English 3332 students:
For our Friday, March 4, blog, please post a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs about the connections you see between the ideas in "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley" (626-35) and those that characterized Pound's intellectual development according to this 20 minute video biography of Ezra Pound: link for streaming video (After you click on the link, please click on "Part of the Films on Demand collection, access requires login to the proxy server." Then type in your ASU username and password. If you have problems opening the video, you are probably using Internet Explorer instead of Google Chrome, so clost the former and open the blog page in the latter.)
In your comment, please include at least three quotations from "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley."
After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the others students' comments.
Reminder for Monday: Susan Glaspell. “Trifles,” 585-96; Sherwood Anderson’s “Hands,” 613-18; and Katherine Anne Porter’s “Flowering Judas,” 727-38.
Have a great weekend,
Prof. K
Ezra Pound led an exceptionally extreme life. From his devout stances on art and the embracing of it, to his radical, anti-Semitic politics of the 30s and 40s, Pound himself remains an example of modernism with his habitation of the margins. In his poem, “Hugh Selwyn Mauberly,” Pound alludes to scores of other works and his own life and his own future. He states, “The ‘age demanded’ chiefly a mould in plaster, / Made with no loss of time” (627). This is referencing his life as a teacher when he felt that the education system did not really encourage arts, but rather standardized them. He at the time of his professorship, was an ardent believer in art being unbridled.
ReplyDeleteHis second reference to his own beliefs is in the “Mr. Nixon” section of his poem. He states, “Don’t kick against the pricks, / Accept opinion” (632). Ezra Pound went about his life incredibly opinionated and did not compromise his beliefs for anyone and he paid for it (although, he had it coming with his support of fascism). Another important allusion to his own beliefs comes when he states, “’Which the highest cultures have nourished’” (634). Pound believed that ancient Greece was the perfect example of a society that nourished the arts without sacrificing anything else.
I like that you mentioned his incredibly opinionated self. He stayed in St. Elizabeth's hospital for twelve years which definitely helped shape his views while he was there. I think his hospitalization had a large impact on how he wrote his later poems. So, I like how you mentioned his unchanging beliefs and his support of fascism.
DeleteI agree with you on how opinionated he was. Despite living in the US and having a standardized opinion about the arts, he tried to make more of it than what was considered the norm. Although it didn't work out in his favor all of that much, this didn't stop him from acting against conformity.
DeleteEzra Pound liked to make references to authors and works that he admired within his poems. In "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley" he references "his true Penelope was Flaubert" (13). The poem is riddled with poets and famous works within his poem.He also references Capaneus, Cos, and Samothrace. Pound's poem also reflected the new ideals of Modernism. In "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley" he says goodbye to London and the culture that he experienced there. He's saying goodbye to the old ways and saying hello to the new ideals. Lines 4-5, "No, hardly, but seeing he had been born/in a half savage country, out of date;" shows the outdateness that paved the way for Modernism to start its way into his work and his stances on social change.
ReplyDeletePound was a very big supporter of the Greek culture after moving to Italy and his poem is filled with Greek references. Pound also become obsessed with economics In his poem he states, "all men, in law, are equals" (53).
Anna I really like that you supported the idea of pound's works being riddled with other writers that influenced him. Its kind of an important aspect that yes we look at these writers great works and study them, but they in fact studied others in order to achieve such works.
DeleteThis poem by Pound is definitely wrought with allusions. He alludes to works within allusions to others and it can become quite jumbled for the reader at times. You pointing out his admiration of foreign works reminds me that this is heavily influenced by his work as a translator.
DeleteI really like how you focused on his moving to Europe. This shows in his work and makes this poem far more interesting to read with the variations of language strewn throughout the lines. Pounds poetry is far more interesting than others at this time, in my opinion, and i think that is because he thought meticulously over the wording of each and every line.
DeleteEzra Pound and his work was very important in the Modernism movement in America. Pound had very profound political views that made his work extremely controversial along with education and imagination for creating contentious works.
ReplyDelete"Hugh Sewlyn Mauberly" is one of the works we can see Pound's creative energy and influence from Renaissance writers. "All things are a flowing... But a tawdry cheapness Shall reign throughout our days.
Even the Christian beauty Defects"( 627) is Pound referring the growing problems in not just America, but the world (this was around the time of Adolf Hitler's reign).
Pound applies the lines "THERE died a myriad, And of the best, among them, For an old bitch gone in the teeth, For a botched civilization" (628) from the idea of "plain and not stylized" writing he intended to incorporate into his writings.
I enjoyed the statement of Pound's "creative energy," thus his passion in the subject. He enjoyed and admired writers that could translate the subjective onto paper. Therefore his own passion in his writing reflects that admiration, and directs it towards issues in the world.
