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Mon, 15 Nov 1999 22:06:59 -1000 |
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At 02:27 AM 11/16/99 EST, Garrick Davis wrote:
> Perhaps our scholars (including some on this listserver) should ask
>themselves what any further elucidation of Pound's political/moral/social
>sympathies will contribute to the understanding of his poetry.
One possible answer can be found in the work of Robert Casillo, who does a
pretty impressive job of using politics and biography to help us read
Pound's language.
Finally, though, I suppose the only reply to Mr. Davis's unexceptionable
plea for reading the poetry is that old cliche, "We are all socialists
now." Yes, George Saintsbury was a great connoisseur, if not exactly a
great critic. But sixty years or so after George Orwell pointed out the
critical implications of Saintsbury's almost unbelievably reactionary
politics, it's a little late to call for a pure and disinterested
criticism. Try reading one of Paul Elmer More's delicate essays in support
of independent incomes for essayists and you'll see what I mean. It can't
be done now without laughing. And Pound, of all poets, demands to be read
politically.
Jonathan Morse
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