Understanding the Cantos by Ezra Pound

8/15/2019 Understanding the Cantos by Ezra Pound

1/336

The Cantos This article is about the series of cantos written by Ezra Pound. For other uses, see Canto .

1913 photograph of Ezra Pound by Alvin Langdon Coburn

The Can tos by Ezra Pound is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections, each of which is a canto . Most of it was written between 1915 and 1962, although much of the early work was abandoned andthe early cantos, as finally published, date from 1922 onwards. It is a book-length work, widelyconsidered to present formidable difficulties to the reader. The Cantos is generally considered one ofthe most significant works of modernist poetry in the 20th century. As in Pound's prose writing, thethemes of economics, governance and culture are integral to the work's content.The most striking feature of the text, to a casual browser, is the inclusion of Chinese characters aswell as quotations in European languages other than English. Recourse to scholarly commentariesis almost inevitable for a close reader . The range of allusion to historical events is very broad, andabrupt changes occur with little transition. There is also wide geographical reference; Pound addedto his earlier interests in the classical Mediterranean culture and East Asia selective topicsfrom medieval and early modern Italy and Provence, the beginnings of the United States, England ofthe 17th century, and details from Africa he had obtained from Leo Frobenius . References withoutexplanation abound. Pound initially believed that he possessed poetic and rhetorical techniqueswhich would themselves generate significance, but as time passed he became more concerned withthe messages he wished to convey.

The section he wrote at the end of World War II, begun while he was interned in American-occupiedItaly, has become known as The Pisan Cantos , and is often considered to be self-contained. It wasawarded the first Bollingen Prize in 1948. There were many repercussions, since this in effecthonoured a poet who had been condemned as a traitor in his native country.

Contents[hide ]

1Background

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Langdon_Coburnhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Langdon_Coburnhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Poundhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Poundhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Poundhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_readinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_readinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_readinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medievalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medievalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medievalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Frobeniushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Frobeniushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Frobeniushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollingen_Prizehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollingen_Prizehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollingen_Prizehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Backgroundhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Backgroundhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ezra_Pound.jpghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Backgroundhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollingen_Prizehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Frobeniushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medievalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_readinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Poundhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Langdon_Coburnhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canto


2/336

o 1.1Publication history o 1.2Controversy

2Structure 3I – XVI 4XVII –XXX 5XXXI –XLI (XI New Cantos) 6XLII –LI (Fifth Decad, called also Leopoldine Cantos) 7LII – LXI (The China Cantos) 8LXII –LXXI (The Adams Cantos) 9LXXII – LXXIII (The Italian Cantos) 10LXXIV – LXXXIV (The Pisan Cantos) 11LXXXV – XCV (Section: Rock-Drill) 12XCVI – CIX (Thrones) 13Drafts and fragments of Cantos CX – CXVII 14Legacy 15Notes 16Sources

17External links

Background [edit ] Publication history [edit ] The earliest part of The Cantos to be published were released by Three Mountains Press in 1925under the title A Draft of XVI Cantos . The first complete edition was New Directions' The Cantos (1-109)

Controversy [edit ] The Cantos has always been a controversial work, initially so because of the experimental nature ofthe writing. The controversy has intensified since 1940 when Pound's very public stance on the war

in Europe and his support for Benito Mussolini 's fascism became widely known. Much criticaldiscussion of the poem has focused on the relationship between, on the one hand, the economicthesis on usura , Pound's antisemitism , his adulation of Confucian ideals of government and hisattitude towards fascism , and, on the other, passages of lyrical poetry and the historical scene-setting that he performed with his 'ideographic' technique. At one end of the spectrum George P.Elliot has drawn a parallel between Pound and Adolf Eichmann based on their antisemitism ,[1] whileat the other Marjorie Perloff places Pound's antisemitism in a wider context by examining the politicalviews of many of his contemporaries, arguing that "We have to try to understand why" antisemitismwas widespread in the early twentieth century, "and not say let's get rid of Ezra Pound, who alsohappens to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th C." [2]

However, all of this is complicated by the fact that The Cantos themselves contain very littleevidence of Pound's otherwise blatant antisemitism: in fact, in a close study of the poem, Wendy

Stallard Flory concluded that it contained only seven passages of antisemitic sentiment in the 803pages she read .[3] Further, when Allen Ginsberg visited him in Rapallo in October 1967, Pounddescribed his previous work to Ginsberg as: "A mess ... stupidity and ignorance all the way through."