DeleteIn effort to make poetry of his time more important than it seemed, Pound frequently grew frustrated at the lack of interest many paid towards the arts. Pound continuously stresses his angst and frustration with the American society in terms of how money driven they are as a country. In the story it reads, "he had been born,/ In a half savage country, out of date" (626-627). These lines give an introduction into how Pound illustrates his point of view of America.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the poem, we are able to see examples of Pound speaking against the US in disgust. "The age demanded an image/ of its accelerated grimace,/ something of the modern stage,/ not, at any rate, an Attic grace" (627). Here we are able to grasp just how much Pound admires the European structure in terms of the Arts. His disgust with the US. He's trying to bring back the beauty of the arts and literature, but sees that that isn't going to happen.
In the poem when the main character Huey meets up with Mr. Nixon, Mr. Nixon depletes his confidence with his poetry by saying "And give up verse my boy,/ There's nothing in it" (632). Here, Mr. Nixon is stressing not only how Huey should give up writing poetry, but how useless writing is to their society.
It's fascinating to see how strongly Pound felt about uncultured Americams, who focused so much on business and usability. Certainly Hugh Selwyn Mauberley is a shining representation of Pound, himself. Pound thought that his poetry could truly bring about reform, much like his character, Mauberley.
DeleteI agree! Pound states in the beginning of "Hugh Mauberley", lines 1-8 that he feels "poetry is out of date in the country." It is amazing that he still continued to have an impression on poetry despite the time he lived in.
DeleteEzra Pound began developing his intellectual identity through his higher education and further cultivated it with his study abroad experiences. He began his extended education at the University of Pennsylvania for two years. He continued his education at Hamilton College. There he studied the Romance and Anglo-Saxon languages and achieved a degree in Philosophy. In 1906, he received a scholarship to a program in Spain, where he stayed for the next year. Because of his experiences in Spain, when he returned to teach romance languages, he renounced his job after four months. There he stated his true intellectual realization that one cannot instruct another on how to imitate the great artists. American education was flawed in its approach to the arts. Any true expert of an art would ignore stupidity such as this blatant misunderstanding of art. He admired the recovering of literary past, the presentation of the subjective, and precise literature. He admired, and later became friends with William Butler Yates, who encouraged his approach to poetry. These early influences developed his literary ideals and political stances.
ReplyDeletePound’s strongest statement of his preferential approach to art in "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (Life and Contacts)" is his exultation and use of Greek allusions. Lines 9 and 58 are actually written in Greek. In addition, he alludes to Greek gods and many pieces of literature such as his allusion to “the elegance of Circe’s hair” in line 15. He supported their love and understanding for art, without compromising their beliefs, unlike the Americans of Pound’s time. Pound was highly critical of the “half savage country, out of date; / Bent resolutely on wringing lilies from the acorn” (ln. 6-7). The “half savage country” could be America, and their forced interpretation of the art of poetry, or another country that reflected this same approach. Though Pound opposed the strict misunderstandings of the uneducated population in the arts, he did concede by saying, “Don’t kick against the pricks, / Accept opinion” (ln 169-70). His own vocal oppositions caused him much trouble, therefore he advised a better approach.
Pound's emphasis on classical works and imagery reflect a Neoclassical perspective. Because of his love for writers from the Renaissance, wherein people brought back the works of the Romans and Greeks, he is trying to follow in their footsteps and bring back the classics again. Pound has a neoclassical perspective because the neoclassicists believed the best possible manifestations of art and literature had been achieved in antiquity and the best way for modern artists and writers to achieve the artistic ideal was to go back to classical norms. Thus, he is really a "Neo-Neoclassicist."
DeleteTwo connections I see between "Hugh Selwyn Mauberly" and Ezra Pound's intellectual development are his sketpicism of "cookie-cutter" art and his emphasis on imagism.
ReplyDeleteFirst, Pound believed you could not produce masterpieces like those of Mozart or Da Vinci by following a recipe derived from study of those masters. This sort of unoriginal product was more likely with the increased emphasis in America on writing for profit. The connection between writing for profit and "cookie-cutter" art is seen in line 161-62 where Pound depicts Mr. Nixon saying "I never mentioned a man but with the view/Of selling my own works." He further deplores the lack of original artistry when he has Mr. Nixon comment, "And no one know, at sight, a masterpiece." In the line "give up verse, my boy/There's nothing in it" Pound expresses his view of the commericial aspect of art. Money was becoming more important than substance and this was reflected in the formulaic art being taught in American colleges.
Second, Pound was an advocate of imagism, the idea that every word should represent a visible image. This may be reflected in line 21 and following, where, for example, he notes, "The age demanded an image/Of its accelerated grimace." Pound prefered that words not have "the obscure reveries/Of the inward gaze." Pound's poem "Hugh Selwyn Mauberly" is imagist because it make frequent allusions to characters in or authors of other works of literature, which allows readers familiar with these other works to get a more precise idea of what he is talking about.
