch” (coolness);
•
It is possible to detect a consonance with the sound /n/ in the second stanza in the following words:
Dawn, enters, near, Nor, Than, coolness, waking.