The Modern Stylists, edited by Donald Hall (1968), Ezra Pound, Part 3
The Modern Stylists, edited by Donald Hall (1968), Ezra Pound, Part 3
Ezra Pound: "1. Let the pupils exchange composition papers and see how many and what useless words have been used--how many words that convey nothing new.
2. How many words that obscure the meaning.
3. How many words out of their usual place, and whether this alteration makes the statement in any way more interesting or more energetic.
4. Whether a sentence is ambiguous; whether it really means more than one thing or more than the writer intended; whether it can be so read as to mean something different.
5. Whether there is something always clear on paper, but ambiguous if spoken aloud.
. . .
"Use no superfluous word, no adjective which does not reveal something.
"Don't mix an abstraction with the concrete.
"Go in fear of abstractions.
"Incompetence will show in the use of too many words.
"The reader's first and simplest test of an author will be to look for words that do not function; that contribute nothing to the meaning OR that distract from the MOST important factor of the meaning to factors of minor importance.
"It has been said that Swinburne used the same adjectives to describe a woman and a sunset."
This is my final post of quotes. I like ending with Ezra Pound because his comments were easily the best in the book. No wonder he influenced so many great writers.
His key points on this list: Avoid abstractions. Make your writing concrete with specific details.
And what a great prompt that final comment about a woman and a sunset might make.
Ezra Pound: "1. Let the pupils exchange composition papers and see how many and what useless words have been used--how many words that convey nothing new.
2. How many words that obscure the meaning.
3. How many words out of their usual place, and whether this alteration makes the statement in any way more interesting or more energetic.
4. Whether a sentence is ambiguous; whether it really means more than one thing or more than the writer intended; whether it can be so read as to mean something different.
5. Whether there is something always clear on paper, but ambiguous if spoken aloud.
. . .
"Use no superfluous word, no adjective which does not reveal something.
"Don't mix an abstraction with the concrete.
"Go in fear of abstractions.
"Incompetence will show in the use of too many words.
"The reader's first and simplest test of an author will be to look for words that do not function; that contribute nothing to the meaning OR that distract from the MOST important factor of the meaning to factors of minor importance.
"It has been said that Swinburne used the same adjectives to describe a woman and a sunset."
This is my final post of quotes. I like ending with Ezra Pound because his comments were easily the best in the book. No wonder he influenced so many great writers.
His key points on this list: Avoid abstractions. Make your writing concrete with specific details.
And what a great prompt that final comment about a woman and a sunset might make.
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