In summary, Pound's poem reflects both his disdain for commercialism in the arts and the formulaic approach to art taught in the American education system as well as his preference for the precision of description that constituted imagism.
In "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley," Pound laments over art being lost in culture, which was one of his primary issues with American society. As the video suggested, Pound found the efficiency and usability-obsessed culture mundane and disappointing, and criticizes it in “Hugh Selwyn Muaberley:” “The ‘age demanded’ chiefly a mould in plaster, / made with no loss of time, /A prose kinema, not, not assuredly, alabaster / Or the sculpture of rhyme” (627). According to Pound, there is no respect for true art (which takes time and effort) in American culture; rather, things are only valued for their usefulness and immediate availability.
ReplyDeleteThe video also discusses how Ezra Pound should be plain and accessible to the modern individual. That concept is visible in Pound’s very classical quatrain rhyme scheme of ABAB. For example, in the opening quatrain we see this quality: “For three years, out of key with his time, / He strove to resuscitate the dead art / Of poetry; to maintain “the sublime” / In the old sense. Wrong from the start” (626). On the other hand, Pound uses tons of references to Greek mythology and other classical works, as well as to historical figures. He even includes a whole sentence in ancient Greek, such as in Section 1, Line 9. In this way, Pound seems to be contradicting his desire for simple and modern language.
I like the mention of accessibility you make to his work, at least in Mauberley. I noticed the familiar rhyme scheme, as well, and it's true that it does make the work as a whole that much more appealing while reading it. The contradiction is also a very interesting point, though I suppose that really depends on the views of the author as opposed to the reader. According to the video, precise wording was a founding principle seen throughout his works, so I assume Pound thought the Greek phrase rather than an English translation gave the poem a greater sense of completion that better suited the context.
DeleteEzra Pound loved the language of poetry. He was a translator and often translated poetry form other languages. Ezra referenced many other authors in his works in Huge Selwyn Mauberley Pound references the Greek poet Sappho, Shakespeare, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and many others. He was a commentator of politics as well referencing William Gladstone, a liberal prime minister for London. Ezra Pound was an imagist he chose words to fit precisely in the right order; they were not a good or great word, but the correct word.
ReplyDeleteEzra Pound studied languages and therefore he brought them into his poetry to add a beautiful representation to his works. In Huge Selwyn Mauberley, Pound pulls from many different languages, such as; Latin, French, and Greek. Many sections are titled with these languages, “Siena mi fe; disfecemi Maremma.” And ,”Yeux Glauques.” Ezra Pounds writing is like reading a song it flows so well it is almost a melody.
I am not necessarily a fan of Pound, but one cannot argue that the traditional poetry was not a true representation of the world and current events. I had never read "Hugh.." before this course and in reading this, I can fully understand his impact on T.S. Eliot. Good Job Katie!
DeleteThe video biography of Ezra Pound gave significant insight to Pound’s influence on Modernism and poetry. His idea of the “imagist” is evident in “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley,” in that the lines reflect the use of carefully chosen words that represent his efficiency. While reading “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley,” I could not help but notice the parallels between this work and that of T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land.” The use of Greek mythology in Pound’s work, as well as Eliot’s shows how much of an influence his editing was on Eliot’s work. Going back to the basics of civilization, to the ritualistic customs, and blending them with the beliefs and trends of modern times is Pound’s representation that Romanticism is inefficient and art is skewed. This is, inarguably in the lines “He strove to resuscitate the dead art/ Of poetry; to maintain the ‘sublime’/ In the old sense. Wrong from the start” (1-3). Pound’s views of “old” poetry and this new “imagist” idea resulted in the slashing and burning of not only the lines of the poems, but also the traditions of Romanticism. Perfection in choosing the most efficient word can be found in “His true Penelope was Flaubert” (14). This line invokes Pound’s true love of simplicity, and is the basis for understanding his intentions to achieve a new and more resounding effect on poetry and its readers.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the documentary, Pound was deeply affected by the current social and economic climates, especially in America. The lyrical asthetic used by Pound became a tool to inspire social reformation which resulted in heavy censorship of his work. However, his impact on other poets and how their work evolved into what is now known as Modernism proves the importance of the shift in relation to the dramatic changes that were happening around the world.
