Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Ezra Pound has been called "the inventor of modern poetry in English."The verse and criticism which he produced during the early years of the twentieth century very largely determined the directions of creative writing in our time; virtually every major poet in England and America today has acknowledged his help or influence. Pound's lyric genius, his superb technique, and his fresh insight into literary problems make him one of the small company of men who through the centuries have kept poetry alive—one of the great innovators.

This book offers a compact yet representative selection of Ezra Pound's poems and translations. The span covered is Pound's entire writing career, from his early lyrics and the translations of Provençal songs to his English version of Sophocles' Trachiniae. Included are parts of his best known works—the Chinese translations, the sequence called Hugh Selwyn Mauberly, the Homage to Sextus Propertius. The Cantos, Pound's major epic, are presented in generous selections, chosen to emphasize the main themes of the whole poem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A good introduction
If you care at all about modern poetry then you have to know something about Ezra Pound. His own poetry is beautiful, lyrical, sometimes mystical, and has a delicate respect for language. In addition he translated much Chinese poetry and produced the best translations of poems in the Catalan language. His influence is virtually endless. He was a very strong influence on T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, Hemingway, Hilda Dolittle, Marianne Moore, Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost, and many more.

Yes, personally and politically he was strange to say the least, but this doesn't detract from the sheer artistry of his work.

This volume is a reasonable place to start if you aren't familiar with Pound and is also a reasonable volume to keep around for quick review. It contains samples of his Chinese and Catalan translations. There is good selection of his shorter poems and also a substantial sampling of the Cantos, his epic work.

Be aware that the design of the book is annoying; no index, no arrangment, no apparent plan of any kind.

But after all that you are left with the poetry and you can skip the design questions and read the poems. These poems are not difficult to read, the language is simple and simply beautiful. The rhythms carry you along and then sometimes drop you into understanding.

I give this selection 5 stars for the content and take one back for the poor book design.

If you are not familiar with Pound read them for your education, if you are familiar with Pound read them for the enduring beauty; but do read them and read them out loud.

A Good Book... for Pound Fans
I think this book is a good representation of Pound's work, and certainly one that Pound fans will enjoy.Personally, though, I've always had mixed feelings about Pound.I often feel like he had two very different voices--one, a pompous academic; the other, a humble haiku-esque observer of the world--and I wish the latter consistently outshined the former.I enjoy Pound's shorter poems like "Alba", "Salutation", "The Encounter", "And the days are not long enough", and "An Immortality" (the latter two not in this book), but many of his other poems irk me with their clunky syntax. For example, consider this book's much-quoted poem, "A Pact":

A Pact

I make a pact with you, Walt Whitman -
I have detested you long enough.
I come to you as a grown child
Who has had a pig-headed father;
I am old enough now to make friends.
It was you that broke the new wood,
Now is a time for carving.
We have one sap and one root -
Let there be commerce between us.

This is actually one of my favorite Pound poems, but it is not without problems.The beginning is solid, but in line 4, "Who has had" is needlessly awkward; obviously, "who had" would suffice.The last four lines are better, but Pound seems to be working against himself here."Now is a time for carving" rather elegantly responds to the previous line and ties it up with maximum economy of syllables, not to mention a passionate call to arms.But Pound weakens it by continuing with two more lines metaphorically referencing sap, roots, commerce, etc., effectively giving the poem a second more academic ending that strays from his own extended metaphor!

Then again, I admit that Pound's critics (myself included) are probably at least partially responding to the academy's overblown response to Pound, rather than Pound himself.That is certainly the case with "In a Station of the Metro", which presents an interesting metaphor, but like the famous William Carlos Williams poem, "So much depends", seems to be the poetic equivalent of a good song played way too often on the radio.

All that being said, I find myself returning to the bittersweet imagery and wit of my favorite Pound poem, "Salutation", which seems as different from his more pompous works as night from day:

Salutation

O generation of the thoroughly smug
and thoroughly uncomfortable,
I have seen fishermen picnicking in the sun,
I have seen them with untidy families,
I have seen their smiles full of teeth
and heard ungainly laughter.
And I am happier than you are,
And they were happier than I am;
And the fish swim in the lake
and do not even own clothing.

In conclusion, more power to those who enjoy Pound's work; they will enjoy this book as well, and that's what matters.It's just my opinion that Pound's talents were often inconsistent, and sadly, he often seems to be writing against himself, or leaving his chief talent (the creativity and humility of a haiku poet) out of his poems.

.
Hard to reconcile Ezra Pound the poet, with such a beautiful sense for the rhythms and melodies of the English language, and so sensitive to his time and place in the literary tradition, with the man who broadcast propaganda for the Italians during the Second World War, whose preference was for the Fascists because of their sense of style. Mishima also comes to mind, with impeccable aesthetics, totalitarian politics.

In any case if the politico-poetic schism doesn't bother you, this slim collection is a wonderful introduction to this important Modernist. His Cantos were overreaching and sprawling -- some of the poems here have the glint of lyric perfection. I am especially fond of the Cathay poems, and of those Exile's Letter is my favorite. His translation is crystalline, the words flow like water, of all his poems, translations or otherwise, I feel this is among the most perfect -- not for greatness of idea or emotion, but for its subtlety and lyricism.

He reaches such moments in parts of the Pisan Cantos ("What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross"), but it's a bit funny that he had T.S. Eliot whittle down The Waste Land, but he himself didn't have the discipline to pare down his own work. This might be why his translations (The Seafarer, The River Merchant's Wife) seem to be more anthologized, and considered the more accessible portion of his work -- the limits of these poems were already in place, holding his ambition in check, thus allowing him to concentrate on the language, which he really did so well.

Excellent selection of Pound's poems
This book is a very good introduction to the work of Ezra Pound.There's a little bit of everything!You get some of his earlier, shorter poems, like "In a Station of the Metro," some translations, like "The Seafarer," or "Homage to Sextus Propertius," the famous Mauberley sequence (this book includes both the "original" poem "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley" and Pound's later poem "Mauberley" whereas most books reprint only the earlier poem), and, of course, some of the cantos.

I'm pretty sure that Pound made the selections for this edition himself, though the editor adds a few cantos.Ezra Pound's work is exciting and really important for poets writing today.It's impossible to see how we got to where we are now without reading Ezra Pound.

Epitome of Modern Poetry
Reading Ezra Pound is a remarkable experience.I find it amazing how attentive Ezra Pound is when it comes to the 'sound of poetry.'Reading his poems are aesthetically pleasing to the ear.It is consistent with hisdoctrine, "Behave as a good musician will do" when it comes topoetry.I find his translation of "River-merchant's Wife: ALetter" as one of the greatest highlight in modern poetry, along withmany other poem included in this book. ... Read more

Product Description
1st paper edtn, incl English tr of Canto LXXII ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Poor production
Disappointed by the quality of the book which was perfect bound rather than sewn - I'd assumed all good quality hardbacks in US were sew - reason why I bought North American edition. You'd be better off buying a secondhand edition.

