Ezra Pound: His Metric And Poetry

by T.S. Eliot

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Poetry, Essays

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1918

About the author

Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, dramatist and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948 "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry." He wrote the poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday, and Four Quartets; the plays Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party; and the essay Tradition and the Individual Talent. Eliot was born an American, moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 (at the age of 25), and became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.S._Eliot

Reviews

[Mat · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best introduction to Ezra Pound's work.

Although Eliot wrote this essay before Pound had really begun to sink his teeth into his major opus - The Cantos - this piece helps you understand a) where Pound is coming from (in terms of which ancient poets he is reading and emulating) and b) what he is trying to achieve with modernism; and c) his thoughts on the paradox between vers libre (free verse) and mechanics.

As Eliot pithily states, Pound first mastered all the major poetic forms and meters, absorbed them till they became part of him, and then tried to write freely and create his own forms which were, a force de lire les anciens, modelled on the old masters but also new.
This reminded me of what my jazz guitar teacher once said - "learn all the scales, back to front, and then forget them". It seems like Pound did the same thing with poetry.

I also liked how Eliot included quotations from newspaper reviews at the time assessing Pound's work as it appeared in print.

For budding Pound scholars, like myself, this is one of the best places to start.

[Jedediah Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important work of early Poundian criticism, this essay makes a strong case for understanding the poet's reworking of traditional meters. Eliot examines several representative poems from Pound's early books, which mostly fall into the category of translations and imitations . While the first three published Cantos get a brief mention, they are not actually examined, and since they are in keeping with his other work from the period, those three would not show the kinds of radical innovations to come in the line and meter by the time of the Malatesta and Pisan Cantos. The disappointment here is that Eliot does not bother scanning his examples, demanding his reader rely on his conclusions about the prosody. Since reputable critics then and now challenge those assertions, he would have done well to "show his work" by including his calculations rather than just his solutions.

[Harry Dudley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not an easy read .

I would however say that this is a passionate defense of Pound's originality and craftsmanship. The suggested sequence for reading his works along with the contextualized responses of Pound's critics makes.it worth the effort.

[R.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and succinctly distilled piece of literary criticism. I found the discussions of meter and structure to be found in supposedly "free" verse quite instructive. Now I want to dive headfirst into Pound for myself...

[Bala · Rating 2 out of 5]

A modest introduction to Ezra Pound's poetry. While not the most succinct or scholarly exposition of his technique, the text does serve as an honest attempt to summarise the approaches to the poet's work at the time.

[Ellenore Clementine Kruger · Rating 3 out of 5]

good as an intro

I see he was not universal but i really wanted some poems and i got only snippets so i am misled and disappointed but it was free so no harm

[Diana Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful look at the poetry style of Ezra Pound written by another poet. I understood more of this than the actual poetry. Interesting read.