I have suspected that the reference was to the Salassi -- a people of  
the Italian Alpine region who were subjugated by Augustus.  Perhaps,  
given the association of the music with bird songs, the reference is  
to the geographic region rather than the historic Salassi themselves?

This is just a thought; I don't know of any documentation or  
references to support it.

Hope this helps!
David Griffith

On Jun 13, 2009, at 4:26 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Greetings to members of the Listserv,
>
> Starting at the small handwritten notations just above the music in
> Canto LXXV one reads the phrase "(Sidelights from Selassi;".While it  
> is
> tempting to associate a meaning with Haile Selassi(e), Emperor of
> Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, an interpretation in that direction seems
> awfully broad for a Canto that is so full of particulars. Also, the  
> name
> is followed by a semicolon which leads into details concerning the
> music. The invasion of Ethiopia was late 1935 and the music had  
> already
> been performed on Pound's concert series in Rapallo. Ellen Keck  
> Stauder
> gives a well reasoned analysis of the hand on p.272 of her excellent
> article on Canto 75 in the Bacigalupo/Pratt _Ezra Pound, Language and
> Persona_. Can anyone account for the spelling of 'ucelli' with only  
> one
> 'c' or whose hand this is? If Munch, he would have known the Canto's
> /manuscript/ information from Pound's pre-concert presentations, both
> vocal and in print.
>
> Any interpretations concerning this Canto, and particularly the
> "Sidelights from Selassi;" would be very much appreciated.
>
> Robert Hughes