Good reading copy
This is a well constructed book of reasonable size and as such offers a good reading copy of The Cantos.The typeface is sensible and clear.It is a copy that can be stuck in a suitcase or satchel.Since it is hardbound, it is not lightweight or really intended for travel, but it is not a lavish collector's volume, so if it gets knocked about, so what?

I'm not going to comment on Pound's Cantos, his poetry generally or his role in 20th century literature.If you want an expert opinion, find yourself a copy of Hugh Kenner's The Pound Era. Pound himself was a complex man who left complex tracks. The Cantos certainly remain worth reading (IMHO, they are aging well, and reading them against the backdrop of the current financial nonsense is entertaining, but perhaps I entertain easily?).

Good luck....
with this drivel.I can't remember ever reading anyone who used so many words to say so little.If Pound should be credited with anything it should be that he could be looked upon as father of the beatnik generation where you could spew out any blend of flowery language and then lavish yourself with praise.

Sorry but if you think this blather is the greatest poetry ever written then you need psychiatric help. If you ever wonder how radicals are created then read this garbage.It's always easy to be looked upon as a genius when the critics are radicals like yourself.Pound has said that America is an insane asylum and if that were so, he would be our most famous inmate.What a nut.

To Mr. Meyerhofer,
Ezra Pound is the greatest American poet.

I love your condemnation of him. And I do not wish to thought of as sarcastic because the controversy is half of the aura about Mr. Pound's dynamic presence in the poetry of the past century.

Robert Graves called Pound a charlatan and I do not know if he is correct. If he is correct than all charlatans must attain to the greatness of Ezra Loomis Pound.

The Cantos of Ezra Pound is not an epic, it is not a notebook of any sort.

And it is relevant to the times in which it was written.

"Make it new." said Pound.

He made it new by gathering the limbs of osiris, resurecting old poets and crowning new ones. He lived in history while he was still alive. He reminds me of myself sometimes.
The Cantos was relevant but one must read between the lines to see that it was relevant. Canto XLV for instance, the famous litany agains Usury, is in particular rlevant to the times it was published, 1937. The Great Depression still upon the US and banks failing, Pound sought to condemn the practice of usury, not saying that it was going on, but as a warning that this is how bad could get worse.

with usura, sin against nature,
is thy bread ever more of stale rags
is thy bread dry as paper,
with no mountain wheat, no strong flour

With those lines, I picture the breadlines stretching around streetcorners with dark looking men, ashen gray, all with rotting overcoats up to their small red eyes. I picture the people starving because of this strange practice of usury, not just during the Depression, but all through time.

Here is yet another theme that is relevant during the time the Cantos were published, human nature being the same so history repeats itself. Pound was trying to prove this by pointing to models for a better future, Confucius, and Pier della Francesca, Pietro Lombardo.

The fact that Pound knew so many languages, translated much, is just incredible. We clearly had a genius in the nuthouse during that vacuous time.
Take the first Canto as an example of Pound's immense Godlike talent.

And then went down to the ship,
Set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea, and
We set up mast and sail on that swart ship,
Bore sheeo aboard her, and our bodies also
Heavy with weeping, and winds from sternward
Bore us out onward with bellying canvas,
Circe's this craft, the trim coifed goddess.

I remember when I first read those lines and I was immediately pulled into the work itself and the poetry of Mr. Pound. His controversial anti-semitism, his support of the regime of Mussolini, the absurd trial he had to take for treason against the US (the cage he was placed in, exposed to the elements) and the long internment in the House of Bedlam, St. Elizabeth's Mental Hospital in Washington D.C. from 1946 - 1958. I don't think there is one aspect of the thought and the writings of Ezra Pound that do not facinate me and have taught me how to compose poetry.

So sir, I must say that I have never read the two poets you have named but if they are anything like what I have a feeling they are, they are vastly inferior to the mighty voice of Pound (sounded like a Scottish goat by the way if you were wondering, funny and haunting)

You will probably never read these words so I close by saying that Ezra Pound is my idol poet. I have never read anything that had kept me so captivated and inspired me so. I hope my words shall be read and taken into consideration and be understood.

Thank you.

Par Excelente
The Cantos are great in what they do for the writer. "Elitism" is the nickname the idiot gives to the question. The Cantos include everything (yes, even Pounds' barbarisms). Man alive! Must I agree with the Bible to read it? ... Read more

Product Description
The essential collection of Ezra Pound’s poetry—newly expanded and annotated with essays byRichard Sieburth, T. S. Eliot, and John Berryman.This newly revised and greatly expanded edition of Ezra Pound’s Selected Poems is intended to articulate Pound for the twenty-first century. Gone are manyof the “stale creampuffs” (as Pound called them) of the 1949 edition. Instead,new emphasis has been laid on the interpenetration of original compositionand translation within Pound’s career. New features of this edition include thecomplete “Homage to Sextus Propertius” in its original lineation, early translations from Cavalcanti, Heine, and the troubadours, as well as late translationsof Sophocles, and the Confucian Odes.

As a lifelong expatriate, Pound parceled out his work to a variety of journalsin England, America, France, and Italy. This new edition takes account of thiscomplex publishing history by giving the poems in the chronological order oftheir original magazine publication. We can observe Pound as he first emergesonto the literary scene in the pages of Ford Madox Ford’s English Review andHarriet Monroe’s Chicago-based Poetry, and then as an agent provocateur forthe avant-garde Little Review, Blast, and The Dial.

Unlike all previous selections, this volume provides annotation to all theearly poems as well as a running commentary on the later Cantos — indispensable to any reader wanting to follow Pound on his epic odyssey through ancientChina, medieval Provence, the Italian Renaissance, the early American Republic, and the darkness of the twentieth century. The editor, Richard Sieburth,provides a chronology of Pound’s life, a new preface, and an informative afterword, “Selecting Pound.” Also included in the appendix are T. S. Eliot’s and JohnBerryman’s original introductions to Pound’s Selected Poems. ... Read more

Product Description
As the chief poems in "A Lume Spento" were afterwards incorporated in "Personae," the book demands mention only as a date in the author's history. "Personae," the first book published in London, followed early in 1909. Few poets have undertaken the siege of London with so little backing; few books of verse have ever owed their success so purely to their own merits. Pound came to London a complete stranger, without either literary patronage or financial means. He took "Personae" to Mr. Elkin Mathews, who has the glory of having published Yeats' "Wind Among the Reeds," and the "Books of the Rhymers' Club," in which many of the poets of the '90s, now famous, found a place. ... Read more

Product Description
Pound, Literary Essays. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent Introduction to Modernist Poetry
Pound's literary essays are an indispensable companion not only to his own poetry, but also to what is generally referred to as modernist poetry, especially that of T. S. Eliot and the later Yeats, in general.The first few essays announce a clear break with the poetry of the 19th century and urge a return to the authenticity (my term, not Pound's) of earlier, premodern styles of lyric poetry.Some of Pound's assertions may not make sense to a reader who is largely unfamiliar with the development of lyric poetry from the Renaissance to the 19th century, or with Pound's poetry itself--the essays are not written for the uninitiated.I highly recommend reading Pound's poems alongside his essays since the two always elucidate each other, the essays providing an explanation of the poems' rationales, and the poems offering examples of the essays' arguments.But Pound's explanations are typically lucid in themselves, and one could hardly find a clearer articulation of the modernist aesthetic agenda.

