Periplum

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For the drug with trade name Periplum, see Nimodipine.

Periplum is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as being "[o]riginally and chiefly in the poetry of Ezra Pound," and as being equivalent in meaning to the English word "periplus." The word is derived from the Greek π��ρι (a prefix meaning around or about) + πλοῦς (voyage). As a noun, Pound uses "periplum" simply to refer to a voyage or journey, as in canto 74, line 3: "The great periplum brings in the stars to our shore." Here the "great periplum" refers to the daily journey made by the Sun God, Helios.[1] "Periplum" is also used in The Cantos adverbially, as we see in this example from canto 59:

Periplum, not as land looks on a map
But as sea bord seen by men sailing. (Line 82-4)

In his book ABC of Reading, Pound describes the geography of Homer's Odyssey as "correct geography; not as you would find it if you had a geography book and a map, but as it would be in 'periplum,' that is, as a coasting sailor would find it."[2] That is to say that Homer's geography is understood from the point of view of a sailor who is actually "in periplum" or in the midst of the voyage itself. In The Cantos, Pound similarly perceives space from the point of view of a poet in the midst of experience rather than from an a posteriori position.

Gabriel Levin: "One more night crossing, one more periplum..."[3]

Periplum is the name of an England-based site-responsive theatre company. (http://www.periplum.co.uk/)

References[]

  1. ^ Terrell, Carroll (1985). A Companion to the Cantos of Ezra Pound. U California P. pp. 362–63.
  2. ^ Pound, Ezra. The ABC of Reading. pp. 43–44.
  3. ^ Gabriel Levin, To These Dark Steps, Anvil Press, 2012, p. 69
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