Dear listmembers, I am very thankful for your apt response. In a few days I will present you with a little article on the subject. However, I am amazed (not to say shocked) that none of you have recommended any essay by Pound himself. This is a severe oversight, if I may say so myself. It is more important to first know what a poet himself thought he was doing. Whether a critic thinks it is possible or not, is another, sometimes also interesting matter, but not as immediately important. Since I do not want to accuse anyone without at least a slight bit of evidence, here is a quote: I think the desire for vers libre is due to the sense of quantity reasserting itself after years of starvation. But I doubt if we can take over, for English, the rules of quantity laid down for Greek and Latin, mostly by Latin Grammarians. .... I think progress lies rather in an attempt to approximate classical quantitative metres (NOT to copy them) than in a careless regarding such things. (20 August 1917) from "Literary Essays of Ezra Pound." London, 1954. In this book, there are myriads of other, well informed and well-argued reasons why Pound believes this, and it will be interesting to see how the suggested material (insofar I have access to it) will argue for or against this statement. Pound's belief that the "musical phrase" is much preferable over the rhythm of the metronome seems to me impossible to deny, and fits well with his argumentation for quantitative verse. Also, my admiration for Pound as a poet who knows his metier has risen considerably. He truly is Il Miglior Fabbro, and I dare say his essays are more important (note *important*) than his poems. I am half shocked we didn't read any of them during my modernist course in university. Also, I regret not having even once in my life met anyone as knowledgeable about the literary art as Pound. I will be eternally on the lookout, but, just in case nobody pops up, I will make certain I will not let his groundbreaking work go to waste. In that spirit, I donate to you this little poem that was inspired by and written for, Mr Ezra Pound. Muse Are you asleep? You seem to be. body rising And falling, gently. What? Shhh Do not move I walk my hand, up, along Your tender, curving waist. Hmm that s nice. Shhh Do not speak: Your breath is life, quickening, Inspiring the living around you, Your mouth, when open, Pours out, love, Regal. Your eyes, a turbulence Of sunflowers A circle In the wind Looking After the sun With long Shadows And a fading sky. With soft grass, And the curved Line Of a woolly Cloud-rim. But now, we must sleep. I dim the lights, my lights, Artificial lights. Goodnight Good night. I ll be here Tomorrow, Suspended, For you To wake me again, to (bring) Life. (c) Aug 5 1998 Hopefully I did not break any rules by sending this in. I mean well - I admire Ezra's unselfish passion for the craft and I have tried to marry it to his somewhat selfish striving for Paradiso. There is a specific passage which has inspired me to write this in The Pound Era, in case anyone wishes to go source hunting even for the work of a minor poet. Criticism welcome (if there is anyone able to read this, he should be on this list, right?) Kind regards, Arwin van Arum. --------