Great essays from the modernist era
I find that reading just the first two essay was worth the money I spent on this book.Pound writes his literary essay with creativity, intelligence, and humor that are rare even among the best essayists. "A retrospect" is a great guide to use for those who takesinterest in writing poetry.Likewise "How to Read" will serve asa great crash course for the history of poetry, and provides us with aninstruction on how to approach poetry.His personal critique of otherwriters are also worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
Poetic visionary Ezra Pound catalyzed American literature's modernist revolution. From the swirling center of poetic change he excited the powerful energies of Eliot, Joyce, and William Carlos Williams and championed the Imagism and Vorticism movements. This volume, the most comprehensive collection of his poetry and translations ever assembled, gathers all his verse except The Cantos. In addition to the famous poems that transformed modern literature, it features dozens of rare and out-of-print pieces, such as the handmade first collection Hilda's Book (1905-1907), late translations of Horace, rare sheet music translations, and works from a 1917 "lost" manuscript.

Pound's influential Cathay (1915), Lustra (1917), and Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920)-as surely as his later masterly Confucian odes and Sophoclean dramas-followed the poet's own directive to "make it new," opening fresh formal pathways into ancient traditions. Through these works and others representing more than 30 different volumes and dozens of pieces that Pound never collected, Poems and Translations reveals the breadth of his daring invention and resonant music: lyrics echoing the Troubadors and Browning, chiseled 1920s free verse, and dazzling translations that led Eliot to call Pound "the inventor of Chinese poetry for our time."

An extensive chronology offers guidance to Pound's tumultuous life. Detailed endnotes of unprecedented range and depth clarify Pound's fascinatingly recondite allusions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

"Comprehensive" is an apt description
With the complete exception of any and all of Pound's Cantos this collection is simply exhaustive.I cannot imagine that there exists very much more than is contained herein.This volume along with The Complete Cantos I would consider to be sufficient as, more or less, the completion of any poetry enthusiasts Pound collection and I certainly recommend it (especially to aspiring poets).If you already enjoy Pound's work this is definitely for you.

Great collection
Great collection in a wonderful long lasting binding from a non profit group that want's to preserve American Liturature. How can you go wrong.

If you are a Pound fan or just curious, this will be an important well read book in your library.

my how the mighty have fallen, but to what benefit?
Not long ago English Departments were busy with dissertation after dissertation on Ezra Pound.At the time, many complained of a Pound Factory or Pound Industry.Yet today, there is not one Amazon review of this important collection of modern poetry.We all know the charges against Pound, anti-American, Anti-Semite, etc... and there can and should be no justification for any of the truly ugly things that he said and believed.If I am not mistaken, though, Richard Wagner is once again being played without challenge.I suspect that it has to do with the unfortunate fact that he produced works of amazing genius.Though I am no fan of Wagner or his music and despise his and Pound's racism, I do feel it necessary to acknowlege his place within the realm of modern/romantic music and/or the history of opera.Pound was, though we may not like the fact, apoet of genius who mentored Joyce, Eliot, Hemingway, Frost, Lowell, and yes even Yeats.He is an important bridge from modernism back to the Edwardian and Victorian poets.We ignore him and his works of genius at our own loss.
The Library of America edition has brought together many individual works of Pound from the Personna to his verse translations from the Chinese (in a manner of speaking).They have provided a significant service to Arts and Letters in this country by filling in this gape in their catalogue.This work contains all of Pound's poetry excluding the Cantos.Dig in deep, open this work anywhere and discover Pound afresh.You will see why A.S. Byatt considered using Pound's verse for her masterful, Possessions.As he said of Eliot, "Read him." ... Read more

Product Description
Ezra Pound makes his Penguin Classics debut with this unique selection of his early poems and prose, edited with an introductory essay and notes by Pound expert Ira Nadel. The poetry includes such early masterpieces as "The Seafarer," "Homage to Sextus Propertius," "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley," and the first eight of Pound’s incomparable "Cantos." The prose includes a series of articles and critical pieces, with essays on Imagism, Vorticism, Joyce, and the well-known "Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent poetry- mediocre compilation
This is, in my opinion, some of the best of Pound's poetry. I bought the book particularly for the poem "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley" and I was sorely let down by the sparse notes provided in this edition. Pound is a difficult poet who uses plenty of obscure allusions and this edition doesn't do enough to explain and contextualize those parts of the text. I would recommend looking for a different compilation.

An excellent collection...
Penguin took the best of Pound's "Personae" and his essays on poetry, the Chinese ideogram, etc., and combined them to make up this volume entitled "Early Writings."It's not comprehensive by any means, but for those seeking out some of Pound's other work besides the "Cantos," it's very solid.I quite value my copy.I could go more in depth in my analysis of Pound's work, but I'm not going to clog the literary byways of the heart with my opinions.The fact is, whatever his reputation, Pound was the greatest poet of his generation, and one of the greatest of the twentieth century.His modernist writings are essential to understanding our current literary world.In short, love him or hate him, but read him!.

(As a side note, it seems that people don't know where to look for poetry in the twentieth century besides Pound, Eliot, Yeats, etc.If I may make a few suggestions for those unfamiliar with the more obscure poets: I've greatly enjoyed Louis Zukofsky, Charles Olson, John Berryman, Wallace Stevens, William Empson, Ted Hughes, Robert Lowell, and others.Research and read the best poetry.Don't accept anyone else's opinions about what is good or bad.Evaluate poetry solely in terms of what you love and what moves you.I think Pound himself would agree with those principles.)

Probably the best intro to Pound
Despite what many have said, read the quotes on this book. The first at the top of the page is from Hemingway, the second from Joyce, and both are accurate.

Pound makes learning fun.

Reading Pound has changed my life in many ways. I'd like to think for the better. I'm not fit to judge the rectitude of his positions on economics, politics, etc., but he's never failed me when it's come to literature (a few exceptions), and that's the focus of this collection.

Another from Hemingway- 'Ezra was wrong about half the time, but when he was, he was so wrong you couldn't miss it.'

Definitely check out the ABC of Reading, the Spirit of Romance, The Guide to Kulchur, and the Literary Essays for more prose, and the Library of America volume and the Cantos for more poetry. The Library of America one is particularly good. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

If only Joyce to Pound were salvaged
Great. My mother never had an inkling to care for neither Joyce nor Pound (the extensiveness they procure). She's flicked through these letters and, looks like i might eventually have somebody to discuss these two Greats with, here at home...

