Pound, Ezra (Vol. 1) | Pound, Ezra 1885–
Pound, Ezra 1885–
A major American poet, now living in Italy, Pound will be remembered for his Cantos and for his influence on, and assistance given to, innumerable English-language writers. He has also written prose and has done translations. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 5-8, rev. ed.)
Ezra Pound could be a beautiful poet, in dribs and drabs of isolated lyric pieces. His real gift is for pastiche. He has imitated the Greeks, the Chinese, and finally his own youth. But he has always been obsessed; for a number of years he was clearly insane, and what makes him puzzling—if you really look into him—is his manic oscillation between savagery and tenderness, between real insight and phony scholarship. Any man of good will must be divided about Pound. For myself, surrounded as I am by inexpungible memories of the millions of dead, I cannot think of the purely literary case made out for Pound without horror.
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