One of Pound's favorite's was Harris and the stories about Br'er Rabbit. That is where "Possum" comes from as a nickname for Eliot. -G. Davis Tim Romano wrote: > Tom, > I don't know that Pound regarded Eliot as "spiritually dead"; the nickname > suggests a poet-persona whose voice has a disembodied quality-- the voice > of a poet who is "playing dead" -- holding his own severed head in his > hand, as it were. This quality is one that William Carlos Williams did not > like at all; he refers to Eliot as "frozen" or "sub-zero" or something like > that--I can't remember his exact words or where he says this. But In > _Paterson_ where the frozen lettuces or cabbages are tossed off the bridge > and smash onto the frozen river below, I think Williams must be dealing > with Eliot. > Tim Romano > > At 02:50 PM 1/25/03 -0500, you wrote: > >Interesting, how TS Eliot's nickname was Possum, one known to Pound, and > >here it is on the listserv. The quote you gave us from EP is great. Did > >Pound view Eliot as spiritually dead? I know Pound edited "The > >Wasteland." Or, was it more of a friendly shove? Tom NJ > > > >-----Original Message----- > > > >"Mr. Eliot who is at times an excellent poet and who has arrived at the > >supreme Eminence among English critics largely through disguising > >himself as a corpse once asked in the course of an amiable article what > >'I believed'." > >-- E.P., Credo (1930)