SURE WE'VE ALL HEARD OF EZRA POUND BUT WHO ACTUALLY READS HIM? OR JOYCE!
Within these three hundred elegantly published pages from New Directions we may come to understand how Ezra Pound served as brilliant and talented midwife and nursemaid of the modernist literary movement, including editing TS Eliot's Wasteland, cutting out the waste and leaving the essential, creating the epic poem we now study. Herein we may read Pound serving in every way the ground breaking literary creations of Mr. James Joyce, leaving him only after the early writing of Finnegans Wake.

Clearly without Pound we would have no Joyce, as Pound served as aggressive literary agent, as encouraging force for Joyce, as clarion critic and publicist, creating each of these positions long prior to their cynical establishment within the present corporate literary industry. The brilliant writings by Pound published by New Directions within this comprehensive volume, with excellent introduction and commentary by Forrest Read, serve to prove the debt world literature owes Mr. Pound, who at the expense of his own writing served other writers so completely.

This work serves as encouragement and reinforcement for any struggling writer battling against his or her muse, as the words Pound sends Mr. Joyce here may strengthen and comfort each writer entering upon new and uncertain ground. Please notice the subtitle states "The Letters of Ezra Pound to James Joyce" as despite the main title we find only three letters from Mr. Joyce included, as so much went missing in action. The life of Mr. Pound, despite serving as secretary to Mr. Yeats, did not provide for preservation of correspondence, particularly late in his life when the US government imprisoned him within a mental institution for years. In fact for further study of that interesting phenomenom, the reader would do well to consider the book Joyce and the G-men, regarding J Edgar Hoover's cultural war on the modernist movement, which destroyed even the great American novelist James Wright. ... Read more

Product Description
A new edition of Pound's groundbreaking shorter poems.If the invention of literary modernism is usually attributed to James Joyce, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, it was Pound alone who provided (in Hugh Kenner's words) "the synergetic presence") to convert individual experiment into an international movement. In 1926 Pound carefully sculpted his body of shorter poems into a definitive collection which would best show the concentration of force, the economy of means, and the habit of analysis that were, to him, the hallmarks of the new style.This collection, where Pound presented himself in a variety of characters or "masks," was called Personae. In 1926, Personae's publication gave solidity to a movement today the work stands as one of the classic texts of the twentieth century. Pound scholars Lea Baechler (of Columbia) and A. Walton Litz (Holmes Professor of English Literature at Princeton) have prepared a corrected text and supplied an informative "Note on the Text" explaining both Pound's original criteria for his selection and the volume's subsequent history.Amazon.com Review
Known for his delicate perception as well as his passionate opinions,Ezra Pound published this, his first collection of poetry, in 1926. Pound wasas much a diviner as he was a poet, and his writing is as much observationand experience as it is prophecy. He was especially drawn to beauty and hiswriting extols the magnificence of profound emotion and the beguilingwonderment of intellect. From translations and reconstructions of pieces ofancient literature to his own postulations on art, love, and life, this is aworthy addition to any personal library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Artist of the beautiful.
This collection of Pound's earlier poems is the necessary companion of any modern poet.Especially noteworthy, and on display here, is the Pound Rhythm.Pound wrote poetry that embodied its own music.There is much to learn from Pound and in this volume he can be approached without the annotated index that is needed to tackle The Cantos.

not quite so superb
It is a sad fact, but all of the greatest poets of the 20th century, perhaps with the exception of Saint-John Perse and William Carlos Williams, felt the inexplicable urge to join the herd and camp out in highly dubious company. Mayakovsky, Ungaretti, Auden took at least temporary refuge in the revolution's dream of a world ruled by the proletarians of all nations - until the dream had turned into a nightmare. Gottfried Benn, not an anti-Semite by any means, became Nazi for the sake of their eugenic policies, Ezra Pound a card carrying fascist in MusoliniÕs operatic rule; and both converted with zest. T.S. Eliot didn't mind to show his antisemitic leopard spots.

Of those who came clean through, Georg Trakl died too early to go wrong, though he had his own problems; Marianne Moor, I guess, can claim a gender privilege; Brodsky and Else Lasker-SchŸler had little choice anyway because they sat on the sharp end of the centuryÕs numerous persecutions. A sad sight indeed. Another rather strange aspect is to see the top aces Eliot and Auden crossing the Atlantic in opposite directions and swapp nationalities or even to emigrate out of their languages altogether, like Sengor and Brodsky, which especially for a poet should be tantamount to artistic suicide.

(But it had been done before: the first rate Roman poet Claudianus was born Greek, the Archepoeta excelled in Latin when it had become the artificial Esperanto among medieval intellectuals, the French Chamisso naturalized himself in German (though I heard a Russian(!) friend of mine dismissing him as substandard,) the Polish born Conrad was awarded the Nobel-prize for his novels in English, Nabokov was a leading American writer. Being bilingual myself, I know the pains. Something is lost. No matter how attentive the authorÕs ear - he almost inevitably has more dictionaries than humans for company.)

To be a poet in troubled times is never easy, and the 20th century was a watershed between the cultural paradigms. But I didnÕt see Pound writing a ÒVigil of Venus.Ó Poetry is a pagan instinct, and the last line of defence of the old idols - maybe it has really run its course. But then language still needs its shepherds to protect it from the stench and spill of modern journalese, and new poems, waiting to be discovered, are still floating in that haze of unborn dreams, that is shrouding our planet.

It seems Pound, with all his considerable powers, spoke too loud, and with too booming a voice, to actually sense the arrival of a new poem from limbo. He was definitely a most able translator; he had the right instincts; he knew everything there is to know about literature. So when he ultimately failed in his original poetry, it must be a deficiency of temperament, and character, and perhaps even talent. But in ÒPersonaeÓ he gives us what he could do best - to create and impersonate a persona from the stockpile of dead poets.

His impersonation of Propertius is superb, the translation of Cavalcanti and other residents from DanteÕs inferno is a labor of love. As for his ventures into Chinese I recommend caution. The Chinese I knew had a funny way to respond to his renditions. Alongside of Kipling, though not quite as talented, Pound is the best ventriloquist in the language. However he picked up a trifle too much from PropertiusÕ obscurity. The comparison to PoundÕs own ÒCantosÓ is revealing.

