I think I like Pound for completely different reasons than you. XD I thought that most of his Cantos was self-conscious anti!pop pop - pretty on the surface, with layers of meaning underneath obscuring the fact that there was nothing meaningful they were obscuring. Like I told Chrissie, I could see him smirking to himself going, "you're never going to understand this brilliance, you plebes, so don't even try," which would have been okay if I'd thought it was brilliance, but once I'd untangled what it meant I was always left with the feeling of "wait, that's it?" - that it was a clever but irrelevant puzzle. Also, from the non-poetry stuff he wrote, like his book "the ABCs of poetry" (that's what it was called, right? its been over a decade since I studied him), I thought he was somewhat insufferable the way he rejected everything that didn't meet his standards, thought it worthless, an attitude that I find worthless in itself (probably because I see it in myself so much at times XD;;). This wouldn't have mattered to my appreciation of
( ... )
Actually I agree with you on pretty much all of this. XD I mean, I read Chinese, for one, so a lot of the time I'm like, "Dude, this isn't nearly as impressive as you seem to think it is." (And he really was an insufferable person, I think, not just somewhat - wacky in his beliefs too.) But I enjoy working through the puzzle for the sake of working through the puzzle.
...Or not even; I enjoy the process of wading through the text, looking for the flashes of lyrical brilliance that make irrelevant whatever Pound was actually trying to say. Like hunting for seashells. I've come to realize that this process describes my relationship with a lot of texts, in fact - Jubilate Agno, which come to think of it was written under similar circumstances as a great deal of the later Cantos. XD; Anyway I tend to be drawn to succinct forms, so it's nice to be able to open and book and see the pages stretch on and on. And Pound never makes my eyes cross, unlike the Romantics.
And w/r/t the latter - yes, it's true, and they are very good poems as well as an appropriate close (perhaps the only appropriate close to any life's work? Other than raging against the dying of the light), but I don't think Pound's judgment of his own oeuvre matters to me per se. And sometimes... I don't know. His life brought him to that. Same goes for Wilde's De Profundis and I can barely bring myself to read it, because it seems unfair that it should ever had to have come into existence. I suppose Pound deserved most of what he got. ^^;
I mean, I read Chinese, for one, so a lot of the time I'm like, "Dude, this isn't nearly as impressive as you seem to think it is." (And he really was an insufferable person, I think, not just somewhat - wacky in his beliefs too.)
You're right - we do agree on a lot of this.
And w/r/t the latter - yes, it's true, and they are very good poems as well as an appropriate close (perhaps the only appropriate close to any life's work? Other than raging against the dying of the light), but I don't think Pound's judgment of his own oeuvre matters to me per se.It's not his judgment of his work that matters to me as much as, how to put this? I think for the most part what he wrote was artifice without meaning, deluding himself that it had profound meaning. But in the last, fragmentary and unfinished Cantos, when he gave up trying to write the most-meaningfulest and righteous poem EVAH, and just wrote what was, however broken and fragmented and inadequate, are when, imo, he managed to write something that was relevant and meaningful and truly
( ... )
But in the last, fragmentary and unfinished Cantos, when he gave up trying to write the most-meaningfulest and righteous poem EVAH, and just wrote what was, however broken and fragmented and inadequate, are when, imo, he managed to write something that was relevant and meaningful and truly become a poet
But the conclusion wouldn't have had the same significance if there hadn't been the umpteen buttzillion canto over-intellectualized body of work preceding it, roight. XD Like De Profundis wouldn't have the same resonance if it had been written by someone other than Wilde. I mean, anyone could turn to God, or throw up their hands at the ineffability of the universe. Ezra Pound doing it is something else.
Very true! I'm trying to think of a non-literary comparison now, and I think the surprise I felt at reading the last cantos, and the route that Pound's life in general took, would be (very roughly) equivalent to someone like Bill Kristol (ignoring the fact that Pound was a good writer, and Kristol isn't) announcing that he was wrong in supporting the Republican party, wrong about climate change and the Iraq war, and to make up for that he was going to vote for Barack Obama and donate all of his money to Democracy Now and spend the rest of his life promoting environmental-friendly sustainable living. In France.
someone like Bill Kristol (ignoring the fact that Pound was a good writer, and Kristol isn't) announcing that he was wrong in supporting the Republican party, wrong about climate change and the Iraq war, and to make up for that he was going to vote for Barack Obama and donate all of his money to Democracy Now and spend the rest of his life promoting environmental-friendly sustainable living. In France
Haha if only!! The subtly missing factor here is probably a lengthy asylum stay. :X
Reply
...Or not even; I enjoy the process of wading through the text, looking for the flashes of lyrical brilliance that make irrelevant whatever Pound was actually trying to say. Like hunting for seashells. I've come to realize that this process describes my relationship with a lot of texts, in fact - Jubilate Agno, which come to think of it was written under similar circumstances as a great deal of the later Cantos. XD; Anyway I tend to be drawn to succinct forms, so it's nice to be able to open and book and see the pages stretch on and on. And Pound never makes my eyes cross, unlike the Romantics.
Reply
Reply
You're right - we do agree on a lot of this.
And w/r/t the latter - yes, it's true, and they are very good poems as well as an appropriate close (perhaps the only appropriate close to any life's work? Other than raging against the dying of the light), but I don't think Pound's judgment of his own oeuvre matters to me per se.It's not his judgment of his work that matters to me as much as, how to put this? I think for the most part what he wrote was artifice without meaning, deluding himself that it had profound meaning. But in the last, fragmentary and unfinished Cantos, when he gave up trying to write the most-meaningfulest and righteous poem EVAH, and just wrote what was, however broken and fragmented and inadequate, are when, imo, he managed to write something that was relevant and meaningful and truly ( ... )
Reply
But the conclusion wouldn't have had the same significance if there hadn't been the umpteen buttzillion canto over-intellectualized body of work preceding it, roight. XD Like De Profundis wouldn't have the same resonance if it had been written by someone other than Wilde. I mean, anyone could turn to God, or throw up their hands at the ineffability of the universe. Ezra Pound doing it is something else.
Reply
Reply
Haha if only!! The subtly missing factor here is probably a lengthy asylum stay. :X
Reply
Leave a comment