' Subject: Ezra Pound and Robert Duncan Dear Sirs: I guess you know very well that Ezra Pound was a great master for the young poets trying to create something new after World War 2. Robert Duncan (1919-88) also admired Pound very much and wrote some poems that remind us of Pound's teaching. It is said that "The question," a piece in The Opening of the Field (1960), is such a poem. If you do not mind, would you take a look at the following? THE QUESTION Have you a gold cup dedicated to thought that is like clear water held in flower? or sheen of the gold burnished on wood to furnish fire-glow a burning in sight only? color of gold, feel of gold weight of gold? Does the old alchemist speak in metaphor of spiritual splendor? or does he remember how that metal is malleable? chalice worked of gold at the altar, chausible elaborated in gold? in Cuzco llamas od solid gold in the Inti Pampa the Sun's field with Stars, Lighting, Rainbow, Moon round it? or impounded at Fort Knox? what wealth without show? When money at last moves a free medium using work as measure, justified to needs man's common nature heeds, will there be riches for public pleasure? Will the good metal return to use? gold leaf to the house roof? our treasure above ground sure glow for the eye to see? For tho les malades imaginaires, who puddle in their psyches to suck their own bones, declare lucre is shit, gold is to the artisan potent for beauty; and money remains "the growing grass that can nourish the living sheep", real only as that manly trust we know as the field of accumulated good, the keep of justice our labors that gold head of the wheat thrive for the common bread. Work the old images from the hoard, el trabajo en oro that gives wealth semblance and furnishes ground for the gods to flourish. O have you a service of rich gold to illustrate the board of public goods? as in the old days regalia of gold to show wherein the spirit had food? According to the interview of Duncan, the poem above is an answering poem for Ezra Pound and there are many allusions to Pound's works. But it is really hard for me to find them out. I can only tell that Duncan alludes to "Canto 45," "Canto 51" and an early poem "The Alchemist." If you do not mind, would you point out the specific parts of this poem referring to Pound's writings? What is "el trabajo en oro" ? I will really appreciate if you indicate many points as possible. Sincerely yours, Koichiro Yamauchi e-mail: [log in to unmask]