And later (as they dined in the Pensione Alle Salute da Cici restaurant in Venice) he even admittedto Ginsberg, Peter Russell , and Michael Reck that: "... my worst mistake was the stupid suburbananti-Semitic prejudice, all along that spoiled everything ... I found after seventy years that I was not alunatic but a moron ... I should have been able to do better ... "[4] Even his views on usury shifted inhis later years: two weeks before his 87th birthday he read for a gathering of friends at a café: "reUSURY / I was out of focus, taking a symptom for a cause. / The cause is AVARICE. "[5] However,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Publication_historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Publication_historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Controversyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Controversyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Structurehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Structurehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#I.E2.80.93XVIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#I.E2.80.93XVIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#I.E2.80.93XVIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#I.E2.80.93XVIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XVII.E2.80.93XXXhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XVII.E2.80.93XXXhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XVII.E2.80.93XXXhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XVII.E2.80.93XXXhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XXXI.E2.80.93XLI_.28XI_New_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XXXI.E2.80.93XLI_.28XI_New_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XXXI.E2.80.93XLI_.28XI_New_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XXXI.E2.80.93XLI_.28XI_New_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XLII.E2.80.93LI_.28Fifth_Decad.2C_called_also_Leopoldine_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XLII.E2.80.93LI_.28Fifth_Decad.2C_called_also_Leopoldine_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XLII.E2.80.93LI_.28Fifth_Decad.2C_called_also_Leopoldine_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XLII.E2.80.93LI_.28Fifth_Decad.2C_called_also_Leopoldine_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LII.E2.80.93LXI_.28The_China_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LII.E2.80.93LXI_.28The_China_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LII.E2.80.93LXI_.28The_China_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LII.E2.80.93LXI_.28The_China_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXII.E2.80.93LXXI_.28The_Adams_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXII.E2.80.93LXXI_.28The_Adams_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXII.E2.80.93LXXI_.28The_Adams_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXII.E2.80.93LXXI_.28The_Adams_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXII.E2.80.93LXXIII_.28The_Italian_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXII.E2.80.93LXXIII_.28The_Italian_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXII.E2.80.93LXXIII_.28The_Italian_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXII.E2.80.93LXXIII_.28The_Italian_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXIV.E2.80.93LXXXIV_.28The_Pisan_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXIV.E2.80.93LXXXIV_.28The_Pisan_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXIV.E2.80.93LXXXIV_.28The_Pisan_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXIV.E2.80.93LXXXIV_.28The_Pisan_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXXV.E2.80.93XCV_.28Section:_Rock-Drill.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXXV.E2.80.93XCV_.28Section:_Rock-Drill.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXXV.E2.80.93XCV_.28Section:_Rock-Drill.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXXV.E2.80.93XCV_.28Section:_Rock-Drill.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XCVI.E2.80.93CIX_.28Thrones.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XCVI.E2.80.93CIX_.28Thrones.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XCVI.E2.80.93CIX_.28Thrones.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XCVI.E2.80.93CIX_.28Thrones.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Drafts_and_fragments_of_Cantos_CX.E2.80.93CXVIIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Drafts_and_fragments_of_Cantos_CX.E2.80.93CXVIIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Drafts_and_fragments_of_Cantos_CX.E2.80.93CXVIIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Drafts_and_fragments_of_Cantos_CX.E2.80.93CXVIIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Legacyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Legacyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Noteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Noteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#External_linkshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#External_linkshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=2https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=2https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=2https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=3https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=3https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_fascismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_fascismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_fascismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmannhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmannhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmannhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Perloffhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Perloffhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Perloffhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Ginsberghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Ginsberghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Ginsberghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Russell_(poet)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Russell_(poet)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Russell_(poet)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-Tytell337-5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-Tytell337-5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-Tytell337-5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-Tytell337-5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Russell_(poet)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Ginsberghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Perloffhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmannhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_fascismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=3https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=2https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#External_linkshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Noteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Legacyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Drafts_and_fragments_of_Cantos_CX.E2.80.93CXVIIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XCVI.E2.80.93CIX_.28Thrones.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXXV.E2.80.93XCV_.28Section:_Rock-Drill.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXIV.E2.80.93LXXXIV_.28The_Pisan_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXXII.E2.80.93LXXIII_.28The_Italian_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LXII.E2.80.93LXXI_.28The_Adams_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#LII.E2.80.93LXI_.28The_China_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XLII.E2.80.93LI_.28Fifth_Decad.2C_called_also_Leopoldine_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XXXI.E2.80.93XLI_.28XI_New_Cantos.29https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#XVII.E2.80.93XXXhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#I.E2.80.93XVIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Structurehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Controversyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#Publication_history


