Ra-Set: The New Goddess in E. Pound’s Poem The Cantos

Abstract

This article examines the image of “The Princess Ra-Set” (Pound 1975: 611) in poem The Cantos. References to this fictional goddess in the lyrics of various cantos (Cantos XCI, XCII, XCIV, XCVIII) from the cycles Rock Drill and Thrones are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to Canto XCI, in which the character appears for the first time. In the context of each of the analyzed cantos, the connection between the name and attributes of Ra-Set and a Neoplatonic plot significant for the entire poem is traced: the aspiration of the Soul to contemplate the One and the impermanence of the ecstasy achieved. The article notes the dual semantics of the name of the goddess invented by Pound, combining within herself a solar deity and a deity who becomes the embodiment of all evil in Egypt. The possibility of such a paradoxical combination of names of a fictional goddess is also considered, based on the traditions of ancient Egyptian mythology, which preserved individual features of the original solar semantics of the cult of Seth.