Ezra Loomis Pound - Research Paper Example

Compose a focused research paper of that traces Pound’s influence in a particular way Ezra Loomis Pound was an American poet and critic. He was perhaps the most controversial and influential literary figure of twentieth century. Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho, in 1885. He completed two years of college education at University of Pennsylvania and later 1905 he graduated from Hamilton College with a degree of Bachelors in Philosophy. Pound taught at Wabash College for two years but then left his job to travel abroad to Spain, Italy and London. He became interested in Japanese and Chinese poetry working abroad as a literary executor of Ernest Fenellosa. Ezra Pound was greatly influenced by the dramatic events that happened in his life time. Apart from these dramatic events, he was also influenced by religion. Pound’s most significant contribution to poetry would be “Imagism”. Imagism was a movement that marked the cessation of his previous poetic style. Imagism was inspired by Chinese and Japanese poetry in the sense that classical Japanese and Chinese poetry entail its techniques, “stressing clarity, precision, and economy of language and foregoing traditional rhyme and meter in order to, in Pound's words, "compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of the metronome"” ("poets.org"). Pound has been regarded as the most influential poet and critic in England or America by David Perkins in his book “A History of Modern Poetry”. Pound is considered to be responsible for redefining and promoting the aesthetics of modern poetry. He acted as a bridge for exchanging work and ideas between American and British poets and writers. He is known to influence works of several major contemporaries such as Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, W.B Yeats, Hilda Doolittle and T.S Eliot. This paper aims to observe the influence of Pound on other poets and ultimately recognize the place Ezra Pound holds in the world of literature and poetry. T.S Eliot met Pound through a mutual friend. Pound turned out to be an important person in the life of Eliot as he guided him in a number of ways. Eliot was not sure if he wanted to pursue his interest in academics or poetry when he arrived in London. Still Eliot was confident that London and Pound would provide him with the best opportunities that will allow him to do what he wanted to do as Pound was a potent source of getting contacts and knowledge of London’s literary atmosphere. Pound gave Eliot advice on not only his career but his social life as well. Pound helped Elliot organize his famous poem “The Waste Land”. Moreover, Pound convinced Harriet Monroe, editor of Poetry Magazine to publish Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. Williams Carlos Williams and Ezra Pound met and befriended at University of Pennsylvania. Pound eventually became a great influence on William’s writing. Pound introduced Williams to poet Hilda Doolittle and painter Charles Demuth. Following Pound Williams became one to the most noticeable poets of the Imagist movement. Ezra Pound arranged for the publication of William’s second collection, The TEMPERS (1913) which reflected the imagist style. With time Williams began to disagree with the subjects of the works of Pound and Eliot. Williams experimented with meter and lineation to create a new form of American poetics which focused more on the everyday situations of the common people. Williams work earlier overshadowed was later recognized by poets such as Allen Ginsberg. Hilda Doolittle was given the pen name HD by Pound. HD was also one of the central members of the Imagist movement. The first three most important works of the Imagist movement were produced by Hilda Doolittle. These three poems were submitted to the Poetry magazine by Pound. HD was engaged to Pound for some time but they split up after some time. HD remained under Pound’s influence even long after they split up. Through Pound, HD met a lot of writers such as “Richard Aldington, Yeats, Eliot, F. S. Flint, John Gould Fletcher, Ford Madox Hueffer, Violet Hunt, May Sinclair, John Cournos, Wyndham Lewis, Brigit Patmore, Arthur Waley, George Plank, and Olivia and Dorothy Shakespeare” ("poetryfoundation.org"). W.B Yeats was an Irish poet who was involved in the politics of his country. Even after the Irish independence, Yeats’ work reflected a grave pessimism about the situation of Ireland. Ezra Pound can be termed as Yeats’ American counterparts as both of them were greatly affected by the events happening around them. Yeats’ work was greatly influenced by Pound after 1910 which made it more modern in its imagery. Ezra Pound discovered Robert Frost in Europe and helped him publish his work in Poetry. “Taking his symbols from the public domain, Frost developed, as many critics note, an original, modern idiom and a sense of directness and economy that reflect the imagism of Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell”( "poetryfoundation.org") . “Pound was the first American to write a (favorable) review of Frost’s work” (Holman). Apart from the poets and writers mentioned above Pound influenced several other literary figures such as Robert Bly, Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce. Pound’s influence on modernist poets has been quiet visible. However, His impact on postmodern poetics in general has been implicit and subtle. The Beat Generation has had an undeniable impact on postmodern literature. In the mid 1950’s several renowned poets including Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder formed a rebel group called Beat poets. This movement started in New York. The Beats basically challenged the established order, voicing their opinion against materialism and racism. Bob Kaufman, accepted by many as the most influential black poet of his time, was as a beat poet who used to recite poems of Eliot and Pound at the local Bagel shop. This clearly depicts the role of Pound in influencing the Beat movement which ultimately influenced the postmodern poetics. “The world of today is full of unhappiness because it is founded on mistaken ideals. Both William Blake and Ezra Pound would agree to this statement” (Bradley). Among the events that effected Pound’s life, World War I holds supreme importance and apart from these adverse events, religion also influenced Pound’s writings. “Pound viewed the entire world as a morally weakening culture; his poems emphasized how materialism and corruption had set the world on a destructive path” (Bradley). Pound expressed his opinions through his poetry and his expression influenced many other poets. He initiated the Imagist movement which propagated a new method of communication for poetry focusing more on the economics of language. This technique relied upon the importance of imagery. He helped poets such as Frost, HD, Joyce and Eliot in organizing and publishing their works in the magazine Poetry. Pound even collected money and sent spare clothes for James Joyce. Pound’s influence on the Beat Generation is undeniably evident which leads to his influence in the postmodern poetics. In 1945, Pound was arrested in the United States on charges of treason for propagating fascist propaganda during the Second World War. He was exonerated but was declared mentally ill and was admitted to Elizabeth Hospital in Washington. Ezra Pound published over seventy books. His most influential publications include ABC of Reading, published in 1934 and The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry, published in 1936. The former publication contains his aesthetic theory which is said to have established the modernist poetic technique. Works Cited Bradley, Keith. "William Blake and Ezra Pound: a Comparison." hubpages. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . "Ezra Loomis Pound (1885-1972)." kirjasto.sci.fi. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . "Ezra Pound." poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . "Ezra Pound." poetryfoundation.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . "H. D." poetryfoundation.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . Holman, Bob. "Robert Frost." poetry.about.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . "Robert Frost." poetryfoundation.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . "W. B. Yeats." poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . "William Carlos Williams." poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . Winans, A.D. "A. D. Winans Looks Back at the Beat Generation." emptymirrorbooks. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2012. . Read More