HIPPOLYTUS TEMPORIZES by H. D.: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
H.D.'s *Hippolytus Temporizes* reinterprets a pivotal scene from the Greek myth of Hippolytus, a chaste young hunter devoted to Artemis, as he grapples with desire and his commitment to purity.
H.D.'s *Hippolytus Temporizes* reinterprets a pivotal scene from the Greek myth of Hippolytus, a chaste young hunter devoted to Artemis, as he grapples with desire and his commitment to purity. The poem employs a concise, image-focused style typical of Imagism, immersing us in Hippolytus's thoughts at the moment he hesitates — "temporizes" — between giving in and holding back. It’s a brief yet powerful lyric that explores the price of resisting something you deeply desire.
Tone & mood
The tone is both tense and respectful, as if someone is whispering out of fear of what might come out if they speak too loudly. H.D. maintains a steady emotional tone with her concise Imagist language, yet this very restraint conveys deep emotion. There’s a persistent sense of yearning that the poem keeps hidden, perfectly reflecting Hippolytus's struggle to hold back.
Symbols & metaphors
- The net — Hunting gear flipped inside out. Hippolytus, the hunter, finds himself ensnared, with the net representing desire that ensnares even those who believe they're beyond its reach.
- Artemis / the goddess — She represents purity and the wild, but she also embodies an unattainable ideal. Hippolytus's devotion to her keeps him away from Aphrodite's world — yet this devotion becomes an obsession, blurring the line between worship and a different kind of desire.
- Escape — The act of trying to escape highlights the poem's central irony. Admitting the need to escape something shows it has power over you. Hippolytus's intention to flee only proves how completely he is already trapped.
- Light / radiance — H.D. often employs light imagery inspired by Greek lyric tradition to indicate the presence of the divine. In this context, it portrays the goddess as both beautiful and blinding — something that enlightens yet overwhelms simultaneously.
Historical context
H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) released *Hippolytus Temporizes* as both a poem and a verse play in 1927, a peak time in her writing career. She was a key figure in the Imagist movement, along with Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington, and she consistently drew inspiration from Greek mythology throughout her life. The story of Hippolytus — the chaste son of Theseus who spurns Aphrodite, faces false accusations from his stepmother Phaedra, and ultimately meets his demise — provided H.D. with a way to delve into the struggle between erotic desire and spiritual commitment, reflecting a similar tension in her own life. Writing after World War I and amid the fallout from a difficult marriage, she felt a connection to characters caught in moments of crisis. This poem aligns with a broader modernist effort to reinterpret classical myths through a modern psychological perspective.
FAQ
Hippolytus is a character from Greek mythology — the son of the hero Theseus — who dedicated himself to the goddess Artemis and turned away from all romantic love. *To temporize* means to delay, stall, or sidestep making a decision. H.D.'s title captures the essence of the drama: this is the point where Hippolytus hesitates instead of taking action, torn between his vow and his emotions.
It does use the same mythological material. In Euripides, the tragedy focuses on Phaedra's forbidden love for her stepson and the ensuing disaster. H.D. shifts the focus to Hippolytus's inner world — his devotion to Artemis and his struggle against desire — instead of the entire dramatic narrative. Her emphasis is more on the psychology of the central character than on the events of the story.
Imagism was an early 20th-century poetry movement that H.D. played a key role in shaping. Its principles were straightforward: use clear, concrete images; eliminate unnecessary words; steer clear of vague abstractions. In this poem, you can observe these elements in the concise lines, the focus on a single central image (the net), and the choice not to explain the emotion — H.D. presents the image and trusts you to interpret its meaning.
He is speaking to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and chastity. She is the deity to whom he has devoted his life, and the poem takes the form of a prayer or apostrophe—a direct address to someone who may or may not be paying attention. This one-sided conversation deepens the poem's sense of loneliness.
It suggests that they're more intertwined than they appear. Hippolytus's dedication to Artemis is complete and sincere, yet H.D. illustrates that such unwavering devotion can resemble obsessive desire. The imagery conveys this effectively: he is just as entangled in his worship as he is in the love he is trying to escape.
Greek myth provided her with a cast of characters linked to intense emotions — grief, desire, divine retribution, and tough choices. By using these figures, she could explore her own experiences (a troubled marriage, bisexuality, and the trauma of World War I) from a distance, employing a classical mask that also lent her personal stories a sense of enduring significance.
It may not fit a typical feminist slogan, but H.D. performs a quietly subversive act: she imbues a male figure with interiority and vulnerability, traits typically reserved for women in this tradition. Additionally, she places Artemis—a goddess symbolizing female independence—at the center as the poem's primary force. In contrast, the male hero appears passive, trapped, and uncertain.
Unresolved — intentionally so. Hippolytus claims he will escape, but the poem gives no indication that he actually does. H.D. keeps him in that moment of hesitation named in the title. This open ending is crucial: *temporizing* isn't a solution; it's a state of being, and the poem keeps you immersed in it.