An Excellent Collection
I don't know what the other reviewer is talking about, but the book is arranged just fine.In fact, one would think that with the addition of the Note on the Text it would be irrefutably clear how it was arranged & selected, but I guess at least one guy didn't think so. The majority of the book is roughly chronological in the way Ezra Pound chose.The poems are broken into groups:Poems of 1908-1911, Poems from Ripostes (1912), Poems from Blast (1914), Poems of Lustra (1913-1915), Cathay (1915), Poems of Lustra (1915-1916), & Poems of 1917-1920.There are then Appendixes added, the first consisting of Three Cantos (1917); the second, uncollected poems from 1912-1917; & the third, The Complete Poetical Works of T. E. Hulme, which was originally an appendix to the book Ripostes.& then there's the Note on the Text explaining this layout. They removed the post-1926 work, as this shall appear in a future revision of Pavannes and Divagations, and they left out a few previously appendixed poems since they are already printed in The Translations or in Collected Early Poems.& then they added a few extra poems in appendix, the two recently-published war poems of 1914-1915, the original version of "In a Station of the Metro," & the prose poem "Ikon."& that's all of it, as is clear from the table of contents & note on the text. Now then, all that aside, these are absolutely brilliant poems.They contain stunning beauty, humor, originality, depth, & unbelievable intelligence & imagination.Pound completely changed what poetry was capable of, paving the way for countless innovators since with his inimitable driving voice.It would be a terrible shame if folks passed over this book just because one guy gave it less than its deserved five stars.The editors certainly didn't lie about anything - just because Pound wrote three cantos in 1917that weren't part of the famous Cantos doesn't mean you've been swindled.(If fact, the conclusion to the third early canto later became, with some modification, Canto I.) So, hopefully this clarifies things, so that more people will have the chance to read these terrific poems.I'd also suggest, if you like this book, getting the readings that Pound made of "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley," "Moeurs Contemporaines," & some other poems.The tape is still in print, & Ezra Pound is one of the best readers around, up there with John Cage, William Burroughs, James Joyce ... Enjoy.

Pound is fantastic...but the editors?
Personae is a work that Pound originally created himself with the intent that it would contain what he believed to be a good representation of his earlier work.Among many other things this means that we are forced towork our way through the muck of his early poems, which are obviouslylittle more than an exercises that helped Pound be the fantastic poet thathe is.

To further pain the reader, the editors of this edition ofPersonae have completely botched their job.One would think that being aneditor of a book already set out by one of the greatest teachers of the20th century (and one of the best ears for poetry) would be an easy enoughjob...they aparently worked at failing.I can't really say how well Pounddid at putting this book together because the editors have admittedlyadded, removed and otherwise distorted the book out of Pound's originalvision.To prove how horribly they did, there is a section of the booktoward the end called "Three Cantos."Any reader familiar withPound would expect it to be the Cantos he spent the later portion of hislife writing:they're not.I have no idea what they are but the editorslied to the reader.

That said, the book also contains some of Pounds bestworks.Unfortunately I am forced to give this 5 star poet 3 stars, due tothe harm done to me by the editors of Personae. ... Read more

Product Description
This first volume of what will be a full-scale biography presents Ezra Pound as a very determined and energetic young genius--at 15 he told his father "I want to write before I die the greatest poems that have ever been written"--setting out to make his way both as a poet and as a force for civilization in England and America in the years before, during and just after World War I.
In this lively narrative A. David Moody weaves a story of Pound's early life and loves, his education in America, and his years in London, where he trained himself to become a great poet-learning from W. B.Yeats, Ford Madox Hueffer, and others-and exhorting his contemporaries to abandon Victorian sentimentality and "make it new." Pound was at the center of everything, forming his own Imagiste group, joining with Wyndham Lewis in his Vorticism, championing the work of James Joyce, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, and T. S. Eliot, and constantly on the lookout for new talent as International Editor for Harriet Monroe's Poetry magazine. Moody traces Pound's evolution as a poet from the derivative idealism and aestheticism of his precocious youth to his Cathay," based on the transliterations of the Sineologist Ernest Fenollosa, to the stunningly original Homage to Sextus Propertius and Hugh Selwyn Mauberley. By 1920 Pound was established as a force for revolution in poetry and in his critical writing as a brilliant iconoclast who argued against stifling conventions and the economic injustice of the capitalist system.
Ezra Pound: Poet gives us illuminating readings of the major early works and a unforgettable portrait of Pound himself-by turns brilliant, combative, selfless, ambitious-and always fascinating. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Ezra Pound: Poet by A. David Moody / An American Poet's Review by Carolyn Grassi
EZRA POUND: POET
A Portrait of the Man & His Work
Volume I The Young Genius 1885-1920
by A. David Moody
Oxford University Press, 2007

As an admirer of A. David Moody's outstanding book, T.S. Eliot: Poet, I eagerly picked up his Ezra Pound: Poet, Volume l. Once again, Moody is a masterful guide-- this time illuminating in detail the evolution of the young Pound as poet of the famed "Cantos." A fascinating pleasurable read for sure thanks to Moody's fine prose and brilliant insights. We travel, as it were, into Pound's intensely self-confident readings and studies of poetry in his Pennsylvania college years. Learn how Pound thought of himself as a future inventor of a new kind of poetry via Pound's uniquely self-directed study, or apprenticeship to the works of the troubadours, Browning, Yeats, Homer, Sextus Propertius, Confucius, Li Po, Rihaku, Calvalcanti and primarily of Dante. Also, Moody situates Pound in the places influencing his future writings-- his American origins, his times in Paris and southern France and primarily, in this Volume I, Pound's years in England. For in London Pound's experiments in poetry, his drawing on currents from the above mentioned writers, will help create such movements in poetry itself, as Imagisime and Vorticism.

Moody presents Pound, the eclectic conversationalist, colorfully dressed figure, the boundlessly generous friend on behalf of other writers (Yeats, Joyce, Eliot). He is seen as constantly appealing to patrons, as John Quinn of New York, for financial support for other artists. Bluntly outspoken, as well, Pound confronts any writer, publisher or critic, he considered out-of-date obstacles to the emerging new poetry. His conviction that the arts will transform the world was unswerving. For Pound, the arts, and especially poetry were intimately woven into the fabric of everything else of value-- history, economics, music, painting, publications, politics, education, etc.

Towards the end of Moody's Volume I, he shows us the shape and content of Pound's great work to come: "The Cantos." This is a key section, where Moody reveals Pound's path as clearly revolutionary for his own work and for modern poetry itself. And though we have only the first seven cantos (in this Volume I), not yet fully developed by Pound at that stage, Moody whets our appetite for the future "Cantos" (and for Pound: Poet Volume II).

At the completion of Moody's clear and wide-ranging account of Pound's development as a young poet we stand, as if impatiently watching Ezra and Dorothy pack their bags for the move from London to Italy--future home for the creation of Pound's "Cantos." "On with it!"-- we cheer poet and critic.
A final comment-- this is a "must read" for any Pound scholar or aficionado. And for those, as myself, who have stumbled over Pound's poetry and often given up; now we have Moody's sensitive and intelligent guidance into that mysterious complex world of Pound's poetry. I think A. David Moody's Ezra Pound: Poet is the best possible happening for Pound's poetry, since it first appeared.