3/336

even despite his earlier views, Pound still had defenders: Louis Zukofsky (who was Jewish)defended Pound on the basis of his personal knowledge of antisemitism on the level of humanexchange — even though (according to William Cookson [6]) their correspondence contained some ofPound's offensive views. Thus, although Pound indeed distrusted the masses, "foreigners," and soforth, The Cantos themselves (with their references to Confucius , the agrarian populismof Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy , and even the "enlightened despotism" of Leopold II )

reflect the underlying conservative sentiment behind his more well-known social and economic views(including his antisemitism.) [citation needed ]

Structure [edit ] The Cantos can appear on first reading to be chaotic or structureless because it lacks plot or adefinite ending. R.P. Blackmur , an early critic, wrote,

The Cantos are not complex, they are complicated; they are not arrayed by logic or driven bypursuing emotion, they are connected because they follow one another, are set side by side, andbecause an anecdote, an allusion or a sentence begun in one Canto may be continued in anotherand may never be completed at all; and as for a theme to be realized, they seem to have only,like Mauberley , the general sense of continuity — not unity — which may arise in the mind when

read seriatim . The Cantos are what Mr Pound himself called them in a passage now excised fromthe canon, a rag-bag .[7]

The issue of incoherence of the work is reflected by the equivocal note sounded in the final twomore-or-less completed cantos; according to William Cookson , the final two cantos show that Poundhas been unable to make his materials cohere, while they insist that the world itself still doescohere .[8] Pound and T. S. Eliot had previously approached the subject of fragmentation of humanexperience: while Eliot was writing, and Pound editing, The Waste Land , Pound had said that helooked upon experience as similar to a series of iron filings on a mirror .[9] Each filing is disconnected,but they are drawn into the shape of a rose by the presence of a magnet . The Cantos takes aposition between the mythic unity of Eliot's poem and Joyce's flow of consciousness and attemptingto work out how history (as fragment) and personality (as shattered by modern existence) cancohere in the "field" of poetry. [citation needed ]

Nevertheless, there are indications in Pound's other writings that there may have been some formalplan underlying the work. In his 1918 essay A Retrospect , Pound wrote "I think there is a 'fluid' aswell as a 'solid' content, that some poems may have form as a tree has form, some as water pouredinto a vase. That most symmetrical forms have certain uses. That a vast number of subjects cannotbe precisely, and therefore not properly rendered in symmetrical forms". Critics like HughKenner who take a more positive view of The Cantos have tended to follow this hint, seeing thepoem as a poetic record of Pound's life and reading that sends out new branches as new needsarise with the final poem, like a tree, displaying a kind of unpredictable inevitability. [citation needed ]

Another approach to the structure of the work is based on a letter Pound wrote to his father in the1920s, in which he stated that his plan was:

A. A. Live man goes down into world of dead.

C. B. 'The repeat in history.'B. C. The 'magic moment' or moment of metamorphosis, bustthrough from quotidian into 'divine or permanent world.' Gods,etc.

[The letter columns ACB/ABC may indicate the sequencesin which the concepts could be presented.] In the light ofcantos written later than this letter, it would be possible toadd other recurring motifs to this list, suchas: periploi ('voyages around'); vegetation rituals such as

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zukofskyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zukofskyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zukofskyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confuciushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confuciushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffersonian_Democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffersonian_Democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffersonian_Democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonian_Democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonian_Democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonian_Democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgiumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgiumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgiumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=4https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=4https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.P._Blackmurhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.P._Blackmurhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.P._Blackmurhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Selwyn_Mauberleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Selwyn_Mauberleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Selwyn_Mauberleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seriatimhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seriatimhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seriatimhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rag-bag&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rag-bag&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliothttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliothttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliothttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Kennerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Kennerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Kennerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Kennerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Kennerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Kennerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliothttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-7https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rag-bag&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seriatimhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Selwyn_Mauberleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.P._Blackmurhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgiumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonian_Democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffersonian_Democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confuciushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zukofsky


4/336

the Eleusinian Mysteries ; usura , banking and credit; andthe drive towards clarity in art, such as the 'clear line' ofRenaissance painting and the 'clear song' ofthe troubadours .[citation needed ]

The poem's symbolic structure also makes use of anopposition between darkness and light. Images of light areused variously, and may represent Neoplatonic ideas ofdivinity, the artistic impulse, love (both sacred and physical)and good governance, amongst other things. The moon isfrequently associated in the poem with creativity, while thesun is more often found in relation to the sphere of politicaland social activity, although there is frequent overlapbetween the two. From the Rock Drill sequence on, thepoem's effort is to merge these two aspects of light into aunified whole. [citation needed ]

The Cantos was initially published in the form of separatesections, each containing several cantos that werenumbered sequentially using Roman numerals (exceptcantos 85 – 109, first published with Arabic numerals ). Theoriginal publication dates for the groups of cantos are asgiven below. [citation needed ]

I– XVI[edit ] Published in 1924/5 as A Draft of XVI Cantos by the ThreeMountains Press in Paris.

