Hi Bill,
To my mind a sheath is for a knife, a scabbard for a sword, but they are in essence the same thing. Yes, i suspect - it's my hunch - that the young Pound found it worthwhile to juxtapose sheath with virginal, to make some sort of complicated pun. The word sheath seems overdetermined to me. It also makes me think of Shakespeare's "Whate'er thou hast, thou hast thy will."
When Byron writes "For the sword outwears the sheath", I don't think he is punning. But then i like that poem.
Baudelaire translated Poe. I think he has a tremendous ear, and I agree, it is a shame not to get to see him in the French. But I also agree, French is in some ways harder than German is.
Cheers,
John
|