The Latest Pound Biography
Ezra Pound: Poet I: The Young Genius 1885-1920
If you want the fullest account of Pound's life to date, start with this volume. It is the first of two volumes and will when complete be more detailed than any biography of the poet so far.If you want to understand why Ezra Pound deserves a biography of this magnitude, read Pound.Almost all his works in poetry and prose are in print, a third of a century after his death.Few writers can claim such longevity. Pound is here to stay, because for all his faults he was a great poet--a highly eccentric and controversial personality, as this biography shows, but a great poet nevertheless. ... Read more

Product Description
Ezra Pound’s classic book about the meaning of literature, with a new introduction by Michael Dirda.This important work, first published in 1934, is a concise statement of Pound’saesthetic theory. It is a primer for the reader who wants to maintain an active,critical mind and become increasingly sensitive to the beauty and inspiration ofthe world’s best literature. With characteristic vigor and iconoclasm, Pound illustrates his precepts with exhibits meticulously chosen from the classics, andthe concluding “Treatise on Meter” provides an illuminating essay for anyoneaspiring to read and write poetry. ABC of Reading displays Pound’s great ability to open new avenues in literature for our time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Never received
I never received this book and was very disappointed. I don't understand how I could pay for it...and then it would never be delivered to me. I don't recommend this seller.

Malarky
Malarky! And Pound is a charlatan whose ideas about literature have no place in today's global, multilingual, multiethnic literary culture. One of his major premises for positing the possibility of a more concrete poetic language is that the Chinese language is made up of "ideograms" that counter the abstraction present in western european languages. I study Chinese language and literature and have a pretty good reading and speaking knowledge of Chinese and this is just hooey. Chinese script is and always has been made up of both images and sound, it behaves much like any other written language. Although it does have some unique traits, as do all languages, it shouldn't be exoticized as Pound does. And worst yet, without any real knowledge of the language he uses it to support a theory of literature. As a poet, Pound had considerable talent, but as a theorist and thinker he was very, very weak. I wonder how many of his other ideas, on imagism, vorticism, on Italian classical literature were as poorly reasoned.

Insight into Pound
This book should not be approached as a guide on how to read, but as an example of Pound's brilliance.The essence of the book is that the more one reads, the better one becomes at it.That is, by exposing oneself to the greatest variety of literature, one should eventually become capable of seeing connections and allusions more clearly, and deriving greater meaning, from what one subsequently reads.This is why most people say that they discover more in "Huckleberry Finn" as they reread it over the course of their lives.

By his familiarity with a singularly wide range of literature in many languages, Pound exemplified the consummate reader.Few of those perusing this book will be able to approach his level.In this way, the book is more a promise than a guide.

The book is, as others have noted, full of startling and unusual opinions.For example, Pound argues that Chaucer is a greater writer than Shakespeare; a little analysis will reveal why.As a highly educated, multi-lingual, and widely-traveled individual, Chaucer's life contrasts with that of the more provincial, less learned, and middle-class Shakespeare.Had Pound met both men in a social setting, he would have had far more in common with Chaucer.Thus we may conclude that the writers to whom we feel the greatest affinity are those whose lives most parallel our own.This isn't my opinion, it's Pound's, and each reader may agree or disagree as he wishes.

Literature is news that stays news
This small book contains notes for lectures given by the author, and even propositions for student exercises.
Ezra Pound's comments on language, poetry, drama and music are very astute and actual.
There are two kinds of written language, one based on sound (English), the other based on sight (Chinese).
Three chief means charge language with meaning: visual imagination, emotional correlations by sound and speech, and stimulation of associations remained in consciousness in relation to the actual word groups. Most human perceptions date from long time ago, before we were born.
Poetry atrophies when it gets too far from music. Music rots when it gets too far from dance.
The medium of poetry is words; the medium of drama is people, using words.
Cinema supersedes a great deal of second-rate narrative and a great deal of theatre.

On writing and writers, Ezra Pound is very severe.
An author should write in order to teach, to move, to delight (R. Agricola). He should use an efficient, accurate and clear language. He should not use words that contribute nothing to the meaning or that distort from the most important factor of the meaning.
The dirtiest book is a manual telling people how to earn money by writing.

This book contains excellent comments on his preferred authors: Homer, Chaucer, Villon, Dante, Shakespeare, but also G. Crabbe or W.S. Landor.
Some of his examples however, should have been translated (`Ne maeg werigmod wyrde widhstondan').
He stresses rightly the importance of art: `A nation which neglects the perceptions of its artists declines.'

A very worth-while read.

ACTUALLY THE HUMBLE (HERE) MR. POUND'S ABC'S OF WRITING
Any cursory search of this mighty amazon renders a mountain of manuals written by people who in the main cannot write advising you how to write.

This pamphlet, this religious tract, this mighty treatise is the grand-daddy of them all.

Before Robert Graves formalized this genre of meta-writing with his Reader over your shoulder, Mr. Pound engendered it powerfully like an Olympian god thundering in his might and wisdom, with an unrepeatable authority and a robust strength.

Yet he conceals this literate power and glory like Moses in the bullrushes, as mere reflections and cautious advice about how to read. He frequently states with great caution and trepidation that he could never so presume as to indicate to writers how to write and how we fail miserably to write clearly and well, and yet he then proceeds to do so, and marvelously so, while denying it all the way.

Anyone who wishes to write in any way must first read this book.

The spotlight review above more than adequately cites this source, and so I shall not trouble you with further citations. The ghost of the great Oscar Wilde, dripping with epigrams, often walks herein.

You will be unable to put down this witty and wise book, but will walk or drive with nose shoved between its leaves and a pencil stub in hand, marking every line heavily until you cannot recall which you intended to highlight for further meditation and study, and filling the margins with your own dijointed, incoherent marginalia.

In a word, you will write clearly, concisely, with precise use of vocabulary. Poetry is distillery. Who writes less writes more.

But that is only my own clumsy and imprecise summaries of what treasures you might find within this book.

Everyone who writes must read this book. Everyone who reads literature or other writings must read this book. This is the owner's manual to any other book, to any attempt at writing, including my own and your own and it helps us greatly and generously at every step. ... Read more

Product Description
The Companion is a major contribution to the literary evaluation of Pound's great, but often bewildering and abstruse work, The Cantos. Available in a one-volume paperback edition for the first time, the Companion brings together in conveniently numbered glosses for each canto the most pertinent details from the vast body of work on the Cantos during the last thirty years.The Companion contains 10,421 separate glosses that include translations from eight languages, identification of all proper names and works, Pound's literary and historical allusions, and other exotica, with exegeses based upon Pound's sources.Also included is a supplementary bibliography of works on Pound, newly updated, and an alphabetized index to The Cantos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Superb!
This is absolutely indispensable for a serious study of Pound's Cantos, the glosses are totally thorough, and the companion maintains the brevity appropriate to its task. This book does not contain much in the way of criticism, and that is not what it is attempting to accomplish. This book makes Pound's allusions accessible, and allows the Cantos to be actually read on their own terms; the text includes information on every single thing which might be unintelligible for the very average reader, with indexes, supplements on Chinese characters, etc. If you intend to read or study the Cantos, in an at all meaningful way, you should use this text--unless of course you know greek, latin, chinese, italian, medieval history, World War II, Dante, economics, not to mention the whole English literary canon.

