>here we have yet another example of the conveniently compartmentalized
>critical method of Wei -- attack John Adams, and to buttress this attack,
>enlist the aid of Thomas Jefferson -- and do this without blanching, and
>without accounting for Jefferson's appeal to Pound.

Can you please account for it?  I am still waiting for an explanation.


>this is a method that
>demonstrates chutzpah, and little else.  here's Pound on this kind of
>critical morphing: "have no twisty thoughts."
>
>jb...


I wonder if you see anything "twisty" in Pound's alleged belief in the US
Constitution and his proclaimed belief in Mussolini and his statement "I
believe in Fascism."  This has yet to be addressed.

I would like ANYONE who thinks that Pound's use of Jefferson and Adams
writings in the Cantos ( or in his prose), suggests a belief in
representative government, to give us a quote or two AND TO INTERPRET the
quote(s).

I noticed no one (so far) appears eager to do more than mention the Adams
Cantos.  Maybe no one wants to read them, quote them, or study them.  Many
people (Terrell says) consider the Adams Cantos to be the weakest part of
the Cantos.  Do others agree?  Is this because they are bad poetry?   Or
because Pound could not convincingly make use of the materials to convey
anything meaningful about Adams or about American history?  Or, are they in
fact good poetry?   (I have never heard even any of Pound's greatest
enthusiasts say that they are).

I find it somewhat telling that no one (on this list, at least) seems
prepared to quote Pound ON Adams or Jefferson to show that such quotes
counteract Pound's committment to Mussolini's fascism or Confucian
authoritarianism (as some people claim).

I have already quoted Jefferson and/or Mussolini to show that the work
reflects a belief in the strong man theory of government which appears
inconsistent with belief in a leader constrained by a constitution.  This
was the quote:

>                        Mussolini has steadily refused to be called
>                 anything save "Leader" (Duce) or "Head of Govern-
>                 ment," the term dictator has been applied by foreign
>                 envy, as the Tories were called cattle stealers.  It
>                 does not represent the Duce's fundamental concep-
>                 tion of his role.
>                         His authority comes, as Erigena proclaimed,
>                 "from right reason" and from the general fascist
>                 conception that he is more likely to be right than
>                 anyone else.
>                                 (JM, 110)

I invite people to examine the quote carefully and make their own
interpretation.

If anyone can find a quote in the Cantos, or in Jefferson and/or Mussolini,
which explains what Pound finds attractive about Jefferson, then please
present it.  I would request the same about Adams.

It is one thing to say, or assert, that Pound's interest in Adams and
Jefferson undercuts his belief about fascism.  It is another thing to
explain how this actually occurs in Pound's work.  Those who care about his
work should try to explain it.

Wei.


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