Pound had been considering writing a long poem sincearound 1905, but work did not begin until sometimebetween 1912 and 1917, when the initial versions of thefirst three cantos of the proposed "poem of some

length" were published in the journal Poetry . In thisversion, the poem began as an address by the poet tothe ghost of Robert Browning . Pound came to believethat this narrative voice compromised the revolutionaryintent of his poetic vision, and these first three ur-cantos were soon abandoned and a new starting pointsought. The answer was a Latin versionof Homer 's Odyssey bythe Renaissance scholar Andreas Divus that Poundhad bought in Paris sometime between 1906 and 1910.

Using the metre and syntax of his 1911 version ofthe Anglo-Saxon poem The Seafarer , Pound made an

English version of Divus' rendering ofthe nekuia episode in which Odysseus and hiscompanions sail to Hades in order to find out what theirfuture holds. In using this passage to open the poem,Pound introduces a major theme: the excavating of the"dead" past to illuminate the present and future. Healso echoes Dante 's opening to The Divine Comedy inwhich the poet also descends into hell to interrogate thedead. The canto concludes with some fragments from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusinian_Mysterieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusinian_Mysterieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusinian_Mysterieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadourhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadourhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadourhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numeralshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numeralshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numeralshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numeralshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numeralshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numeralshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=5https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=5https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_(magazine)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_(magazine)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_(magazine)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Browninghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Browninghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Browninghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Divushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Divushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Divushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter_(poetry)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter_(poetry)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter_(poetry)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntaxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntaxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntaxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seafarer_(poem)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seafarer_(poem)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seafarer_(poem)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nekuiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nekuiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nekuiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighierihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighierihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighierihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Divine_Comedyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Divine_Comedyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Divine_Comedyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Divine_Comedyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighierihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nekuiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seafarer_(poem)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntaxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter_(poetry)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Divushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Browninghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_(magazine)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numeralshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numeralshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadourhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusinian_Mysteries


5/336

the Second Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite , in a Latinversion by Georgius Dartona which Pound found in theDivus volume, followed by "So that:" —an invitation toread on.

Canto II opens with some lines rescued from the ur-cantos in which Pound reflects on the indeterminacy ofidentity by setting side by side four different versions ofthe troubadour poet Sordello :[10] Browning's poem ofthat name, the actual Sordello of flesh and blood,Pound's own version of the poet, and the Sordello ofthe brief life appended to manuscripts of his poems.These lines are followed by a sequence of identityshifts involving a seal, the daughter of Lir , and otherfigures associated with the sea: Eleanor of

Aquitaine who, through a pair of Homeric epithets thatecho her name, shifts into Helen of Troy , Homer withhis ear for the "sea surge", the old men of Troy whowant to send Helen back over the sea, and an

extended, Imagistic retelling of the story of theabduction of Dionysus by sailors and his transformationof his abductors into dolphins. Although this last story isfound in the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus , also containedin the Divus volume, Pound draws on the versionin Ovid 's poem Metamorphoses , thus introducing theworld of ancient Rome into the poem.

Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta "built a temple so full of

pagane works" (Canto XI). Portrait by Piero della

Francesca .

The next five cantos (III – VII), again drawing heavily onPound's Imagist past for their technique, are essentiallybased in the Mediterranean, drawing on classicalmythology ,Renaissance history, the world of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphroditehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphroditehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphroditehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georgius_Dartona&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georgius_Dartona&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sordellohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sordellohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-10https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-10https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-10https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lirhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lirhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lirhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitainehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitainehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitainehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitainehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_of_Troyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_of_Troyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_of_Troyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphoses_(poem)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphoses_(poem)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphoses_(poem)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatestahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatestahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mythologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mythologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mythologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SigismondoMalatesta.jpghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mythologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mythologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatestahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphoses_(poem)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_of_Troyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitainehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitainehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lirhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-10https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sordellohttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georgius_Dartona&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrodite


6/336

the troubadours , Sappho 's poetry, a scene from thelegend of El Cid that introduces the theme of bankingand credit , and Pound's own visits t oVenice to create atextual collage saturated with Neoplatonic images ofclarity and light.

