Pound’s Cantos Declassified

164 Pages·1984·12.91 MB·English

by  Philip Furia

Pound's Cantos Dechsijied
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POUND'S CANTOS
Philip Furia
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
UNIVERSITY PARK AND LONDON
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Furia, Philip, 1943-
Pound's Cantos declassified.
Includes index.
1. Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972. Cantos. I. Title.
PS3531. 82C2853 1984 81 11.52 83-43227
ISBN 0-271-00373-1
Copyright O 1984 The Pennsylvania State Universiq
All rights reserved
For Karen
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Contents
Preface
I Lines of Transmission
11 Malatesta's Post-Bag
I11 The Printing House of Hell
IV Civic Accounts
V Presidential Correspondence
VI Sienese Bank Charters
VII Chinese Mirrors
VlIl The Adams Papers
IX The Pisan Black-out
X A Memorial to Archivists and Librarians
XI Final Documents: Coke and Rock
Notes and References
Index
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Preface
I hope this book will be helpful to readers who already know The Cantos as well
as to those approaching Pound's epic for the first time. Unlike most other
studies of The Cantos, which treat the poem's beautiful lyrical passages, Pound's
Cantos Declassified concentrates on those vast stretches composed, not of
Pound's own poetry, nor of poetry at all in the usual sense, but of that most
unpoetic of forms, the document. For Pound, such documents contain the
"luminous details" of history that "give one a sudden insight" into "the
intelligence of a period." Although they are "hard to find," such luminous
details are "swift and easy of transmission" and "govern knowledge as the
switchboard governs an electric circuit."' I have tried to show how Pound
brought out of these documents both their poetic power and their historical
significance, but I always remind myself, and encourage the new reader of
Pound to recognize, that The Cantos are first and foremost a poem. If I refrain
from adding my own observations on the lyrical brilliance of that poem, it is
only because it has been so aptly illuminated by other critics.
For illuminating and encouraging criticism of my book I wish to thank my
friends Michael Hancher and George T. Wright, who took time from their
books to give mine such careful readings. I would also like to thank John Espey
for catching my errors in the manuscript and for the comforting word that
books on Pound are almost doomed to have misprints, as if in tribute to Pound's
own texts. Lawrence Mitchell and Kent Bales helped this book along as only
the chairmen of one's department can. Parker Johnson introduced me to
computers, Ron Akehurst helped me with programming and Provenfal, and
Nan Knowlton took over on the computer to prepare the manuscript for the
printer. Pauline Yu and Ted Huters lived next door long enough to help me
through Pound's Chinese; I hope my many questions over the back fence were
not a factor in their decision to buy a new house. Special thanks to Anthony