Tolson may have not used these exact terms but it is clear from the comments we saw he felt a competition with the Euro-centric Pound and Eliot and intended to out do them even while he saw saw the poetic possibilities of the Cantos and the Wasteland. Carlo Parcelli On 11/24/2015 10:36 AM, ALDON L NIELSEN wrote: > Two quick notes to avoid possible confusion. > The comment about "outpounding Pound" was a remark made by Karl Shapiro ABOUT > Melvin Tolson. > Tolson's papers are at the Library of Congress, not the National Archives. > ------------------------------------------------ > Dear Roxana Preda, > > I know its been some months since our discussion of Pound and poets who worked > in the Pound tradition. At that time, after a cursory look you characterized my > work as being like that of a "shark". I simply took this to mean that like a > shark my work never sleeps/rests. > > You were utterly correct. That work, Tale of the Tribe, was written to > purposely overwhelm the reader as 20th century man was overwhelmed by events > and their apocalyptic tinge. > > But more to the point my work, up until my David Jones inspired monologues, was > written with the intention of utilizing techniques derived form the Cantos. > Those techniques include an attempt at a grand melding of cultures and times, > juxtaposition, citation, use of historical and factual data and events, > critically tackling disciplines e.g. Pound/economics without fear of 'expert' > censure, lyricism etc. all of which are operable in Pound's and my work. > > In my neck of the woods, we have a Poundian great chain of poetic being that > runs though Louis Zukofsky, Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Mel Tolson, Basil > Bunting, David Jones, Ed Dorn, Peter Dale Scott, John Matthias, Joe Brennan and > myself, all of whom feature prominently in FlashPoint magazine. > > When my wife and I went to the National Archives to bring to light heretofore > unpublished Mel Tolson works, we confirmed that he specifically wanted to out > Poundian Pound and felt he could because of his broader historical outlook. > That's the kind of ambition we seek. > > I would hazard that my work is more Poundian in the strictest sense than any > work done in the last 40 years. > > Kind regards, > Carlo Parcelli > FlashPoint Magazine > <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > "Study the fine art of coming apart." > > --Jerry W. Ward, Jr. > > Sailing the blogosphere at: http://heatstrings.blogspot.com/ > > Aldon L. Nielsen > Kelly Professor of American Literature > The Pennsylvania State University > 430 Burrowes > University Park, PA 16802-6200 > > (814) 865-0091 >