Cantos VIII – XI draw on the story of SigismondoPandolfo Malatesta , 15th-century poet, condottiere , lordof Rimini and patron of the arts. Quoting extensivelyfrom primary sources, including Malatesta's letters,Pound especially focuses on the building of the churchof San Francesco, also known as the TempioMalatestiano . Designed by Leon Battista Alberti anddecorated by artists including Piero dellaFrancesca and Agostino di Duccio , this was a landmarkRenaissance building, being the first church to use theRoman triumphal arch as part of its structure. ForPound, who spent a good deal of time seeking patronsfor himself, Joyce , Eliot and a string of little

magazines and small presses , the role of the patronwas a crucial cultural question, and Malatesta is thefirst in a line of ruler-patrons to appear in The Cantos .

Canto XII consists of three moral tales on the subject ofprofit .[11] The first and third of these treat of the creationof profit ex nihilo by exploiting the money supply , comparing this activity with "unnatural" fertility. Thecentral parable contrasts this with wealth-creationbased on the creation of useful goods. Canto XIII thenintroduces Confucius , or Kung, who is presented as theembodiment of the ideal of social order basedon ethics .

This section of The Cantos concludes with a visionof Hell . Cantos XIV and XV use the convention ofthe Divine Comedy to present Pound/Dante movingthrough a hell populated by bankers, newspapereditors, hack writers and other 'perverters of language'and the social order. In Canto XV, Plotinus takes therole of guide played by Virgil in Dante's poem. In CantoXVI, Pound emerges from Hell and into an earthlyparadise where he sees some of the personagesencountered in earlier cantos. The poem then moves torecollections of World War I, and of Pound's writer andartist friends who fought in it. These include Richard

Aldington , Henri Gaudier-Brzeska , WyndhamLewis , Ernest Hemingway and Fernand Léger , whosewar memories the poem includes a passage from (inFrench). Finally, there is a transcript of Lincoln Steffens ' account of the Russian Revolution . These two events,the war and revolution, mark a decisive break with thehistoric past, including the early modernist period whenthese writers and artists formed a more-or-lesscoherent movement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadourhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadourhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadourhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_(finance)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_(finance)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_(finance)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venicehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venicehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venicehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatestahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatestahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatestahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatestahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condottierehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condottierehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condottierehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riminihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riminihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riminihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempio_Malatestianohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempio_Malatestianohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempio_Malatestianohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempio_Malatestianohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Battista_Albertihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Battista_Albertihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agostino_di_Ducciohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agostino_di_Ducciohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agostino_di_Ducciohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumphal_archhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumphal_archhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joycehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joycehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joycehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliothttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliothttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliothttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_magazinehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_magazinehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_magazinehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_magazinehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-11https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-11https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-11https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_nihilohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_nihilohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_nihilohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_supplyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_supplyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_supplyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confuciushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confuciushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confuciushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Aldingtonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Aldingtonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Aldingtonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Aldingtonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Gaudier-Brzeskahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Gaudier-Brzeskahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Gaudier-Brzeskahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Lewishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Lewishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Lewishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Lewishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingwayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingwayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingwayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_L%C3%A9gerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_L%C3%A9gerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_L%C3%A9gerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Steffenshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Steffenshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Steffenshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution_of_1917https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution_of_1917https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution_of_1917https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution_of_1917https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Steffenshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_L%C3%A9gerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingwayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Lewishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Lewishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Gaudier-Brzeskahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Aldingtonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Aldingtonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confuciushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_supplyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_nihilohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-11https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_magazinehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_magazinehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliothttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joycehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumphal_archhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agostino_di_Ducciohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francescahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Battista_Albertihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempio_Malatestianohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempio_Malatestianohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riminihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condottierehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatestahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatestahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venicehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_(finance)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadour


7/336

XVII– XXX[edit ] XVII – XXVII published in 1924/5 as A Draft of XVI Cantos bythe Three Mountains Press in Paris. Cantos I – XXX published in1930 in A Draft of XXX Cantos by Nancy Cunard 's Hours Press .

Originally, Pound conceived of Cantos XVII – XXVIIas a group that would follow the first volume bystarting with the Renaissance and ending with theRussian Revolution. He then added a further threecantos and the whole eventually appeared as ADraft of XXX Cantos in an edition of 200 copies.The major locus of these cantos is the city ofVenice.

