CANTOS XXVIII-XXX

It is increasingly difficult to make the fragment of this long poem complete each in itself and would they be entirely so, they would be wrong for their purpose as parts. I have no desire either for needless mystery or for writing equally needless explanations. In the case of the present three cantos, I believe the thoughtful reader, if he will take the risk of guessing their probable function in the poem as a whole, will probably guess right. If he is unwilling to hazard such guess, he may as well go back and read Tennyson.

The two lines of provençal in Canto XXIX are from a poem of Sordello’s.

Ezra Pound. Note to Cantos  XXVIII-XXX. [1930]. P&P V: 203.

Note on colours in the table above: violet for active links to the companion page of a canto; green for active links to full-text canto with glosses.