Ezra Pound

Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (October 30 1885 – November 1 1972) was an American expatriate, poet, musician and critic who, along with T. S. Eliot, was a major figure of the modernist movement in early 20th century poetry. He was the driving force behind several modernist movements, notably Imagism and Vorticism. The critic Hugh Kenner said on meeting Pound: "I suddenly knew that I was in the presence of the center of modernism."

Italy

In the mid 1920s Pound moved to Rapallo, Italy, where he continued to be a creative catalyst. The young sculptor Heinz Henghes came to see Pound, arriving penniless. He was given lodging and marble to carve, and quickly learned to work in stone. The poet James Laughlin was also inspired at this time to start the publishing company New Directions which would become a vehicle for many new authors.

Related Topics:
Rapallo - Italy - Heinz Henghes - James Laughlin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At this time Pound also organised an annual series of concerts in Rapallo where a wide range of classical and contemporary music was performed. In particular this musical activity contributed to the 20th century revival of interest in Vivaldi, who had been neglected since his death.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Italy Pound became an enthusiastic supporter of Mussolini, and anti-Semitic sentiments begin to appear in his writings. Pound remained in Italy after the outbreak of the Second World War and became known as a star Axis propagandist. He disapproved of American involvement in the war and tried to use his political contacts in Washington D.C. to prevent it. He spoke on Italian radio and gave a series of talks on cultural matters. Inevitably, he touched on political matters, and his opposition to the war and his anti-Semitism were apparent on occasions.

Related Topics:
Mussolini - Anti-Semitic - Second World War - Axis - Propagandist - Washington D.C.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Towards the end of the war, he was arrested near Genoa and incarcerated in a United States Army detention camp outside Pisa, spending twenty-five days in an open cage before being given a tent. Here he appears to have suffered a nervous breakdown. He also drafted the Pisan Cantos in the camp. This section of the work in progress marks a shift in Pound's work, being a meditation on his own and Europe's ruin and on his place in the natural world in what has been considered as some of the first ecological poetry in English. The Pisan Cantos won the first Bollingen Prize from the Library of Congress in 1948.

Related Topics:
Genoa - United States Army - Pisa - Europe - Ecological - English - Bollingen Prize - 1948

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~