PURSUIT by H. D.: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
H.
H. D.'s "Pursuit" presents a speaker who is either chasing or being pursued by a potent, elusive force across a wild landscape, merging the thrill of the hunt with deep erotic longing and mythic intensity. The natural world isn't merely a backdrop; it actively engages in the experience, filled with both danger and desire. By the conclusion, the line between hunter and hunted blurs into something nearly spiritual.
Tone & mood
Urgent and elemental. H. D. writes with an intensity that feels stripped of all softness, leaving only the raw essence. There's desire and danger in her work, along with a sense of reverence — the tone of someone aware that what they are pursuing is greater than themselves.
Symbols & metaphors
- The trail / footprints — The physical evidence of what we seek represents longing itself — it shows where desire has been, but the gap remains unbridgeable. This idea also ties back to Greek mythology, where gods leave traces of their presence in nature.
- The wild landscape — Rocks, roots, water, and undergrowth serve a purpose beyond decoration. In H. D.'s Imagist approach, the outer landscape reflects the inner state. The challenges of the terrain correspond directly to the challenges of desire and the price of chasing something that might resist being captured.
- The unnamed quarry — By not specifying what is being hunted, H. D. maintains a mythical openness. It could represent a god (like Apollo, Artemis, or Dionysus), erotic love, poetic inspiration, or a part of the self that the speaker seeks to connect with. This ambiguity is intentional.
- The hunt itself — Hunting in Greek tradition is considered sacred ground — it belongs to Artemis. The act of pursuit has both religious significance and an erotic undertone, implying that desire and worship share a closer connection than one might think.
Historical context
H. D. (Hilda Doolittle) published her early work in the 1910s as a key figure in Imagism, the movement led by Ezra Pound that focused on concrete images, clear language, and removing unnecessary embellishment. "Pursuit" is part of this era and reflects H. D.'s ongoing exploration of Greek lyric and myth — especially the worlds of Sappho, Euripides, and the pre-Socratic Aegean. She was writing during a time when women poets were actively reclaiming powerful roles in mythology: not just the passive nymph, but the hunter, the priestess, the woman who navigates the landscape with purpose. Her personal experiences — including her relationships with Pound, Frances Gregg, and Richard Aldington — inspired a body of work deeply concerned with desire, pursuit, and the struggles of connection. "Pursuit" fits perfectly within that emotional and intellectual framework.
FAQ
On the surface, it’s a chase through a wild, rocky landscape. But H. D. adds a mythic and erotic layer to that pursuit — the speaker is chasing something that feels divine and overwhelming, making the poem fundamentally about the experience of longing: how desire constantly stays just out of reach and never lets itself be caught.
H. D. intentionally leaves this unnamed. Depending on your interpretation, the quarry might represent a god—reflecting the poem's roots in Greek mythology where deities traverse untamed landscapes—a lover, poetic inspiration, or even a fragment of the speaker's own identity. This ambiguity around the quarry's identity creates the poem's tension.
Imagism was an early 20th-century poetry movement focused on concrete, precise images and short, sharp lines—no fluff, no vague emotional statements. In 'Pursuit,' H. D. expresses feeling solely through physical detail: the roughness of rocks, the impressions left on the ground, the nature of the light. You sense the emotion through the objects rather than through the speaker explaining her feelings.
Several, possibly. The hunt holds a sacred significance for Artemis, the goddess of the wilderness. The theme of a mortal either chasing or being chased by a god is woven throughout Greek mythology, from the story of Daphne and Apollo to that of Actaeon and Artemis. H. D. doesn’t anchor the poem to a single myth; instead, she allows the entire mythic tradition surrounding the chase to resonate in the background.
The speaker starts off as the hunter, actively tracking their prey. However, by the end of the poem, the lines between hunter and hunted have become unclear. This is a hallmark of H. D.'s work: the pursuer merges with the pursued, and both fade into the surroundings. It showcases her fascination with how desire can blur the boundaries of identity.
Short lines create speed and urgency—they mimic the feeling of racing through tough terrain. They also compel each image to stand on its own and hold its weight, which aligns with the Imagist principle. In a short line, there's no hiding; every word must justify its presence.
Yes, in a general way. The speaker’s desire is intensely erotic, even without mentioning a specific lover. H. D. often portrayed love as something that can be overwhelming and perilous rather than cozy, and 'Pursuit' reflects this — the chase is both exciting and terrifying.
It clearly reflects her early Imagist period. The Greek landscape, the mythic undertone, and the female speaker navigating wild terrain with confidence all contribute to the unresolved tension, elements that can be found throughout her early collections such as *Sea Garden* (1916). Although H. D. later shifted to longer, more mystical works, 'Pursuit' captures the intense, concise style that first gained her recognition.