Alf’s 2. Bit
The Neo-commune
Alf’s 2. Bit - meaning Summary
Provincial Longing for Revolution
The poem mocks patriotic English masculinity and provincial idealism by describing young men who look to Russian revolutionaries as saviors. Pound contrasts the “youth of the Shires” with politically charged Cambridge, where talk of “Romance, revolution 1918” mixes idealism and spectacle. The tone is sardonic, highlighting a gap between earnest revolutionary rhetoric and the performative, almost comic, behavior of these would-be radicals.
Read Complete AnalysesManhood of England, Dougth of the Shires, Want Russia to save 'em And answer their prayers. Want Russia to save 'em, Lenin to save 'em, Trotsky to save 'em (And valets to shave 'em) The youth of the Shires! Down there in Cambridge Between auction and plain bridge, Romance, revolution 1918! An idea between 'em I says! 'ave you seen 'em? The flower of Cambridge, The youth of the Shires?
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