Sestina: Altaforte

This poem is about a man, Bertrans de Born, who loves to fight. It seems that the only reason he loves to fight is because he thinks peace is too "womanish," like it's a cowardly idea. Every time Pound uses the word peace in this poem, he's saying something bad about it ("all this our South stinks peace," "the earth's foul peace"). He also uses the word crimson, which can mean bravery and blood. I think that Pound is trying to let us know that de Born thinks he's courageous and brave by battling all the time, but all he's really doing is shedding innocent blood. Music is another word that Pound chose to use. When I think of music, I think about the nice-sounding, meaningful songs that we all listen to, but music to de Born is something different. Music to de Born is the sound of swords clashing, thunder roaring, and the battle cries of heard through the night.