Indispensable
Professor Terrell was my neighbor and a very kind man. He was also a World War Two veteran with a keen appreciation of Ezra Pound's astute assessments of twentieth century US militarism. We spoke at his home several times about Ezra Pound and about this book of scholarly exegesis. Professor Terrell said he spent six years preparing it with the help of English graduate students who collated his notes and assisted his research of recondite Poundian references. A Companion to The Cantos is a cornerstone of every Poundian library. Professor Terrell provides an annotation for nearly all the literary, religious, architectural, and historical references Pound consistently invokes throughout the Cantos. Like James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, the Cantos are nearly unintelligible without a companion reference; so for serious study this text is an excellent resource. It is hard to conceive penetration of the Cantos without it.

Another fine but far briefer reference is William Cookson's A Guide to the Cantos of Ezra Pound, Revised Edition. Unlike Terrell, Cookson concentrates less on Poundian vocabulary and more on the broad historical sweep of the Cantos. The two books together provide a master key.

The Cantos
This volume has been invaluable in my attempts to illuminate Ezra Pound's Cantos. Disregarding the words ofthose who shrink back from his genius, it can be said that Pound forged a singular poetry. However, the daunting initiation to his work is the mass of referential and anecdotal material that must be absorbed. This has intmidated pseudo-intellectuals since the work was written, and most likely accounts for the blatant hostility that is evident in other reviews.
This companion does not explicate The Cantos for the average reader, for Pound quite simply will never appeal to that reader. Rather, this work gives the earnest student the tools to allow these works to achieve their intended effect. It can reveal the raw substance that fills the beautifully sculpted verse, but the reader can and must allow it to achieve proper harmony within his own mind. It does not require genius, but it does demand a sincere and open mind. Once the music of these words - both the aural and the conceptual - has been grasped and integrated, then we begin to glimpse the majesty of Pound's achievement.

The Cantos
This volume has been invaluable in my attempts to illuminate Ezra Pound's Cantos. Disregarding the words ofthose who shrink back from his genius, it can be said that Pound forged a singular poetry. However, the daunting initiation to his work is the mass of referential and anecdotal material that must be absorbed. This has intmidated pseudo-intellectuals since the work was written, and most likely accounts for the blatant hostility that is evident in other reviews.
This companion does not explicate The Cantos for the average reader, for Pound quite simply will never appeal to that reader. Rather, this work gives the earnest student the tools to allow these works to achieve their intended effect. It can reveal the raw substance that fills the beautifully sculpted verse, but the reader can and must allow it to achieve proper harmony within his own mind. It does not require genius, but it does demand a sincere and open mind. Once the music of these words - both the aural and the conceptual - has been grasped and integrated, then we begin to glimpse the majesty of Pound's achievement.

An indispensable key to unlocking many mysteries.
A COMPANION TO THE CANTOS OF EZRA POUND.By Carroll F. Terrell. 791 pp.(Published in Cooperation with The National Poetry Foundation, University of Maine at Orono, Maine).Berkeley : University of California Press, First Paperback Printing 1993 (1980). ISBN 0-520-08287-7

In his Preface, Terrell tells us that "the Companion was conceived to be the logical step" between 'The Annotated Index to the Cantos of Ezra Pound' by John Hamilton Edwards and William W. Vasse (1957) "and the definitive variorum edition of 'The Cantos' which would be the function of the future" (p.x).Originally published in two volumes, with 4,722 numbered glosses in Volume I and 5,649 glosses in Volume II, the 10,421 glosses have been conveniently brought together in the present 1-volume paperback edition.These glosses includetranslations from eight languages, identification of all proper namesand works, Pound's literary and historical allusions, and so on. Thetext is based on the 1975 edition of 'The Cantos' published by New Directions and Faber.

Terrell also points out that, since 'The Cantos' is sucha difficult poem, there is a very real need for it to "be made more easily comprehensible to a sizable audience of students and professors as well as critics" (p.ix).Hence the Companion "is not ... for Pound scholars who do not need it.It is ... a handbook for new students of 'The Cantos' who need it badly.Therefore it is not designed as a complete compendium of present knowledge about 'The Cantos,' with exegeses and analyses of the text; such a 10-volume work must be left to the future....The book is designed for thebeginner so as to (1) answer his first and most immediate questions;(2) tell him where to go next for exegesis and comment; (3) tell him where to go to find the sources EP used" (p.x).

The Companion contains glosses on Cantos 1-16, Cantos 17-30, XI New Cantos, Leopoldine Cantos, The China Cantos, The Adams Cantos, ThePisan Cantos, Rock-Drill Cantos, Thrones, The Coke Cantos, Drafts and Fragments.The glosses range in length from a single line to several paragraphs, and many of them are very full.Each section is preceded with a short list covering Sources, Background, and Exegeses.

Terrell's own view of the poem, as he admits, has to a certain extent influenced his glosses.He tells us that, for him : "'The Cantos' is a great religious poem .... an account of man's progress from the darkness of hell to the light of paradise.Thus it is a revelation of how divinity is manifested in the universe..." (p.viii).

But although the major import of the poem can be stated simply, the fact of Pound having "opted for a musical thematic structure rather than the more traditional historical or narrative structure ... and the extreme concentration of his piths and gists [has made] the text difficult to adjust to " (p.viii).Hence the need of the reader for extensiveglosses.

In a book of this nature, it would of course be impossible to satisfy everyone.Some readers will probably wish that certain glosses had been fuller, others less extensive, and yet others will probably gohunting for glosses which aren't there.Terrell has tried to strike a balance between what he felt might and might not be of useto the kind of reader the book is aimed at, and on the whole seems to have done an excellent job.

Besides the glosses on Cantos 1-117, the book also contains threeIndexes : 1. an alphabetized Index to The Cantos; 2. an Index to Foreign Words and Phrases in Roman Alphabet; 3. an Index to Words and Phrases in Greek; 4. an Index to Chinese Characters.It appears that Pound used only about 300 different Chinese Characters in 'The Cantos,' not too large a number for the keen student to learn.

In Terrell's Index the Chinese Characters are printed, unfortunately,in a rather small font, and also (at least in my copy) are very poorly printed.This is the only part of the book which might have been muchbetter, since beginners need to see large bold printed forms in whichthe structure of complex characters can be easily discerned, and nottiny weak faint smudges in which some of the strokes don't show upat all.

Happily, Terrell has thoughtfully provided Mathews numbers for all of the Characters, and readers with access to the easily available (and excellent) 'Mathews Chinese-English Dictionary' will quickly beable to locate clearly printed forms along with their definitions.

This book is a heavy volume, well-printed (except for the Chinese) in a small clear font indouble columns on strong high-quality paper, and is bound in a sturdy wrapper.Although not stitched, it has one of those flexible gluedspines that don't crack on opening, and seems designed to stand up to the heavy use a reference work of this kind can get.

Some of its readers will no doubt have quibbles, others will fail to realize the staggering amount of work that goes into writing a book of this kind, but all students of 'The Cantos' owe a huge debt of gratitude to Terrell for having provided them with an indispensable key to unlocking some of the many mysteries this beautiful but obscure poem holds. ... Read more

Product Description
At last, a definitive, paperback edition of Ezra Pound's finest work.

