Ezra Pound: Poems Summary

Though Ezra Pound produced a huge number of works, however, the most important ones will be
mentioned. The first, "Portrait d'une Femme," was published in 1912 and describes a woman from
London and the "great minds" who seek her out in order to trade their knowledge, gossip, and ideas for
her gaudy tales and useless facts. In the end, though, despite this trade, the woman has nothing that is
truly her own, and this is the fact that defines her. This poem has a theme of "commerce" and is an
example of the economic themes that permeate Pound's poetry.
"A Virginal", also published in 1912, tells the story of a man who is devoted to a young virgin to the point
that he cannot even speak to another woman. "In a Station of the Metro" (1913) is a short, two-line
Imagist poem about a crowd on a subway platform as the train rushes by and compares these faces to
petals on a damp tree branch.

Pound frequently criticized Walt Whitman's poetry. Whitman was an American poet who lived during
the 19th century, and Pound believed that his work was too crude and unpolished to be considered true
art. "A Pact," however, published in 1916, was Pound's way of reconciling. In the poem, he admits that he
has always judged Whitman's poetry harshly, but now recognizes how Whitman's work has paved the
way for his own.
"The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter" (1917) is actually Pound's translation of a Chinese poem. He writes
from the point of view of the sixteen-year-old wife of a Chinese river-merchant. She is waiting for her
husband to return from a five-month trip down the river to trade with another village. She recalls how
they met as children and goes on to describe their marriage, revealing that it took her a while to accept
the idea of marrying him. Pound uses natural metaphors, like the seasons, to indicate time passing during
their separation.

"A Girl" tells the story of mythological figures Daphne and Apollo. After being pursued relentlessly by the
Apollo, Daphne begs her father to change her into a tree so she can escape him. The poem describes the
process of Daphne's transformation from a woman to a tree, and Apollo's subsequent commentary. There
is also a figurative interpretation for this poem. The Daphne character could actually be a child imagining
that she is a tree, and the Apollo character is then an adult, telling her not to let the world subdue her
creativity.

"Hugh Selywn Mauberley" (1920) is one of Pound's most pivotal works. It is made up of eighteen short
poems and split into two parts. The first part contains a description of Pound himself, and the second part
introduces the character of Hugh Selywyn Mauberley, a struggling poet desperate for the world to see
value in his work. This poem is Pound's way of criticizing society for devaluing art, beauty, and literature.

The Cantos embody everything Pound wanted to achieve in his career. There are over a hundred
different cantos in this piece, which Pound wrote and published over the course of his later life. Like
much of Pound's prose, The Cantos centers on themes of economics, government, and history. Pound
attempts to show how all of these ideas are connected, and how Western history and culture relates to
that of the Far East. He was never able to finish The Cantos, however. His writing declined drastically
after he was imprisoned for his antisemitic and fascist radio broadcasts, which led to a slow decline of his
sanity. At the end of The Cantos, Pound expresses remorse about his failure to bring the universe
together in the way that he had originally intended.

Characters
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley
The title character of the poem "Hugh Selwyn Mauberly," Hugh is a representation of Pound himself. He is a
struggling poet who appreciates aesthetics and the beauty of poetry in a modernized world that does not view
his literature in the same light. Pound uses the character of Hugh to embody his poem's message: beauty and art
are just as vital to culture as politics and power.
Walt Whitman
Whitman was a real-life American poet who is the subject of Pound's poem "A Pact." In the poem, Pound
admits that he has criticized Whitman for the "crudity" and rawness of his writing and acknowledges the older
American poet's influence on Pound's own poetry.
The Woman, "Portrait d'une Femme"
Pound compares the female subject of "Portrait d'une Femme" to the Sargasso Sea. Great minds seek her out
and offer her secrets, ideas, and knowledge in exchange for her shallow, gaudy tales and useless facts. Despite
this ongoing ephemeral exchange, however, she does not truly have anything to call her own. Scholars have
suggested that Pound's inspiration for this character was Florence Farr, a British actress.
The River Merchant's Wife
The River Merchant's wife narrates Pound's translation of the Chinese poem. She is only sixteen, and her
husband left her to go down the river and trade with other villages. He has been gone for five months, and she
longs for him to return.
The River Merchant
The husband of the narrator of "The River-Merchant's Wife." He is a trader who sailed off down the river to
trade with other villages and has been gone for five months. He and his wife met as children, when he walked
by playing horse on stilts while she was pulling flowers at the front gate.
Apollo/The Man
"A Girl" tells the story of Apollo and Daphne. Per the Greek myth, when Daphne turns into a tree, Apollo vows
to hold her sacred even though he thinks her decision to change from a woman to a tree is foolish. Alternatively,
the Apollo character could be interpreted as an adult man speaking to a child who imagines that she is a a tree.
The man encourages the child to explore her imagination even though the world thinks it foolish.
Daphne/The Girl
In Greek mythology, Daphne elects to transform herself into a tree in order to escape Apollo (the Sun God)'s
romantic pursuit. The first part of "A Girl' details Daphne's transformation. An alternate interpretation is the
Girl is a child who imagines that she is a tree despite the societal pressure on older children to abandon such
fantasies.
The Speaker, "A Virginal"
The speaker in "A Virginal" is enamored with a young virgin girl who has "bound" him with her "magic," and
as a result, he can't even stand to be in the presence of another woman.
The Girl, "A Virginal"
This young girl is the love interest of the speaker and subject of the poem "A Virginal." The speaker describes
her as pure, innocent, and very beautiful.
John Adams
John Adams was the real-life second President of the United States. Pound dedicates an entire section of Cantos
to Adams because he saw him as the model of a good political leader. Pound also associated John Adams with
other leaders he revered, notably Mussolini.
Odysseus
Throughout the Cantos, Pound uses Odysseus, the mythological hero, as a metaphor for himself. The Cantos
begin and end with Odysseus's journey, which Pound meant to represent his own journey towards affecting
change in the way society perceives art.
Pietro Leopoldo
Pound centered the Leopoldine Cantos around the 18th century Habsburg Archduke of Tuscany and his
reforms.

