An Ecocritical Approach To The Cantos

Ezra Pound's The Cantos is studied from ecological approach in this paper. It demonstrates that at the beginning of the 20th century, long before the public woke up to the worldwide ecological crisis, Pound, a poet in modernist era, is fully aware that the ecological crisis in nature is the crisis of human civilization, human nature and creation. Therefore, the crisis of spiritual ecology, social ecology, and natural ecology are closely interrelated. In the epic, Pound presents us a world totally out of ecological balance, and he also depicts an ecological paradise where human beings can live harmoniously with nature and enjoy blessed lives.The paper begins with the emergence of Pound's ecological thinking. It includes the analysis of the degeneration of the Western civilization, the ecological legacy of the western society and Pound's passion for Confucianism.Then it focuses on Pound's attitude towards nature. Through textual analysis of the epic, we find that Pound has formed systematic views about relationship between Nature and human beings. He believes Nature has its own process. It should be respected instead of being exploited. Anyone who tries to break the laws of nature is doomed to be punished. Besides his views about nature, the paper also focuses on his conception of "paradise". In the epic, He has formed explicit views about ideal society. Only when people live in harmony with the nature and pursue the Confucian Humanism and Buddhist equalism among people, in other words, to pursue the ecological balance in the society, can people enjoy a happy and blessing life.Lastly, The paper also analyzes his anti-semitism. His anti-semitism makes him a controversial figure in American literary history of the twentieth century. Due to his zealous pursuit of ideal society and strong hatred against usury, his ecological thinking leads to extreme and becomes a propagandist of fascism. But his real intention is to oppose exploitation and build a harmonious and equal society.In the context of the degeneration of the world's ecological situation, to study the epic through ecocriticism has its great significance: On the one hand, through textual analysis, we can find the ultimate home of human beings he reveals in his epic is a harmonious world where all people and creatures coexist harmoniously in nature. In ecological sense, it's an ecological balance on which we all depend for sustainable development. Most of his ideas are identified with contemporary ecocritics. . His epic is also a warning to the contemporary ecological problem and a possible diagnosis to it. On the other hand, Ezra Pound is one of the most important American poets of 20th century. His main work, "The Cantos", composed during more than 50 years of a life devoted to poetry, is so full of symbolism and hidden meanings that since his death, in 1972, critics are wondering about the real objective of his vast work.. Through studying it under the ecological perspective, we can more clearly comprehend the profound theme of the epic—His pursuit of the earthly paradise and his disappointment with the reality.