Pound’s hell is reserved for the men who make war, while the Purgatory of canto 16 is reserved for those who have had to endure it. The warriors here have participated in the “hell” of war, but they are not responsible for the causes of war.
George Kearns. Guide to Ezra Pound’s Selected Cantos. 69.
HELL CANTOS: XIV and XV [indictment of British politics and press before WWI]
GERYON: CANTOS XVIII and XIX [Zaharoff and the munition makers; WWI]
CANTO XXXVIII [armaments in France and Germany before and after WWI]
CANTO XL [finance and the American civil war]