Glossary
approbation

Approval or praise

bough

A main branch of a tree

censure

Expression of harsh disapproval; strong criticism

consternation

Feelings of anxiety or dismay

disillusion

Disappointment with the discovery that something is not as good as one thought it to be

eddy

A circular movement of water

exacerbation

An increase in the severity of something

folly

Foolishness; lack of good sense

fortitude

Courage in pain or adversity

gaudy
Extravagantly bright or showy

gauze

A thin, transparent fabric

hedonist

One who pursues pleasure

Imagism

The poetic movement that Ezra Pound pioneered, which stressed clarity and economy of language in verse

longevity

Length or duration of life.

maudlin

Self-pitying or tearfully sentimental.

mendacity

Dishonesty.

mousseline

A thin fabric similar to muslin.

myriad

Countless or extremely great in number.

obstinate

Stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion, even after repeated prompts to do so.

oddment

A remnant or part of something.

phantasmagoria

A confusing or strange scene that is like a dream because it is always changing in some way.

placid

Not easily upset or excited.

revery

A state of fanciful musing.

rhapsodize

Speak or write about with great enthusiasm.

Sargasso Sea

A region in the middle of the northern Atlantic Ocean, just north of the Caribbean.

score
Twenty years.

seismograph

Instrument used to detect and record earthquakes.

succulent

Tender, juicy, tasty.

supplant

To replace.

tawdry

Cheap and gaudy.

uxorious

having an obsessive fondness for one's wife.

vocation

A strong feeling of suitability for a particular occupation.

wares

manufactured articles, particularly of art or craft

Ezra Pound: Poems Themes

The Importance of Aesthetics and Art

Ezra Pound lived and wrote in a swiftly modernizing world that, as time went on, placed less and less emphasis on art
and beauty. Pound, however, was dissatisfied by this, and made it a point to celebrate art, literature, and beauty in his
poetry. The major example of this lies in his long compilation of eighteen short poems called "Hugh Selywn Mauberley."
In this poem, Pound criticizes mass culture, saying it will never again be able to produce great art because writers,
painters, and other artists in modern day are concerned only with sales and profits. He believes that they are creating
work for the wrong reasons.

Imagism

Since Pound pioneered the Imagist movement, its overarching style and themes resonate throughout his poems. He
placed significant value on clarity and economy of language. Pound felt that classic poetry, namely Greek and Roman,
presented many model examples of Imagism, and frequently referred back to those ancient verses in his work. He also
praised the verbal economy of traditional Japanese and Chinese poetry. A notable example of Imagism in Pound's work
is "In a Station of the Metro." It is extremely short, only two lines long, and says only what it needs to say and nothing
more. Pound originally wrote thirty lines for this poem, and then proceeded to whittle it down to 14 crucial syllables.

Economics

In his later career, Pound became increasingly obsessed with economics, especially when he moved to Italy and
embraced fascism in the years leading up to World War II. The theme of economics is evident in a number of Pound's
later poems, particularly the Cantos. His is clear about his hatred of interest rates and his belief that they were
destroying Western civilization, and he also criticizes the Bank Wars and American capitalism. One of Pound's earlier
poems, though he wrote it before he moved to Italy, also contains an abstract variation on this theme. In "Portrait d'une
Femme," Pound describes the ideological commerce between the female protagonist and the great minds who came to
exchange knowledge and stories for her rumors and tales.

Love

An overwhelming number of Pound's poems revolve around a theme of love. "The River-Merchant's Wife" is about a
woman who loves her husband and wistfully longs for his return. "A Virginal" consists of a young man celebrating his
affection for his virginal lover. Pound explores different ways that love can be powerful. He was likely a bit of a romantic
himself; he became involved with a number of women in Europe before settling down with Dorothy Shakespear, and
then even had an affair during his marriage which resulted in an illegitimate child. However, he often explores the divide
between love and temptation, which could be a result of his tortured affairs.

Nature

Pound often uses unexpected natural metaphors to reflect on people, business, and society. "In A Station of the Metro,"
he compares the faces on a subway platform to petals on a tree branch. In "A Virginal," the speaker compares his lover
to a green spring and in "The River-Merchant's Wife," Pound compares the wife's sadness to somber monkeys and
swiftly spreading moss. By frequently including nature into his work, Pound alludes to his love of aesthetics and beauty.

History

Pound explores history quite often in his poems. In the Cantos, Pound uses John Adams as an example of good
government, business, and banking practices. He brings up historical instances of war and denounces them, claiming
that war is costly and useless. He crafts the same criticism of poor economic practices and catastrophes like the
American Bank Wars. Pound valued history because he recognized how much it influenced the present. He blamed bad
historical precedents for all the societal corruption he describes in his poetry.

Journey

Many of Ezra Pound's poems center on the process of making a journey, whether metaphorical or physical, to
accomplish some sort of goal. Pound himself made many different kinds of journeys, moving from the USA to London to
Paris and then to Italy in order to achieve literary success and voice his opinions in the hope of changing society's views.
Pound describes small journeys, such as the merchant's trip to another village in "The River-Merchant's Wife," as well as
large-scale ones. The Cantos, though full of many different tangents, begin and end with Odysseus's legendary journey.