Canto XVII opens with the words "So that", echoingthe end of Canto I, and then moves on to anotherDionysus-related metamorphosis story. The rest ofthe canto is concerned with Venice, which isportrayed as a stone forest growing out of the

water. Cantos XVIII and XIX return to the theme offinancial exploitation, beginning with the Venetianexplorer Marco Polo 's account of Kublai Khan 'spaper money. Canto XIX deals mainly with thosewho profit from war, returning briefly to the RussianRevolution, and ends on the stupidity of wars andthose who promote them.

Canto XX opens with a grouping of phrases, wordsand images from Mediterranean poetry, rangingfrom Homerthrough Ovid , Propertius and Catullus to the Songof Roland and Arnaut Daniel . These fragments

constellate to form an exemplum of what Poundcalls "clear song". There follows anotherexemplum, this time of the linguistic scholarshipthat enables us to read these old poetries and thespecific attention to words this study requires.Finally, this "clear song" and intellectual activity isimplicitly contrasted with the inertia and indolenceof the lotus eaters , whose song completes thecanto. There are references to the Malatesta familyand to Borso d'Este , who tried to keep the peacebetween the warring Italian city states .

Canto XXI deals with the machinations of

the Medici bank , especially with the Medicis ' effecton Venice. These are contrasted with the actionsof Thomas Jefferson , who is shown as a culturedleader with an interest in the arts. A phrase fromone of Sigismondo Pandolfo's letters inserted intothe Jefferson passage draws an explicit parallelbetween the two men, a theme that is to recur laterin the poem. The next canto continues the focus on

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=6https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=6https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Cunardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Cunardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Cunardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hours_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hours_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hours_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propertiushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propertiushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propertiushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Rolandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Rolandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Rolandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Rolandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnaut_Danielhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnaut_Danielhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnaut_Danielhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguisticshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguisticshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguisticshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_eatershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_eatershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_eatershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borso_d%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borso_d%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borso_d%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_statehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_statehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_statehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_bankhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_bankhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_bankhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_bankhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_statehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borso_d%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_eatershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguisticshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnaut_Danielhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Rolandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Rolandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propertiushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hours_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Cunardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mountains_Presshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=6


8/336

finance by introducing the Social Credit theoriesof C.H. Douglas for the first time.

Canto XXIII returns to the world of the troubadoursvia Homer and Renaissance Neoplatonism . Poundsaw Provençal culture as a nexus of survival of theold pagan beliefs, and the destruction ofthe Cathar stronghold a tMontségur at the end ofthe Albigensian Crusade is held up as an exampleof the tendency of authority to crush all suchalternative cultures. The destruction of Montséguris implicitly compared with the destruction of Troy inthe closing lines of the canto. Canto XXIV thenreturns to 15th-century Italy andthe d'Este family ,[12] again focusing on theirVenetian activities and Niccolo d'Este 's voyage tothe Holy Land .

Cantos XXV and XXVI draw on the Book of theCouncil Major in Venice and Pound's personalmemories of the city. Anecdoteson Titian and Mozart deal with the relationshipbetween artist and patron. Canto XXVII returns tothe Russian Revolution, which is seen as beingdestructive, not constructive, and echoes the ruin ofEblis from Canto VI. XXVIII returns to thecontemporary scene, with a passageon transatlantic flight . The last two cantos in theseries return to the world of "clear song". In CantoXXIX, a story from their visit to the Provençal siteat Excideuil contrasts Pound and Eliot on thesubject of Christianity , with Pound implicitlyrejecting that religion. Finally, the series closes witha glimpse of the printer HieronymusSoncinus of Fano preparing to print the worksof Petrarch .

XXXI– XLI (XI New Cantos) [edit ] Published as Eleven New Cantos XXXI – XLI . New York: Farrar &Rinehart Inc., 1934.

The first four cantos of this volume (CantosXXXI – XXXIV) quote extensively from theletters and other writings of ThomasJefferson , John Adams , John Quincy

Adams , Andrew Jackson , Martin VanBuren and others to deal with the emergenceof the fledgling United States and, particularly,the American banking system. Canto XXXIopens with the Malatesta family motto Tempusloquendi, tempus tacendi ("a time to speak, atime to be silent") to link again Jefferson andSigismondo as individuals and the Italian and

American "rebirths" as historical movements.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.H._Douglashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.H._Douglashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.H._Douglashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Neoplatonismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Neoplatonismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Neoplatonismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provencehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provencehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provencehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monts%C3%A9gurhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monts%C3%A9gurhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monts%C3%A9gurhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusadehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusadehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusadehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-12https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-12https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-12https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_III_d%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_III_d%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_III_d%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozarthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozarthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozarthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_flighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_flighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_flighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excideuilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excideuilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excideuilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Soncinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Soncinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Soncinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Soncinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarchhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarchhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarchhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=7https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=7https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jacksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jacksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jacksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Van_Burenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Van_Burenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Van_Burenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Van_Burenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Van_Burenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Van_Burenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jacksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarchhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Soncinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Soncinushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excideuilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_flighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozarthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_III_d%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos#cite_note-12https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Estehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusadehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monts%C3%A9gurhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provencehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Neoplatonismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.H._Douglashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit


