Cindy:
 
I would like to throw my two cents behind Hugh Kenner's _The Pound
Era_--exactly as Jonathan Gill said, anyone who loves literature, especially
poetry, will benefit from reading (and many times rereading!) Kenner's book.
Even if your interest in Pond at this point seems not to project beyond the
immediate need to produce a paper, _The Pound Era_ will inform you about
far, far more than EP alone. Even if it doesn't help you with your specific
need right now, there is more to be learned about poetry and literature from
that one book than many glean from a college degree (or two or three). But
take a look at pages 486-488, where Kenner marks a connection between EP &
WW. [Kenner is not easy going, but there is gold in them thar hills.]
 
_A Pact_ gives voice to the young poet's need to find a voice, and needing
to find a voice that is "American" and innovative and suitable for an
"American" epic work, and seeing that in this one of the foundation stones
upon which he can stand is the opus of Walt Whitman. Before he had had
disdain for WW's work, but he sees now that he stands where he does on
ground cleared by Whitman; on that ground, cleared by his literary
predecessor, EP will now build a grand structure. Etc. Dr. Pearlman said it
well in an earlier post. See if you can find EP's epigram on what an epic
is. That will clear up some of the fog. And remember that EP placed the
innovative poets in the first rank. "Make it new!" EP said; see _The Pound
Era_, pp. 447-448.
 
[And by the way, you might also want to look up Daniel Pearlman's excellent
book, _The Barb of Time_, should you wish to explore EP further. ]      ;-)
 
Chris Booth
 
> ----------
> From:         Cindy Jepsen
> Reply To:     Ezra Pound discussion list of the University of Maine
> Sent:         Friday, November 12, 1999 2:43 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Pound/Whitman "A Pact"
>
> Thanks so much for your direction! I actually have no grasp of Pound,
> these
> are questions asked by a teacher that are supposed to help with insight
> into Pound's feelings about Whitman. You have been very helpful, and I
> appreciate your information!
>
> ----------
> > From: Jonathan P. Gill <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Pound/Whitman "A Pact"
> > Date: Friday, November 12, 1999 9:51 AM
> >
> > Cindy--
> >
> > A good place to start would be what Pound himself wrote in prose about
> > Walt Whitman--or at least his writings about the American poetic
> > tradition. You might try Pound's Selected Poems.  Emerson's writings
> > (especially The American Scholar) might also help, since Emerson was so
> > important to Whitman. Donald Allen's anthology The New American Poetry
> > would be very accessible and help you get some primary exposure to the
> > differences between Whitman and his descendants. I don't know anyone
> with
> > a love for literature who wouldn't benefit from Hugh Kenner's Pound Era.
> > William Carlos Williams's Autobiography has lots to say about the
> > relationship of the American Modernists to the past (and the future).
> > Finally, there was a pretty good article about Whitman in National
> > Geographic about two years ago.
> >
> > By the way, the questions you are asking indicate that you seem to have
> an
> > excellent grasp of what's at stake in Pound's "Pact."
> >
> > As for carving, remember that it was no idle figure--Pound knew two of
> the
> > great sculptors of the day, and any day: Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (forgive
> my
> > spelling?) and Jacob Epstein.
> >
> > This may be too involved for your project, but keep in mind that Pound
> > wrote two different versions of the "Pact."
> >
> > Jonathan Gill
> > Columbia University
>