Ezra Pound Summary

Biography EssayEzra Pound's influence on the development of poetry in the twentieth century has unquestionably been greater than that of any other poet. No other writer has written as much poetry and ... Read more

Visionary, literary pioneer, traitor, poseur, genius. All of these terms have been used at one time or another to describe Ezra Pound, considered one of the major literary figures of the twentieth cen... Read more

Ezra Pound 's influence on the development of poetry in the twentieth century has unquestionably been greater than that of any other poet. No other writer has written as much poetry and criticism or d... Read more

In the following essay, Benstock examines American female modernist writers living in Paris, believing that many of them were ignored unfairly by such American editors as Ezra Pound, whom she perceive... Read more

In the following essay, originally published in 1959, Tate—the famed poet and head of the Bollingen Prize jury—defends his selection of Pound as the winner of their 1949 award as being d... Read more

In the following essay, originally published in 1952, Bottrall, a well-known English poet, positively reflects upon Pound's body of work, believing “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley” to be h... Read more

In the following essay, originally published in 1964, Stock reviews how writer Ernest Fenollosa and Chinese poetic methods influenced Pound's poetic style and philosophy of writing. The best an... Read more

In the following essay, Young relates Pound's transitional sense of both Modernism and the artistic ‘mask’ to that of the African American writing experience. Ezra Pound's ... Read more

In the following review of Thrones de los Cantares, Schwartz concludes that although the poem has many self-indulgent aspects to it, there is still inherent beauty within its verses. As one reads thes... Read more

In the following essay, Stock warns that the literary biographer's standard approach to analysis—to explore an author's letters, essays, and other related materials to gain insigh... Read more

In the following essay, Sicari argues that Pound's explanation of heroic action in his pre-war Cantos helped formulate his later professed admiration for Fascism. To understand Ezra Pound... Read more

In the following essay, Tuma attempts to trace the roots of Pound's later political course by analyzing Pound's 1912 essay Patria Mia, a cultural critique of Pound's belief that a... Read more

In the following essay, Goldensohn disagrees with the various rationales often given for Pound's anti-Semitism and that despite the historical tendencies to forgive and forget such indiscretion... Read more

In the following essay, originally published inCommentary's April 1951 issue, Viereck debates whether “form and technique can be considered apart from context and meaning” by exam... Read more

Critical Essay by Ian F. A. Bell [We] need to know about the curious vocabulary used in the "Mauberley 1920" half of [Hugh Selwyn Mauberley] and, crucially, the problem of Mauberley�... Read more

Critical Essay by Donald E. Stanford As we read through the original verse of Ezra Pound (as distinct from his "translations") from the beginning of his career until the end, that is, fr... Read more

Critical Essay by Donald Davie Because of [the] cavalier disregard of ascertainable facts and documents we can be offered, as a portrait of the youthful Pound, a figure who [according to George Quasha... Read more

Critical Essay by Vincent Miller Joyce's and Eliot's concern for time certainly needs no emphasis. Everyone has spoken of it. But Pound's concern is probably less widely realized.... Read more

Critical Essay by Hyam Maccoby If there is one word which provides the clue to the life-work of Ezra Pound, it is "productivity." To him, man was essentially a productive animal, and if ... Read more

Critical Essay by Fred Moramarco Although readers may disagree as to the kinds of groupings one can find in The Cantos, almost everyone will recognize that cantos VIII through XI form a distinct unit,... Read more

In the following essay, Bishop discusses Pound's effort to continue his epic historical vision in The Cantos after his traumatic imprisonment in Pisa and the demise of Mussolini. According to B... Read more

In the following essay, Wolfe examines contradictory aspects of Pound's democratic and elitist sentiments, particularly concerning the relationship between art and economics. Wolfe contends tha... Read more

In the following essay, Lentricchia examines the modernist ideals and Emersonian influence behind Pound's ambitious innovation in The Cantos. According to Lentricchia, "The form he inven... Read more

In the following essay, Moncef examines Pound's disdain for gold as a symbol of evil. According to Moncef "the malevolent aspect of gold exists in its own right throughout Pound's... Read more