The very first stanza of Hugh Selwyn Mauberley almost perfectly describes Ezra Pound's legacy as a poet and critic, "out of key with his time, he strove to resuscitate the dead art of poetry; to maintain "the sublime" in the old sense." This description mirrors Pound's image as a poetic genius ahead of his time and whose ideas would not be fully appreciated until late in his life and after his death, as well as his own appreciation for the classic poets and dissatisfaction with the direction of the poetry movement during his time. His love for Greek poetry is referenced through the recurring mention of mythological figures such as Capaneus or the Sirens or Apollo, while the brief mentioning of Gustave Flaubert as "his true Penelope" recalls from the video his love for precise wording in poetry (which Flaubert emphasized in his work), which would become a trademark for the modern poetry movement that he helped bring about.
ReplyDeleteHis struggles as a poet are further illustrated through the remaining stanzas, most vividly in the verse titled Mr. Nixon. There, he makes extensive reference to his complicated relationship with the public on the grounds of his beliefs, ranging from the economic prospects he wished to share with the American government, which they failed to hear, to his understandably controversial support of fascist and anti-semitic views in Italy and Germany during the Second World War. He does this through a fictitious retelling of a discussion with an older advisor, who tells him to "advance with fewer dangers of delay" as an urge for him never to compromise his beliefs, however hard they are for the public to stomach. The actions he takes following the discussion, "[taking] shelter...from the world's welter" as he "exercises his talents and the soil meets his distress," illustrate his determination to continue his poems without worry or consequence, a decision that in real life ultimately rewards him with his longest and most celebrated work, The Cantos.
Ezra Pound felt when it came to art, society was getting it all wrong. Pound called for plain spoken poetry, and was an early proponent of imagism, declaring each word should be a visible image. He rejected Victorian sentiment and Romance, and advocated use of everyday language. Movement offered absolute freedom in the choice of themes, encouraged rhythms in the use of musical phrase. The reader sees this in “Hugh Mauberley” as the poem is flowy and rhythmic, like music. In the poem, Hugh felt out of place because he "strove to resuscitate the dead art of poetry. (line 2)" Pound felt the same way, as while he worked as a correspondent at the Chicago-based magazine, “Poetry”, he edited the poems of authors he admired, before publishing them. He felt the topic of poetry going out of style and accomplished his part in making sure published poetry was worth reading. Most of his selections of revising poetry were young writers at the outset of their careers, and they said themselves that Pound rewrote their poetry better than they did.
ReplyDeleteAlong those same lines, Pound, through his poem states “ No, hardly but, seeing he had been born
In a half savage country, out of date; Bent resolutely on wringing lilies from the acorn; Capaneus; trout for factitious bait; (lines 5-8)” When Pound says "trout for factitious bait," he seems to be talking about fish swimming after bait. This might represent Pound or Hugh going after a lofty goal-meaning the making of poetry famous again. But the word "factitious" means artificial or unnatural, which might even mean that Huey's goal of changing the world through poetry was never realistic to being with. It is just his fantasy that wasn't worth pursuing, like swimming after artificial bait. In the same way Pound felt the need to change the world through poetry, he didn’t believe he was influential; which is funny because he was one of the most influential poets of his time.
In "Hugh Selwyn Mauberly", Ezra Pound demonstrates his life and all that went on within the poem. He says "The age demanded an image / Of its accelerated grimace, / Something for the modern stage, / Not, at any rate, an Attic grace,"(627). As an modernist, Pound believed kids were not receiving the correct knowledge about the art and, being a teacher, felt the need to educate the system itself for them to get the full understanding.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, Ezra tackles on the ancient Greek culture and demonstrates it perfectly throughout his works. He states "All men, in law, are equals. / Free of Pisistratus, / We choose a knave or an eunuch / To rule us over."(628).
Lastly, "Hugh Sewlyn Mauberly" gives us a sense of imagery as Pound refers back to people and authors of different literature. "Gladstone was still respected, / When John Ruskin produced / "King's Treasuries"; Swinburne / And Rossetti still abused."(630). Here he is talking about John Ruskin, who was an art critic at the time, defending the general diffusion of literature and art. As you can see, Ezra Pound lived a very intense life.
I like how you mentioned how pound viewed the American education system as flawed in regards to the arts. I could also sense in frustration in this matter.
DeleteEzra Pound makes references to many writers in Hugh Welwyn Mauberley that he admired such as the greeks, this can be seen when he writes, “ O bright Apollo,” (628) .Ezra pound took stances on issues that he was passionate about and those new ideas of modernism are reflected in his poetry.
ReplyDeletePound was frustrated with the lack of interest that the Americans had for the arts. He was angered at the standardized and consumerist country that America had become. Pound speaks against the US and admires the Europeans appreciation for the arts when he writes, “ For a botched civilization,” (629) . It can be seen in his writing that he realizes that the arts is a lost culture and that the education system is flawed in the area. When Pound wrote, “He strove to resuscitate the dead art (626),” it shows what he felt on the matter.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete