Dear listmembers,
 
I am very thankful for your apt response. In a few days I will present you
with a little article on the subject.
 
However, I am amazed (not to say shocked) that none of you have recommended
any essay by Pound himself. This is a severe oversight, if I may say so
myself. It is more important to first know what a poet himself thought he
was doing. Whether a critic thinks it is possible or not, is another,
sometimes also interesting matter, but not as immediately important. Since
I do not want to accuse anyone without at least a slight bit of evidence,
here is a quote:
 
I think the desire for vers libre is due to the sense of quantity
reasserting itself after years of starvation. But I doubt if we can take
over, for English, the rules of quantity laid down for Greek and Latin,
mostly by Latin Grammarians.
....
I think progress lies rather in an attempt to approximate classical
quantitative metres (NOT to copy them) than in a careless regarding such
things. (20 August 1917)
 
from "Literary Essays of Ezra Pound." London, 1954.
 
In this book, there are myriads of other, well informed and well-argued
reasons why Pound believes this, and it will be interesting to see how the
suggested material (insofar I have access to it) will argue for or against
this statement. Pound's belief that the "musical phrase" is much preferable
over the rhythm of the metronome seems to me impossible to deny, and fits
well with his argumentation for quantitative verse. Also, my admiration for
Pound as a poet who knows his metier has risen considerably. He truly is Il
Miglior Fabbro, and I dare say his essays are more important (note
*important*) than his poems. I am half shocked we didn't read any of them
during my modernist course in university.
 
Also, I regret not having even once in my life met anyone as knowledgeable
about the literary art as Pound. I will be eternally on the lookout, but,
just in case nobody pops up, I will make certain I will not let his
groundbreaking work go to waste. In that spirit, I donate to you this
little poem that was inspired by and written for, Mr Ezra Pound.
 
Muse
 
Are you asleep?
You seem to be.
body rising
            And falling,
        gently.
 
                     What?
 
Shhh Do not move
I walk my hand, up, along
Your tender, curving waist.
 
         Hmm   that s nice.
 
Shhh Do not speak:
Your breath is life, quickening,
Inspiring the living around you,
Your mouth, when open,
Pours out,
                love,
                  Regal.
Your eyes,
                    a turbulence
Of sunflowers
                 A circle
In the wind
            Looking
After the sun
            With long
                  Shadows
        And a fading sky.
With soft grass,
     And the curved
              Line
        Of a woolly
Cloud-rim.
 
But now, we must sleep.
 
I dim the lights, my lights,
Artificial lights.
 
                         Goodnight
 
Good night.
            I ll be here
                    Tomorrow,
Suspended,
            For you
To wake me again, to
            (bring)
            Life.
 
(c) Aug 5 1998
 
Hopefully I did not break any rules by sending this in. I mean well - I
admire Ezra's unselfish passion for the craft and I have tried to marry it
to his somewhat selfish striving for Paradiso. There is a specific passage
which has inspired me to write this in The Pound Era, in case anyone wishes
to go source hunting even for the work of a minor poet.
 
Criticism welcome
(if there is anyone able to read this, he should be on this list, right?)
 
Kind regards,
 
Arwin van Arum.
 
 
 
 
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