Intertext in E. Pound’s Poem The Cantos: Literary Sources in the Images of the Other World

Abstract

The article examines a fragment of Canto XVI from The Cantos in the aspect of
intertectuality. The author of the article examines the mention in the work of E. Pound
of personalities – D. Alighieri, Blessed Augustine W. Blake – whose works are somehow connected with the theme of the afterlife. The borrowing of images and ideas
from their works is analyzed, along with Virgil's "Aeneid", allusions to the VI book
of which are also contained in the lines under study. The influence of these works on
the general concept of the afterlife in Pound's poem is noted, as well as the opposition
of the traditional hierarchical system of the other world, reflected in Dante's work, and
Blake's pre-romantic fantasy connecting the images of Hell and Paradise.