9/336

Canto XXXV contrasts the dynamism ofRevolutionary America with the "generalindefinite wobble" of the decaying aristocraticsociety of Mitteleuropa . This canto containssome distinctly unpleasant expressions ofantisemitic opinions. Canto XXXVI opens with

a translation of Cavalcanti's canzone Donna mi pregha ("A lady asks me"). This poem, a lyricmeditation of the nature and philosophy of love,was a touchstone text for Pound. He saw it asan example of the post-Montsegur survival ofthe Provençal tradition of "clear song",precision of thought and language, andnonconformity of belief. The canto then closeswith the figure of the 9th-century Irish philosopher and poet John ScotusEriugena , who was an influence on the Catharsand whose writings were condemned asheretical in both the 11th and 13th centuries.Canto XXXVII then turns to Jackson, VanBuren, Nicholas Biddle , AlexanderHamilton and the Bank War and also containsa reference to the Peggy Eaton affair.

Canto XXXVIII opens with a quotation fromDante in which he accuses Albert ofGermany of falsifying the coinage. The cantothen turns to modern commerce and the armstrade and introduces Frobenius as "the manwho made the tempest". There is also apassage on Douglas' account of the problem ofpurchasing power. Canto XXXIX returns to the

island of Circe and the events before thevoyage undertaken in the first canto unfolds asa hymn to natural fertility and ritual sex. CantoXL opens with Adam Smith on trade as aconspiracy against the general public, followedby another periplus , a condensed versionof Hanno the Navigator 's account of his voyagealong the west coast of Africa. The book closeswith an account of Benito Mussolini as a manof action and another lament on the waste ofwar.

XLII – LI (Fifth Decad, calledalso Leopoldine Cantos) [edit ] Published as The Fifth Decad of the Cantos XLII –LI . London:Faber & Faber, 1937.

Cantos XLII, XLIII and XLIV move tothe Sienese bank, the Monte dei Paschi diSiena , and to the 18th-century reformsof Pietro Leopoldo , Habsburg Arch Duke of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitteleuropahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitteleuropahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitteleuropahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canzonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canzonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canzonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_peoplehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_peoplehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopherhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopherhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopherhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Scotus_Eriugenahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Scotus_Eriugenahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Scotus_Eriugenahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Scotus_Eriugenahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Biddle_(1786-1844)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Biddle_(1786-1844)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Biddle_(1786-1844)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamiltonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamiltonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamiltonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamiltonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Eatonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Eatonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Eatonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I_of_Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I_of_Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I_of_Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I_of_Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smithhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smithhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smithhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanno_the_Navigatorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanno_the_Navigatorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanno_the_Navigatorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=8https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=8https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_dei_Paschi_di_Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_dei_Paschi_di_Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_dei_Paschi_di_Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_dei_Paschi_di_Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_dei_Paschi_di_Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_dei_Paschi_di_Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sienahttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanno_the_Navigatorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smithhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I_of_Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I_of_Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Eatonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamiltonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamiltonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Biddle_(1786-1844)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Scotus_Eriugenahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Scotus_Eriugenahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopherhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_peoplehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canzonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitteleuropa


10/336

Tuscany. Founded in 1624, the Monte deiPaschi was a low-interest, not-for-profitcredit institution whose funds were basedon local productivity as represented by thenatural increase generated by the grazingof sheep on community land (the "BANK of

the grassland" of Canto XLIII). As such, itrepresents a Poundian non-capitalist ideal.

Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo , who sought to

end state debt and protected agricultural

implements from sequestration for personal

debt. (Portrait by Stefano Gaetano Neri.)

Canto XLV isa litany against Usura or usury , whichPound later defined as a charge on creditregardless of potential or actual productionand the creation of wealth ex nihilo by abank to the benefit of its shareholders. Thecanto declares this practice as bothcontrary to the laws of nature and inimicalto the production of good art and culture.Pound later came to see this canto as akey central point in the poem.

