John Adams

John Adams (1735-1826) was the second president of the United States. His correspondence with Jefferson forms the basis for many of the middle cantos.

The Boss, Muss

See Benito Mussolini

Confucius

See Kung Fu-tse

Isotta degli Atti

Isotta degli Atti (1430?-1470) was Sigismondo Malatesta's mistress and, later, his third wife. His love for her is demonstrated all over the Tempio Malatestiano by the intertwined initials S and I.

Kung Fu-tse

Confucius (551-479 B.C.) is the moral anchor of The Cantos. Pound compares the moral precepts of the West, especially those of Aristotle, against Confucian ideals and finds the West's lacking. Perhaps the most important dictum of Confucius for Pound's poem is his insistence on exact terminology; Pound feared and hated the inexact use of language, and The Pisan Cantos are suffused with Pound's regretful sense that he violated this precept in his wartime broadcasts.

Ixotta

See...