as i understand it, Pound saw the role of the poet very much in the confucian sense of being one who advised the king... the poet was an embodiment of the ideal of the chun tzu - or "superior man"... and his advice on political, moral and social issues was as important his poetical creations... they were, in fact, not separate. still, it is important that we always keep alive to this tension which exists between life and art... it is an outward manifestation of the inward tension that exists between one's habits and one's unconscious. should pound scholarship overlook his political pronouncements simply because there are so few of them in the Cantos? (as has been suggested)... i think the Cantos are political through and through... it's just that some versions are more palatable than others. if Pound sought audience with the king.duce/president/chancellor/etc., it was because he felt his ideas were worth listening to... why should we overlook them as being unimportant? Stoneking ---- Original Message ----- From: Bill Freind <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, October 17, 1999 10:25 AM Subject: Re: Poundian Criticism (An Overview) > > It is, I believe, an obvious truth that our Poundian scholars, for the last > > twenty years, have not performed the function of scholars but of critics. > > This is, in and of itself, a remarkable thing. Those who should preserve the > > poet also wish to judge him. And what is the basis of their criticism? Is it > > on the basis of manuscripts newly discovered, or textual difficulties finally > > resolved? Has some discovery been made about the poems? Is it, in short, on > > the basis of scholarship? > > > > No. These scholars wish to criticize Pound because of his life, and more > > particularly his political sympathies. Thus, the poet has been re-evaluated > > on the basis of moral criteria, which in the realm of literary judgment, is > > the oldest fallacy. > > No -- the oldest fallacy is that great literary works transcend moral and > political issues. Pound himself certainly didn't believe that, so I think it > takes an extraordinarily willful reading to claim the Cantos have somehow been > tainted by political readings. > > Bill Freind >