The Cambridge Introduction to Ezra Pound (Cambridge Introductions to Literature)

161 Pages·2007·1.63 MB·English

by  Ira B. Nadel

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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The Cambridge Introduction to
Ezra Pound
IRA B. NADEL
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521853910
© Ira B. Nadel 2007
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof
relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2007
ISBN-13 978-0-511-27527-2 eBook (NetLibrary)
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ISBN-10 0-521-63069-X paperback
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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