Not to quibble, Tim, but centaurs are routinely described as "lascivious*;
see Kirwoods's *Short Guide to Classical Mythology*, which I cite merely
because I've got it here on my desk. "Lascivious" is what I meant by my
casual word, "randiness." But in looking at Kirkwood I also learn that I was
mistakenly attributing the wisdom of Chiron, who tutored Achilles and Jason,
among others, with the character of centaurs in general.
        Anyway, like I've said, I appreciate your rising to the moment, and
your account is better than anything else I've ever seen. As long as Pound
wasn't thinking of Chinese notions of "dragon," your note below works. But
I'm still not clear why Pound said "centaur."
 
Best,
 
Michael
 
        ----------
        From:  Tim Romano[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:  Thursday, March 11, 1999 12:06 PM
        To:  Michael Coyle
        Subject:  Re: that centaur ant
 
        Michael,
        Alone, "dragon" does not convey all of this meaning. But the phrase
"the ant ...
        in <i>his</i> ... world" does connote the world on a small scale,
the ant's
        scale.  And "dragon world" connotes a world of struggle and danger,
a monstrous
        world. The ant's the prodigious creature in his world.
 
        Centaurs were uncouth and uncivilized; their appetites were brutish,
"randiness"
        is more aptly applied to the goat-god.
        Tim
 
        Michael Coyle wrote:
 
        > Thanks, Tim, for venturing that account. It is certainly
consistent with the
        > way the rest of the canto is usually read, and I find it generally
        > plausible. Generally, but some details refuse to lay in place. Why
would the
        > trope "dragon" signify a miniature world? And weren't centaurs
more usually
        > fabled for their learning, or randiness, than for their strength
(apart from
        > Chiron, one of the centaurs whom Hercules defeated)?
        >         It's funny how the recitations of understanding being
unnecessary
        > for enjoying a poem typically arise only where readers can't make
sense of
        > things. I'm not dismissing that position altogether; after all, I
discussed
        > some of Pound's comments in this regard in my book. But criticism
has
        > different responsibilities than poetry . . .
        >
        > Michael
        >
        >         ----------
        >         From:  Tim Romano[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        >         Sent:  Thursday, March 11, 1999 8:02 AM
        >         To:  [log in to unmask]
        >         Subject:  Re: that centaur ant
        >
        >         Michael,
        >         The line could be paraphrased so: the ant is mighty in its
miniature
        > world of
        >         life and death struggle.  The implication is that the ant
is a puny
        > creature
        >         when regarded from a wider perspective. This exemplum in
miniature
        > is quite apt
        >         for a poem whose theme is vanity. When we think ourselves
to be
        > Gullivers in a
        >         land Lilliputians we suffer from a vain lack of
perspective, for we
        > are puny in
        >         the wider scheme of things too, though we may be centaurs
in our own
        > sphere of
        >         influence. That's how the exemplum fits in with the
exhortation it
        > precedes.
        >         Pound's mode is consonant here with the one he puts on
when speaking
        > contra
        >         Usura.
        >         Tim Romano
        >