Ezra Pound - One of The Most Notable Poets of The 20th Century

Many influential American poets throughout the 20th century partook in different poetry movements. Although many of these movements concerned traditional styles of poetry, there were modern movements that favored new styles of writing. Ezra Pound founded the Imagism movement. Pound rebelled against old standards of poetry, and from this he gained notoriety. He, along with several other poets, founded what many consider the most influential movement of the 20th century. Although Pound eventually resented what became of the Imagist movement, that is what he is best known for. Though he received much critical acclaim for his poetry, he was involved in controversies related to World War II. His accomplishments are often condemned due to his support of fascism in Europe. In short, he was famous for his poetry and infamous for his beliefs. Though controversial, Pound is one of the most influential and notable poets of the 20th century.

Origins and early adulthood

Ezra Loomis Pound was born on October 30, 1885, in Hailey, Idaho, a frontier town. His father, Homer Pound, was the son of Thaddeus Pound, a famous Republican Congressman. Ezra Pound admired Thaddeus Pound because of his many achievements. Ezra Pound viewed Thaddeus Pound as a selfless public servant he could model himself after (“Ezra Pound” Concise). This side of Ezra Pound’s family was primarily pioneers. In contrast, his mother, Isabel Weston Pound, came from a colonial family. She was distantly related to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a famous poet of the 19th century. This instilled pride in a young Pound, being of two sides of American history.

Pound moved many times throughout his childhood. In 1887, he and his family moved to New York City for a short time, and then to Thaddeus Pound’s farm in Wisconsin. In 1889, they moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they settled. Pound went to a number of schools in the Philadelphia area, from public schools to military academies. When he was fifteen, he decided that by the time he was thirty he would know more about poetry than any man living (“Pound, Ezra”). This early fascination with poetry would blossom into a genuine ambition.

From 1901 to 1903 Pound attended the University of Pennsylvania--where he met his long-time friends Williams Carlos Williams and Hilda Doolittle--but he then transferred to Hamilton College and graduated in 1905. In 1908, he went abroad to southern Europe, to places such as Gibraltar and Italy. Pound arrived in Venice, Italy with a total of eighty dollars (“Ezra Pound” Authors). Though he only lived in Italy for three months, he gained much inspiration for his first poetry collection, A Lume Spento, which he published in July of that year. Pound eventually settled in London, where he published another poetry collection, A Quinzaine for this Yule, Exultations and Personae. Critics acclaimed these two collections; an anonymous critic said that he had “the capacity for remarkable poetic achievement” (qtd. in “Ezra Pound” Authors). Although he showed promise at this time, Pound later looked back and said he did not have his “own voice” yet; his poetry sounded like a student swayed by his academic studies (Persoon).

Career ventures and WWI

In 1909, soon after settling in London, Pound met Olivia Shakespear, a novelist and mother to Dorothy Shakespear, his future wife. Pound married Dorothy Shakespear in 1914. Just two years before their marriage in 1912, Pound founded Imagism along with his old friends William Carlos Williams and Hilda Doolittle, as well as poets Richard Aldington and F. S. Flint. A woman named Amy Lowell also adopted Imagism. Imagism was a poetry movement that incorporated precision of language, and sought to detach itself from traditional, overly descriptive verse (“Pound, Ezra”). It was a rebellion against Victorian-era, romantic poetry. The inspiration for this movement stemmed from Southeast Asian literature. Pound began to study Chinese and Japanese writings. Pound became concerned with Confucian ideology, and its apparent opposition to Western civilization, which “was rotten to the core, eaten away by the corrupt politico-economic system of capitalist democracy” (paraphrased by Wernick). In 1913, Pound published a poem called “In a Station of the Metro,” which is a prime example of the simplicity demanded in a work of Imagism:

“In a Station of the Metro”

The apparition of these faces in the crowd:

Petals on a wet, black bough.

Pound wrote this poem in an altered form of Japanese haiku. It has no verbs, and simply describes a Metro station. The spacing and format is intentional, and it gives the poem a distinct rhythm. The lines also rhyme. The narrator describes apparitions passing by and petals on a tree. Other than these observations, the analysis of this poem is complete. The purpose of this type of poetry is not to over-analyze, but to get a vivid description out of as few words as possible. The main purpose was trying to find the exact right words to use. Another example of Imagism is below:

“And the days are not full enough”

And the days are not full enough

And the nights are not full enough

And life slips by like a field mouse

Not shaking the grass.

