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Ezra Pound's "Meditatio" · The Daily Poem

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  [music]
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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to The Daily Poem, a podcast from Goldberry Studios.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm Sean Johnson, and today is Friday, July 17th, 2026.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today's poem is by Ezra Pound.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's called Meditatio.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'll read this one once, offer a few comments, and then read it one more time.
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  SPEAKER_00: Here's the poem, Meditatio.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I carefully consider the curious habits of dogs,
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  SPEAKER_00: I am compelled to conclude that man is the superior animal.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I consider the curious habits of man, I confess, my friend, I am puzzled.
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  SPEAKER_00: I think there are principally two ways to read this short little poem.
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  SPEAKER_00: One is as lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek.
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  SPEAKER_00: Having a laugh at the sort of rabbit-duck scenario of viewing human behavior
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  SPEAKER_00: in different contexts.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I think about the habits of dogs, I can't help but feel that human beings are superior.
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  SPEAKER_00: And yet,
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  SPEAKER_00: when I focus too closely on the habits of human beings themselves,
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm reminded of all the ways in which they are bestial.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then perhaps I have a self-deprecating laugh at the irony.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or you can read it as A little more cynical and a little more despairing.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they're not necessarily mutually exclusive ways of reading.
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  SPEAKER_00: The gravity of the observation is there either way.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the tension is revealing an is-ought relationship.
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  SPEAKER_00: There's certainly an understanding that we ought to be better than the beast's
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  SPEAKER_00: That we ought to care for our souls,
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  SPEAKER_00: that we ought to treat our fellow men with respect and love.
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  SPEAKER_00: But then there is the unavoidable reality that we do a very poor job at that far too often.
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  SPEAKER_00: So whether you are a depressive kind of Eeyore personality or whether you happen
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  SPEAKER_00: to be a little more sanguine about the evils of the world,
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  SPEAKER_00: there's no doubt this is a pithy and striking poem.
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  SPEAKER_00: Here it is one more time.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I carefully consider the curious habits of dogs,
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  SPEAKER_00: I am compelled to conclude that man is the superior animal.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I consider the curious habits of man, I confess my friend, I am puzzled.
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  SPEAKER_00: This has been The Daily Poem.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
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  SPEAKER_00: We'll be back next week with more poetry for you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Till then,
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  SPEAKER_00: find us at dailypoempod.substack.com to listen to past episodes of The Daily Poem,
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  SPEAKER_00: or comment upon those episodes, and subscribe and become a supporter of the show.
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  SPEAKER_00: For all of us at Barry Studios, I'm Sean Johnson wishing you happiness.