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TheCambridgeIntroductionto
Ezra Pound
EzraPoundisoneofthemostvisibleandinfluentialpoetsofthe
twentiethcentury.Heisalsooneofthemostcomplex,hispoetry
containinghistoricalandmythicalallusions,experimentsofformand
styleandoftencontroversialpoliticalviews.YetPound’slifeandwork
continuetofascinate.ThisIntroductionisdesignedtohelpstudents
readingPoundforthefirsttime.PoundscholarIraB.Nadelprovidesa
guidetotherichwebsofallusionandstylisticborrowingsand
innovationsinPound’swriting.HeoffersaclearoverviewofPound’s
life,works,contextsandreceptionhistoryandofhismultidimensional
careerasapoet,translator,critic,editor,anthologistandimpresario,a
careerthatplacedhimattheheartofliterarymodernism.This
invaluableandaccessibleintroductionexplainsthehugecontribution
Poundmadetothedevelopmentofmodernismintheearlytwentieth
century.
ira b. nadel isProfessorofEnglishattheUniversityofBritish
Columbia.HeistheeditorofTheCambridgeCompaniontoEzraPound
(1999).
Cambridge Introductions to Literature
Thisseriesisdesignedtointroducestudentstokeytopicsandauthors.
Accessibleandlively,theseintroductionswillalsoappealtoreaderswho
wanttobroadentheirunderstandingofthebooksandauthorstheyenjoy.
(cid:1)
Idealforstudents,teachers,andlecturers
(cid:1)
Concise,yetpackedwithessentialinformation
(cid:1)
Keysuggestionsforfurtherreading
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JanetteDillon TheCambridgeIntroductiontoEarlyEnglishTheatre
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PeterMessent TheCambridgeIntroductiontoMarkTwain
JohnPeters TheCambridgeIntroductiontoJosephConrad
SarahRobbins TheCambridgeIntroductiontoHarrietBeecherStowe
MartinScofield TheCambridgeIntroductiontotheAmericanShortStory
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JanetTodd TheCambridgeIntroductiontoJaneAusten
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The Cambridge Introduction to
Ezra Pound
IRA B. NADEL
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
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Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridg e.org /9780521853910
©IraB.Nadel2007
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof
relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace
withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2007
ISBN-13 978-0-511-27139-7 eBook (Adobe Reader)
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forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot
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Contents
Preface page vii
Noteonthetext viii
Listofabbreviations ix
Chapter 1 Life 1
Chapter 2 Context 19
Chapter 3 Works 38
Poetryto1920 38
TheCantos 63
Prose 85
Chapter 4 Critical reception 106
Notes 130
Guidetofurtherreading 134
Index 138
v
Preface
“My eyes are geared for the horizon,” Ezra Pound wrote in 1938 (Guide to
Kulchur55).It’satellingremarksuggestingthebreadthandvisionofhiswork,
whetherinpoetryorprose.Hethoughtbig,althoughhearguedforconcrete
details.Hepromotedlargeideasbutworkedinpieces:hislongopus,TheCantos,
spanningsomefifty-twoyearsofconstruction.Andhealwaysurged,cajoled
andpushed–somewouldsaydumped–hisideasonthepublic.Buthenever
said“enough”orgaveupevenwhenchallengedbyeditors,fellowwriters,or
governments.Thisintroductiontohislifeandworkpresentsthemanyfacets
of Pound, who possessed a kind of binocular vision, able to look out to the
horizonatthesametimethathesawwhatwasimmediatelyinfrontofhim.
Heknewthat“languageismadeoutofconcretethings”butthatauniversal
viewwasnecessary.Inonesensehisprogramwassimple–“ifamanwritesix
good lines he is immortal – isn’t that worth trying for?” – but in another it
wascomplexashesoughttobecome“fraimaestridicolorchesanno,”aphrase
heexpandsas“masterofthosethatcutapart,dissectanddivide.Competent
precursorofthecard-index”(SL49,12;GuidetoKulchur343).
Manyhaveassistedwiththe“cardindexes”ofthisprojectandIthankthem,
beginningwithRayRyan,apatient,impatient,encouragingand,whenneces-
sary,anadmonitoryeditor;AnneMacKenzie,supportandguide,whoknows
thedifferencebetweenclarityandconfusion;DaraandRyan,mychildren,who
constantlyencouragedmenotonlyto“makeitnew,”butmakeitshort.And
finally,thosemyriadPoundianswhohavechartedthewatersbeforemesothat
Imaysafelynavigatebetweentheoftenfoggyshores.
vii
Note on the text
TheCambridgeIntroductiontoEzraPoundprovidesasystematicapproachto
understandingthelife,context,workandreceptionofthismajormodernist.