In the years after the creation of Imagism, poet Amy Lowell created her own anthologies. Pound did not think that these collections met Imagist standards; he called her works “Amygism.” Pound eventually distanced himself from Imagism and founded Vorticism, a movement based on mostly the same ideas as Imagism, but also related to visual arts and music. To alter Vorticism from being interchangeable with Imagism, Pound defined a “Vortex” as “a radiant node or cluster...from which, and through which, and into which ideas are constantly rushing” (qtd. In “Ezra Pound” Authors).

World War I deeply affected Pound. The endless killing of young men devastated him, and as a result, he lost his aggressively militant tone. He had stopped relentlessly criticizing America and England, and his writings during this time show that his only political hope lay in a “coalition of England, France, and America” (“Pound, Ezra”). Hugh Selwyn Mauberley, a long poem published in 1920, demonstrates this change of style after he experienced the horror of war.

Pound also used his notoriety to help other artists. To further other writers’ careers, Pound praised them while they were still relatively unknown. These artists were D. H. Lawrence, Robert Frost, H. D. (Hilda Doolittle), and Ernest Hemingway, all of which became widely known. Pound helped writers by connecting them with patrons, and he connected painters and sculptors with interested buyers.

Midlife, later life, and WWII

In 1921, Pound and his wife Dorothy moved to Paris, where they would live for three years. This is where he began his most ambitious project yet, The Cantos (“Pound, Ezra”). Over the course of his life he completed 120 Cantos. In 1924, Pound and his wife, moved to Italy because of the strong political and social currents present. From the 1920s until his death, Pound had an affair with Olga Rudge, a violinist. He spent less time with his wife as the years progressed and in 1925, Rudge had his daughter, Mary de Rachewiltz, who would be raised not by Rudge or Pound, but by a peasant family paid by Rudge. A year later in 1926, Dorothy Pound had a son, Omar, who would be raised by Olivia Shakespear.

In the 1930s, Pound connected the Fascist revolution in Italy to the American Revolution by comparing Benito Mussolini to Thomas Jefferson. Pound also saw himself as the Mussolini of the art world, the “strong-willed leader who can impel a collection of individuals into a common movement and who is able to convert ideas into action” (“Pound, Ezra”).

When World War II began, Pound was still in Italy, broadcasting a series of controversial radio commentaries. Pound had adopted the main principles of Fascism by this point. His radio broadcasts often attacked U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as the Jewish population in Europe. By 1943, the U.S. government indicted Pound for treason. During the trial, the judge ordered a psychiatric analysis of Pound. Dr. Winfred Overholser, a psychiatrist, deemed Pound 'mentally unfit to advise properly with counsel or to participate reasonably and intelligently in his own defense' (qtd. by Wernick). During his time at St Elizabeth's Hospital, he wrote The Pisan Cantos, which some consider the most admirable of all Pound’s Cantos. He remained there until 1958, when Robert Frost led a successful effort to free him. Though most of his friends helped him through this case, Pound’s broadcasts embarrassed and disgusted them.

Death and legacy

Pound returned to Italy in 1958, where he lived the rest of his life with Olga Rudge. The first image of him arriving in Italy after his trial is of him giving a fascist salute. By this time in Pound’s life, his mental health had seriously deteriorated. By 1962, he spoke less, but his memory was not impaired, and when he did talk his comments were “precise and correct” (“Pound, Ezra”). His psychiatrist found that while he was almost always rational, in “assigning of blame” his thinking appeared psychotic. In 1967, Pound told American poet Allen Ginsberg that he was most ashamed of his anti-Semitism, saying that it was “a stupid suburban prejudice.” (qtd. by Wernick). Pound died in his sleep on November 1, 1972 in Venice, Italy.

Fascist or not, Ezra Pound will forever be known as a talented, revolutionary poet who continues to influence poetry today. Simply put, “opinions about Pound run the gamut from uncritical adulation to vituperative hatred” (“Ezra Pound” Concise). Imagism and Vorticism rebelled against traditional poetry, enabling a modernization to occur. Although he contributed a great deal to modern poetry, it is impossible to learn about Pound without learning about his Fascist beliefs in his later life. This fact often overshadows his life work, but some have noted his mental instability in his later years, stating that it may have contributed to his support of Fascism. Regardless of this controversy, Pound has undoubtedly secured a place in the hierarchy of brilliant, visionary poets.