Part I, Section II, Vortex, Great Bass, Ici Je Teste, Tradition Summary and Analysis

Section II contains four essays that begin with "Vortex." It focuses on how sculpture reflects the geometrical orientation of culture. The Greeks reflected on themselves and so they made statues of themselves, while the Christian medievals made statues of the heavens; their geometry was vertical. Each major culture has a "vortex" which explains their yearnings and what draws them. Ancient Chinese sculpture had a vortex of intense maturity. The moderns, who have conquered material reality, have a vortex of will and consciousness. The idea of the vortex lies in the work of Gaudier-Brzeska.

In "Great Bass: Part One," Pound focuses on the lowest noises the ear can hear. The great composers neglect this frequency but one cannot study music without focusing...