A PACT (Hermeneutic Analysis)

A Pact

by Ezra Loomis Pound

(Hermeneutic Analysis)

If we take a look to this poem, we will find it interesting. The way Pound delivers his thoughts really pulls us to know more about what this is all about. We first take a glance and try to understand the meaning in the surface. After that we must take a further step to understand the meaning deeper. Hermeneutic deals with text interpretations. This poem grabs our attention because of its content. We consider that Pound mentioned Walt Whitman. This is probably the main puzzle that we must solve.

Through the heuristic reading we may find that this poem tells about a man who finally makes a truce with someone he hates. He finally accepts the fact that they must kill off their conflict or problem. However, the question is, we can’t find the problem they were involved in. We don’t know why Pound didn’t like Whitman in the beginning. This is why we must look for the cause, searching deep down into the history or the origin of Pound’s thought towards Whitman.

We may begin with the title A Pact, and then there must be a question in our mind “What kind of pact?”. Another question will come up when we read the line: I make truce with you, Walt Whitman. “What kind of truce?” “What happens with Walt Whitman?” By knowing the background, history, or the origin that caused Pound to write this poem, we will find the real meaning of this poem.

In his essay What I Feel about Walt Whitman, his statement “He is disgusting. He is an exceedingly nauseating pill, but he accomplished his mission” indicates how much he did hate Whitman. Pound didn’t like Whitman’s thought about creating the new tradition of America. Below is what Pound wrote about Whitman’s modern thought:

“Entirely free from the renaissance humanist ideal of the complete man or from the Greek idealism, he is content to be what he is, and he is his time and his people. He is a genius because he has vision of what he is and of his function. He knows that he is a beginning and not a classically finished work”

It seems that Pound felt intimidating with Whitman’s talent and works. I may assume that this hatred feeling was laid on Pound when he was young, as a kid. Related to his line:

I have detested you long enough

I come to you as a grown child

He had been felt disgusted with Whitman for a long time. The next line he explains himself as a grown child. The use of grown child here is to explain to the readers that Pound had grown up. His will to have a truce and to kill off his hatred came from the bottom of his heart. ‘grown child’ indicates that people are growing into the maturity. He wasn’t a kind anymore. His thought and point of view could be more realistic and mature. That’s why he finally realized that disliking Whitman was only an unstable childish thing.

Who has had a pig-headed father;

It seems that Pound portrays Whitman as his father, but it’s not clear enough what kind of father it is. I may assume that what he meant is father of poem. As Whitman’s works totally intimidated him, he felt some kind of pressure towards Whitman. Pig-headed is defined as a stubborn head. At first, I thought he was telling about his real father, but it seems that father here refers to Whitman. Pound treats him as an elderly, his senior, and also his fore father.

I am old enough now to make friends.

It’s the continuous explanation of his previous line of grown child. As a grown child, a person must feel mature or old enough to do what he wants to do. He can now define what’s wrong and what’s right. This part explains the willingness of Pound to make friends with Whitman. He thought that it was the time to finally be friends with the one whom he had disliked before.

It was you that broke the new wood,

Now is a time for carving.

It refers to the role of Whitman as an American poet. It indicates the willingness of Pound to continue what Whitman has started. Whitman provides him with a new ‘wood’ and now it’s time for him to carve it. As Whitman has been already died, Pound is willing to ‘carve’ Whitman’s wood. ‘It was you’ indicates the self appointment. When we read it, we can imagine someone appoint his finger to us. This kind of feeling is like we are to take all the blame or we are to start something wrong. Just like what this poem tells about, this part shows us that Pound has already opened his mind and made a truce with Whitman. He has finally accepted Whitman’s works. Whitman was the one who broke the wood by making a vision that Pound couldn’t accept. That’s why their relationship is not good. Pound wants to carve the broken wood into a beautiful wood carving. In the other word, he wants to fix the broken relationship between them.

 The next lines explain the connection between him and Whitman who have the same ‘blood’ or probably ancestors.

We have one sap and one root –

Let there be commerce between us.

‘sap’ and ‘one root’ belong to biology term. Sap and root are the part of the plant. If we think about the sap in the plant, it’s the same meaning with ‘blood’ in our human body. The roof itself can be interpreted as the origin of both Pound and Whitman. Once again we must take a look into the history. It seems that both of them have the same origins and ancestors. At least it’s all what I got so far. Because of this reason, Pound finally made a truce or pact with Whitman. If I may say it through informal words, it’s like “Let’s finish it and be friends”. ‘commerce’ means ‘start’. In this case is the start of being friends and throwing away the hatred.

The use of historical background in this poem is very useful. Without reading What I Feel about Walt Whitman, we probably can’t understand the real meaning of this poem. Besides, this poem requires the explanation about the feeling of Pound towards Whitman, which we can’t find only by interpreting and reading it in the surface because we will find the literary meaning of it.