Ezra Pound's The Pisan Cantos was written in 1945, while the poet was being held in an American military detention center near Pisa, Italy, as a result of his pro-Fascist wartime broadcasts to America on Radio Rome. Imprisoned for some weeks in a wire cage open to the elements, Pound suffered a nervous collapse from the physical and emotional strain. Out of the agony of his own inferno came the eleven cantos that became the sixth book of his modernist epic, The Cantos, themselves conceived as a Divine Comedy for our time.

The Pisan Cantos were published in 1948 by New Directions and in the following year were awarded the Bollingen Prize for poetry by the Library of Congress. The honor came amid violent controversy, for the dark cloud of treason still hung over Pound, incarcerated in St. Elizabeths Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Yet there is no doubt that The Pisan Cantos displays some of his finest and most affecting writing, marking an elegaic turn to the personal while synthesizing the philosophical and economic political themes of his previous cantos. They are now being published for the first time as a separate paperback, in a fully annotated edition prepared by Richard Sieburth, who also contributes a thoroughgoing introduction, making Pound's master-work fully accessible to students and general readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Ambition and madness
The Pantos Cantos takes us back to the days of Modernism when artists had heart and desired to experiment. These days, writers have to pander to illiterate readers, ambitious editors and know-nothing marketing departments. This is in-your-face art for art's sake, gloriously elitist, ugly, difficult, sprawling, all that good and high art should be. Who needs readers? Who needs post-modernist defence of the popular and accessible?

Gorgeously wrought
This magnum opus of one of the most celebrated and controversial figures in literature was written while he was being held in detention for treason. He was a fascist, and anti-Semite, but how the chicks, and Allen Ginsberg, dug him. And you should, too--politics aside. Pound's writings on poetry were monumental in the formation of greats like T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, and the aforementioned Ginsberg. The Cantos are gorgeously wrought, and range from exquisitely beautiful to fantastically erudite and opaque. And it's fun to watch him make up arbitrary meanings for Chinese ideograms because some posthumously debunked scholar misled him.

Superb edition
This superbly edited volume makes Pound's "Pisans" readily available in an attractive and affordable paperback edition.This is some of the most important American poetry of the post-War period, with intelligent and helpful annotations to make the work fully accessible even to those not versed in Poundian arcana. Indispensable! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Enlightening addition to the criticism of Ezra Pound
The later "Cantos" are among the finest poetic constructions in 20th-Century literature.They are also some of the most obtuse.Few scholars have interpreted them in such depth and with such lucidity as has Wilhelm.He explores the diverse influences of literature and thought on Pound's poetry (from Dante and Confucious to political and economic philosophy), thereby providing valuable insights into a body of work previously deficient of authoritative criticism.The relevance of Pound's verse in contemporary times makes this book of even greater value at present and the comprehensive understanding it offers should help provide greater appreciation of Pound. ... Read more

Product Description
"Unlike other biographical portraits of Ezra Pound, John Tytell's brilliant and ambitious work offers an interpretive study that boldly confronts the emotional truths and psychological drama that formed this complex and controversial American poet. Neither an apology nor a condemnation, it presents instead a meticulous exploration into the mind and vision of a man who galvanized a generation and challenged an entire literary-and world-establishment. Although he enjoyed little fame in his lifetime, Pound's notoriety and influence were enormous, as he arrogantly slashed away at convention and almost single-handedly brought about the twentieth-century revolution in poetry known as modernism. Ultimately, outrage and scandal turned his art to madness, and Pound's last years saw him fall tragically silent." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Exceptional Literary Biography
For those who choose not to wade through the massive, new biography of Pound by A. David Moody, this is a highly recommended, much less exhaustive work.Pound's troubling, fascinating life is presented objectively in this interestingly written bio.

EzraPound
If you prefer to know and understand the writer behind the poetry, consider purchasing this biography.As difficult and unworldy as Pounds' literature tends to be, it is often a necessity that one study his life before conquering his poetry.It is the life we live that influences what we create.Before consuming yourself with The Cantos, consider what decisions and people influenced its ingenuity.John Tytell gives us everything we need to know concerning Ezra Pound.Perhaps not the definitive biography of Ezra's life; it does cover most of what you desire. ... Read more

Product Description

Ezra Pound forever changed the course of poetry. The author of a vast body of literature, his enormous range of references and use of multiple languages make him one of the most obscure authors and—because of his Fascism, anti-Semitism, and questionable sanity—one of the most controversial. This encyclopedia is a concise yet comprehensive guide to his life and writings. Included are more than 250 alphabetically arranged entries on such topics as Arabic history, Chinese translation, dance, Hilda Doolittle, Egyptian literature, Robert Frost, and Pound's publications. The entries are written by roughly 100 expert contributors and cite works for further reading.

Ezra Pound forever changed the course of poetry. His vast body of poetry and critical works make him one of the 20th century's most prolific writers, and his influence has shaped later poets, great and small. His enormous range of references, deliberate obscurity, and use of multiple languages make him one of the most difficult authors and— because of his Fascism, anti-Semitism, and questionable sanity—one of the most controversial figures in American literary history. This encyclopedia is a concise yet comprehensive guide to his life and writings.

Customer Reviews (1)

WHAT DID EZRA POUND REALLY SAY?
"From 1945 through 1958 America's iconoclastic poet--the flamboyant EzraPound, one of the most influential individuals of his generation--was held in a Washington, D.C. mental institution, accused of treason. Pound had merely done what he had always done--spoken his mind. Unfortunately for Pound, however, he had made the error of criticizing the American government in a series of broadcasts from Italy during World War II and urged the United States NOT to get involved in this war.

And what Ezra Pound said turns out to be eerily appropriate for the horrible developments happening TODAY. The stories you have been taught about World War II are wrong. Pound spent 13 years in a mental institution (without a trial) for being right and for speaking the truth he was made to pay a heavy price.

Unfortunately, given the way histories tend to be written (namely, by the victors), what Pound did and what happened to him because of that are rather widely known, whereas what he actually said that got him into so much trouble with the U.S. Government and placed in a mental institution WITHOUT A TRIAL, IS NOT.

ORDER a copy of The December 1997 issue of The Barnes Review at The Barnes Review . org.Was Pound really a traitor--or a prophet? Read his words and you can judge for yourself.EZRA POUND'S RADIO SPEECHES from WWII IS A MUST READ for every American.

If you need more encouragement to take the plunge and buy this book, Check out THE BARNES REVIEW December 1997 Archive Issue, where you can read this one article at The Barnes Review archive. "What did Ezra Pound Really Say" by Michael Collins Piper. The entire issue is fantastic as TBR presents a fascinating in-depth overview of precisely what Pound had to say in those now-infamous broadcasts. (Amazon does NOT allow direct links to The Barnes Review. org) I BELIEVE THIS IS WELL WORTH THE READ! ... Read more