{"id":3642,"date":"2017-11-20T04:01:14","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T04:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/?p=3642"},"modified":"2017-11-20T04:01:14","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T04:01:14","slug":"final-ezra-pound-bio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/2017\/11\/20\/final-ezra-pound-bio\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Ezra Pound Bio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Biography<\/b><\/p>\n

In her essay \u201cOf Modern Poetry,\u201d Mina Loy writes: \u201cTo speak of the modern movement is to speak of [Ezra Pound]; the masterly impresario of modern poets, for without the discoveries he made with his poet’s instinct for poetry, this modern movement would still be rather a nebula than the constellation it has become” (Loy 157-8).<\/span><\/p>\n

Pound was an American poet who contributed greatly to the modernist movement. He wrote, edited, and contributed to numerous literary magazines, and served as a driving force behind the movement. His poetry focused on concrete, succinct language. <\/span><\/p>\n

Born in Hailey, Idaho on October 30, 1885, Pound spent most of his youth and schooling \u00a0in Pennsylvania, attending the University of Pennsylvania until 1906. but traveled to London in 1908. Here, Pound established his career; he published several collections of poetry and became an influential contributor to literary magazines like <\/span>New Freewoman\/Egoist, Poetry, Others, <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>The Little Review<\/span><\/i>. He published his most famous work, \u201cIn a Station of the Metro,\u201d in 1913.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the brutality of World War I changed both the landscape of England and the course of Pound\u2019s career. According to <\/span>Encyclopedia Brittanica<\/span><\/i>, Pound was \u00a0\u201c[u]nsettled by the slaughter of World War I and the spirit of hopelessness he felt was pervading England\u201d (Stock). Pound moved to Paris, where he connected with three major poets of the century: he developed a relationship with the young Ernest Hemingway, wrote an opera (which Loy attended), and helped edit T.S. Eliot\u2019s famous poem \u201cThe Waste Land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After the Great Depression of the 1930s, Pound became more politically outspoken. He became an anti-war advocate, making several hundred broadcasts airing his political stances. Many were anti-semitic and pro-fascism, in addition to critical of the United States\u2019 war effort. He was arrested and deemed insane. Pound spent 1946 to 1958 institutionalized in Saint Elizabeth\u2019s Hospital in Washington where he continued to write and drew many loyal visitors. Following his institutionalization, Pound returned to Venice, where he stopped writing and died on November 1, 1972.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pound remains a divisive figure today. His brilliance as a poet, translator, and thinker was countered by his anti-American rhetoric, flirtations with fascism, and imprisonment. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, Mina Loy deeply admired Pound for his work, and it appears that the respect was mutual. In his essay \u201cArid Clarity,\u201d Peter Nicholls notes that many historians envision Pound and Loy\u2019s relationship one-sidedly, with the eminent Pound as a mentor to the relatively obscure Loy. However, Pound once wrote in a letter to Marianne Moore, \u201cexcept you, Bill [Williams] and Mina Loy who can write anything of interest in verse?\u201d He also famously coined the term <\/span>logopoiea<\/span><\/i>–defined as <\/span>“a dance of the intelligence among words and ideas and modification of ideas and characters\u201d–to describe Loy\u2019s writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hanscombe, Gillian E., and Virginia L. Smyers. \u201cMina Loy.\u201d <\/span>Writing for Their Lives: The Modernist Women, 1910 – 1940<\/span><\/i>, Northeastern Univ. Press, 1989, pp. 112\u2013128, www.english.illinois.edu\/maps\/poets\/g_l\/loy\/bio.htm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cImagism.\u201d <\/span>CPCW: The Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing<\/span><\/i>, University of Pennsylvania, <\/span>www.writing.upenn.edu\/~afilreis\/Alumverse\/imagism-def.html<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIntroduction to Modernist Poetry.\u201d <\/span>EDSITEment!<\/span><\/i>, National Endowment for the Humanities, edsitement.neh.gov\/curriculum-unit\/introduction-modernist-poetry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Loy, Mina, and Roger L. Conover. The Lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1999.<\/span><\/p>\n

Menand, Louis. \u201cThe Pound Error.\u201d The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2008\/06\/09\/the-pound-error.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicholls, Peter. \u201c’Arid Clarity’: Ezra Pound, Mina Loy, and Jules Laforgue.\u201d <\/span>The Yearbook of English Studies<\/span><\/i>, vol. 32, 2002, pp. 52\u201364. <\/span>JSTOR<\/span><\/i>, JSTOR, <\/span>www.jstor.org\/stable\/3509047<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn \u2018In a Station of the Metro.\u2019\u201d <\/span>University of Illinois English Department<\/span><\/i>, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, <\/span>www.english.illinois.edu\/maps\/poets\/m_r\/pound\/metro.htm<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stock, Noel. \u201cEzra Pound.\u201d <\/span>Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica<\/span><\/i>, Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica, Inc., 12 Jan. 2017, <\/span>www.britannica.com\/biography\/Ezra-Pound<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bio Template<\/b><\/p>\n