Following a survey of Pound’s life which took him from the American West
to Philadelphia, Venice, London, Paris and Rapallo, and introduced him to
figureslikeYeats,JoyceandT.S.Eliot,isasectionon“Context.”Thisexplores
how Pound’s efforts to “MAKE IT NEW” coincided with original work in
music, art and literature occurring throughout Europe and North America,
from1909/10,–whenPound’sPersonae,Stravinsky’sFirebirdballetandHenri
Matisse’s The Dance all appeared – to 1969, when Pound published the final
volumeofTheCantos,SamuelBeckettwontheNobelPrizeforLiteratureand
Claes Oldenburg completed his pop-art sculpture, Lipstick (Ascending). The
volumethentracestheevolutionofPound’swritingfromhisearliestattempts
tothelastCantos.Prose,aswellaspoetryandtranslations,comprisethissec-
tionwhichalsoshowshowhisaestheticprinciplesandinvolvementwithsuch
movementsasImagismandVorticismrelatetohiswriting.Pound’smusicand
art criticism are also discussed. Attention to important individual texts like
“SestinaAltaforte,”“HomagetoSextusPropertius”andHughSelwynMauber-
leyprecedeadiscussionofPound’slife-timework,TheCantos.Brokendown
into units Pound himself designated – the “Malatesta Cantos,” the “Chinese
Cantos,”the“Jefferson–AdamCantos,”“ThePisanCantos”–isananalysisof
themultiplestructure,themesandlanguageofTheCantos.
Pound’s contested politics and economics are also addressed, noting the
influencesanddetourstheypresentedtohisliteraryachievement.Thecontro-
versialradiobroadcastshemadebetween1941and1943fromFascistItalyare
alsodiscussed,aswellashissearchforheroes,whichdrewhimtoConfucius,
ThomasJefferson,JohnAdamsandMussolini.ThecriticalreceptionofPound
andhiswaveringreputationconcludethebookwithanassessmentofhiscon-
tributionto,andredefinitionof,modernism.Aguidetofurtherreadingassists
thestudentinpursuingthelifeandworkofPound.ReferencestoTheCantos,
Pound’smajorwork,aretoCantonumberandpagenumberinthethirteenth
printingbyNewDirectionsin1995.Thecitationfor“MAKEITNEW”appears
asLIII/265.
viii
Abbreviations
ABCR EzraPound,ABCofReading.[1934.]NewYork:NewDirections,
1960.
AV W.B.Yeats,AVision.NewYork:Macmillan,1961.
CAD EzraPound,ClassicAnthologyasDefinedbyConfucius.[1954.]
London:FaberandFaber,1974.
CC ConfuciustoCummings,AnAnthologyofPoetry.Ed.EzraPound
andMarcellaSpann.NewYork:NewDirections,1964.
CCEP TheCambridgeCompaniontoEzraPound.Ed.IraB.Nadel.
Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1999.
CEP EzraPound,CollectedEarlyPoemsofEzraPound.Ed.Michael
JohnKing.NewYork:NewDirections,1976.
CRH EzraPound,TheCriticalHeritage.Ed.EricHomberger.London:
Routledge&KeganPaul,1972.
END H.D.[HildaDoolittle],EndtoTorment,AMemoirofEzraPound.
NewYork:NewDirections,1979.
EP/BC EzraPound,EzraPoundandSenatorBronsonCutting:APolitical
Correspondence1930–1935.Ed.E.P.WalkiewiczandHugh
Witemeyer.Albuquerque,NM:UniversityofNewMexicoPress,
1995.
EPE TheEzraPoundEncyclopedia.Ed.DemetresTryphonopoulosand
StephenJ.Adams.Westport,CT:GreenwoodPress,2005.
EPEW EzraPound,EarlyWritings,PoemsandProse.Ed.Ira.B.Nadel.
NewYork:Penguin,2005.
EP/JL EzraPound,EzraPoundandJamesLaughlin,SelectedLetters.Ed.
DavidM.Gordon.NewYork:W.W.Norton,1994.
EPM [T.S.Eliot],“EzraPound:HisMetricandPoetry,”toCriticizethe
CriticandOtherWritings.NewYork:FarrarStraussGiroux,1965.
162–82.
EPPT EzraPound,PoemsandTranslations.Ed.RichardSieburth.New
York:LibraryofAmerica,2003.
ix
