Well, the only recorded evidence I have seen is his RAI interview
with Pasolini, where the questions were submitted in advance and
notes prepared for them.  At the point where he says to Pasolini "Non
condivido la Sua opinione" I decided that his Italian was of
near-native fluency, and I'll stick to that opinion, and to the
others I expressed.
 
We recall also that he stated he got into college on the strength of
his Latin, that he achieved what might be called an ABD in Romance
Philology from the University of Pennsylvania, that he was a
professor of Romance Languages at Wabash College, that he translated
from French and Italian, etc. etc.
 
Spelling and grammar are often eccentric, sometimes eccentric,
sometimes not.  His Italian prose periods are typical of an English
speaker, not an Italian speaker (the punctuation mark "." is upper
case on the Italian typewriter keyboard, being infrequently used).
Standards are probably higher in Canada, but down here in the
Republic of Texas, Pound would be considered a great linguist.
 
Tim Redman
School of Arts and Humanities, JO 31
University of Texas at Dallas
P.O. Box 830688
Richardson, TX  75083-0688
 
(972) 883-2775 (o)
(972) 883-2989 (fax)