Mr Davie's book [Ezra Pound: Poet as Sculptor] is announced as a "comprehensive critical study" that takes "a straightforward chronological approach" to the career of Ezra Pound and is not burdened with "complex thematic or metaphorical devices." The statement is just, and the book possesses many of the virtues implied, among them a moderate tone and an unlabored pace. On the other hand, it suffers from the defects possible to such an approach; not only is Davie's book not burdened with complex thematic devices, it is burdened with no real unifying principle, except the general one that appears in the metaphor of the title. The work is characterized by a series of arguments, occasionally related, and having a common denominator more in an attitude than a point of view. One might insist that this method has its advantages, especially with a subject so evasive as Pound; nonetheless, it can bring us little more than the isolated illumination, the observation, or the general comparision, while it avoids the problems of explication and interpretation that cannot be avoided in systematic analysis.
Yet, even granting the author has methodology, there is much in this work that is either merely speculative or ill-reasoned. And often Davie's speculations are presented in so confusing a manner that one would be tempted to dismiss them as incomprehensible did they not seem to reduce themselves to oversimplification. (pp. 88-9)
This is a free excerpt of 230 words. There are 389 words (approx.
1 page at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Davie, Donald (Alfred) 1922–: Critical Essay by L. S. Dembo Access Pass.
