LOVE AS AN ORDERING PRINCIPLE IN CAVALCANTI, POUND AND ROBERT DUNCAN BY RALPH ROBERT WESTBROOK B.A., University of Manitoba, 1966. A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIRMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of English We accept this thesis as conforming to the required* standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, 1969 i In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and Study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thes,is for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to offer some explination of the manner in which Ezra Pound has created a metaphysical centre for The Cantos through absorption and integration of the Renaissance metaphysic of courtly and transcendent love and the pragmatic ethical philosophy of Confucius. It resolves no problems, either textual or critical, but rather suggests that the thirty-sixth Canto is central to the philosophy underlying the poem as a whole. From the central fourth chaper, the thesis attempts to give some idea of the nature of Pound's influence upon one other poet and how this influence has resulted in a new evaluation of the original Cavalcanti material. The short intoductory chapter outlines the nature of the problem of love as an ordering principle which provides a reconciliation of the disparate and seemingly opposing forces which shape human experience. This unity, it is stated, represents an attempt on the part of western man to integrate his dualistic response to the world of Process, an essentially eastern concept. Chapter two outlines the nature of Cavalcanti's poem and the philosophy of love which it contains. Apparently, this poem has yet to be interpreted with any degree of finality and I have necessarily had to work through the general concensus of critical opinion. The third chapter points to Pound's conception of the philosophy of Guido Cavalcanti's canzon and how Pound has interpreted the "guerdon" of the amour courtois tradition as the Confucian doctrine of l_i_. Chapter four explores the connexion between Pound's conception and interpretation of Donna Me Prega and how, from the concept of individual compassion, Pound envisions a viable order for the society of western man, while continually maintaining the concept of the universe as Process. The fifth chapter deals with Robert Duncan's stated variation on Pound's view of Donna Me Prega and the philosophy contained therein, and offers some comments on the different possibilities vf order, or lack of same, as expressed by Duncan. The conclusion discusses the metaphysical concept of love as a principle of unity in relation to some modern statements of epistemology and aesthetics, and concludes that Pound has expressed the sense of order and unity in a more universal and objective manner than has Duncan- The addendum of chapter seven suggests some possibilities for further research into these areas and concludes that Ezra Pound's consciousness of the Processal universe is essentially oriental, ie., an aesthetic response, while the concept remains largely an intellectual postulate in the western world. ii On the whole, the primary concern is for the explanation of the relationship among such elements as imagination, transcendent love, human social order, and the concept of the universe as an all-embracing Process of interacting elements. iii CONTENTS PAGE 1. Introduction p. 1 2. Donna Me Prega p. 5 3. Mercede as Compassion p. 29 4. Compassion or Order p. 52 5. Inmersed in the Process p. 78 6. Conclusion p. 106 7. Addendum p. 113 8. Bibliography p. 118 iv LOVE AS AN ORDERING PRINCIPLE Chapter One: Introduction The greatest poets have traditionally been those who worked toward and effected a synthesis, an integration of the varied elements of their experience, both in life and in art. Man is both sentient and intellectual, imaginative and rational. The various philosophies reflect this duality in tiiat each postulates reality as existent intwo distinct aspects. In philosophy, one sees the duality stated in terms of the positions of realist and idealist; in religion, the division is made between the rationalist and the mystic; and in art between the poles of classical and romantic. None of these positions represent an expression of actuality, as each approaches existence from the perspective of some limited theory concerning the nature of man and existence. Each position assumes that man's nature is accurately defined by that particular half- truth which it postulates and each, if accepted as a statement of fact and a valid philosophical position, is exclusive in that it disallows any further information about existence that the opposite position could provide. Surrounding the divided house of human consciousness and await• ing the cessation of man's artificial distinction lies the world of Process. Whether one subscribes to the view that the universe is composed wholly of spirit or that the universe is entirely material, or even to the 2 recently-discovered view (at least, by the western world), that the universe is a flux of matter and energy constantly shifting and re-phasing, the Process awaits man's discovery of, and integration to, its river-like flow. The Process of continual anabolism and catabolism, form and dissolution, matter and energy, has been in every age the essential reality of existence. Each culture has arrived at a distinctly different orientation toward the Process, from the passive acceptance of and integration to the "other" aspect of reality that the Asian cultures have achieved, to the theoretical postulates of human control over the "machine" of nature made by western man. Beyond the poles of this traditionally dichotomy lies the essential truth that neither is a complete statement of the actual situation and that both positions, when taken together, form a total cosmological view. In each culture, the poet has been the one man who not only sees clearly the twin poles of the artificial distinction but who has sought a synthesis, a unity which each has been aware must underlie the duality. In order to achieve insight into the essential harmony of existence, poets have the problem of duality in widely varied terms and have utilized different poles with which to express the dichotomy. One has seen the duality in terms of human psychology and metaphysics, expressing on one hand the senses and the passive intellect, and on the other, the rational or active intellect; and has spoken of reality as existent in form (in the Platonic sense) and actuality. This is the medieval philosophical position of Guido Cavalcanti, to whom love is ultimately a Platonic form or idea which works through the sense response, uniting the duality of human consciousness via the machinations of the possible and active intellects, and working toward a mystic contemplation of the super-sensuous ideal. Love, ther; is a Platonic form which, although a disembodied ideal, has a physical actualty by virtue of the fact that it has its origin in the response of the senses to physical 3 beauty. Through the workings of the dual nature of the human consciousness, love becomes a force which unifies the duality in contemplation of a transcendent ideal. Another poet, Ezra Pound, writing in a cultural milieu which had postulated and demonstrated the metaphysical inter-connection of 2 matter and energy in a cryptic statement of physical reality, (E=MC ), states the dichotomy in terms of epitemology, utilizing the poles of perception and conception. Perception is an intuitive apprehension of truth operating through one or more of the senses; while conception denotes the formulation of truth in the mind. As Pound uses these terms, the emphasis is upon perception as an intuitive, imaginative and immediate apprehension, and he stesses conception as a more conscious intellectual process divorced from imagination. The integration of these responses allows the application of intelligence to the world of Process, clarity of vision and a more complete apprehension of the position of the individual vis-a-vis the Process. Love, to Pound, has still both the Platonic form or ideal and the Physical actuality; however, in its machinations as a unifying force, love becomes compassion or fellow-feeling and enable the individual to manifest the Confucian concept of l_i_, or brotherly deference. As each individual achieves the quality of Poundian compassion the possibility for the attain• ment of a just and lasting social order increases. Thus, love has, to one poet the power to unify the mind in contemplation of a transcendent ideal, while to another love has the potential to create an equitable and all-pervasive social order. To a third poet, Robert Duncan, the world of Process has become equatable with the Biblical Chaos, threatening engulfment and dissolution of form, meaning the consciousness. The poem itself, being a microcosm of the larger universe, repeats the disorder and the lack of definite form which the poet experiences in the world of Process. No longer is the poem an 4 expression of the total sentience and consciousness of man, but rather, it exists as a scaled-down universe of disorder in which the poet plumbs in order to discover his own identity. Love, in its ideal aspect, is decidedly the Poundian compassion and is still necessary to the establishment of both personal and social order; however, the emphasis of the poem is upon the surrounding darkness and human bestiality.