Compare these two poems, considering the ways in which Eliot and Pound use form, structure, and language to present their thoughts.

There are many similarities in the ways in which Eliot and Pound use form, structure, and language in these poems. Free-verse is the primary form of Eliot's The Waste Land, although the text occasionally slips into iambic pentameter, as well as other forms. Pound's Cantos is similar, utilising a variety of verse forms. This use of diverse poetic forms is typical of Modernist poetry, which often synthesises traditional form with contemporary form. 

The structures of the poems also have similarities. The Waste Land has five separate sections; Cantos has over one hundred. The division of the poems into separate sections creates a sense of fragmentation, allowing each section to be analysed in isolation. This fragmented structure echoes the themes of the poems - particularly disintegration and disordered time - and guides the reader's intrepretation of the diction.  

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Answered by Tom H. English tutor

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