Canto XLVI contrasts what has gonebefore with the practices of institutionssuch as the Bank of England that aredesigned to exploit the issuing of credit tomake profits, thereby, in Pound's view,contributing to poverty, social deprivation,crime and the production of "bad" art asexemplified by the baroque .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Englandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Englandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Englandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroquehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroquehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroquehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pietro_leopoldo.jpghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroquehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Englandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor


11/336

In Canto XLVII, the poem returns to theisland of Circe and Odysseus about to "sailafter knowledge". There follows a longlyrical passage in which a ritual offloating votive candles on the bayat Rapallo near Pound's home every July

merges with the cognate mythsof Tammuz and Adonis , agricultural activityset in a calendar based on natural cycles,and fertility rituals.

Canto XLVIII presents more instances ofwhat Pound considers to be usury, some ofwhich display signs of his antisemiticposition. The canto then moves viaMontsegur to the village of St-Bertrand-de-Comminges, which stands on the site ofthe ancient city of Lugdunum Convenarum . The destruction of this city represents, for

the poet, the treatment of civilisation bythose he considers barbarous.

Canto XLIX is a poem of tranquil naturederived from a Chinese picture book thatPound's parents brought with them whenthey retired to Rapallo. Canto L, whichagain contains antisemitic statements,moves from John Adams to the failure ofthe Medici bank and more general imagesof European decay since the timeof Napoleon I . The final canto in thissequence returns to the usura litany ofCanto XLV, followed by detailedinstructions on making flies for fishing (manin harmony with nature) and ends with areference to the anti-Venetian League ofCambrai and the first Chinese writtencharacters to appear in the poem,representing the Rectification of Namesfrom the Analects of Confucius (theideogram representing honesty at the endof Canto XLI was added when TheCantos was published as a single volume).

LII – LXI (The ChinaCantos) [edit ]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Votivehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Votivehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Votivehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapallohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapallohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapallohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammuz_(deity)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammuz_(deity)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammuz_(deity)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adonishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adonishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adonishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugdunum_Convenarumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugdunum_Convenarumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugdunum_Convenarumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_bankhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_bankhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_bankhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analectshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analectshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analectshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=9https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=9https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=9https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analectshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_bankhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugdunum_Convenarumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adonishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammuz_(deity)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapallohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Votive


12/336

Confucius "cut 3000 odes to 300".

First published in Cantos LII –LXXI . Norfolk Conn.: NewDirections, 1940.

These eleven cantos are based on thefirst eleven volumes of the twelve-volume Histoire generale de laChine by Joseph-Anna-Marie deMoyriac de Mailla . De Mailla was aFrench Jesuit who spent 37 yearsin Peking and wrote his history there.The work was completed in 1730 butnot published until 1777 – 1783. DeMailla was very muchan Enlightenment figure and his viewof Chinese history reflects this; hefound Confucian political philosophy,with its emphasis on rational order,much to his liking. He also disliked

what he saw as the superstitiouspseudo-mysticism promulgated byboth Buddhists and Taoists , to thedetriment of rational politics. Pound, inturn, fitted de Mailla's take on Chinainto his own views on Christianity, theneed for strong leadership to address20th-century fiscal and culturalproblems, and his support of Mussolini.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confuciushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confuciushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph-Anna-Marie_de_Moyriac_de_Maillahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph-Anna-Marie_de_Moyriac_de_Maillahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph-Anna-Marie_de_Moyriac_de_Maillahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph-Anna-Marie_de_Moyriac_de_Maillahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Confucius_02.pnghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph-Anna-Marie_de_Moyriac_de_Maillahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph-Anna-Marie_de_Moyriac_de_Maillahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius


13/336

In an introductory note to the section,Pound is at pains to point out that theideograms and other fragments offoreign-language text incorporatedin The Cantos should not put thereader off, as they serve to underline

things that are in the English text.Canto LII opens with references toDuke Leopoldo, John Adamsand Gertrude Bell , before sliding into aparticularly virulent antisemiticpassage, directed mainly atthe Rothschild family . The remainderof the canto is concerned with theclassic Chinese text known as the LiKi or Classic of Rites , especially thoseparts that deal with agriculture andnatural increase. The diction is the

same as that used in earlier cantos onsimilar subjects.

Canto LIII covers the period from thefounding of the Hai dynasty to the lifeof Confucius and up to circa 225 BCE.Special mention is made of emperorsthat Confucius approved of and thesage's interest in cultural matters isstressed. For example, we are told thathe edited the Book of Odes , cutting itfrom 3000 to 300 poems. The cantoalso ascribes the Poundian motto (andtitle of a 1934 collection ofessays) Make it New to theemperor Tching Tang . Canto LIVmoves the story on to around 805 CE.The line "Some cook, some do notcook, / some things can not bechanged" refers to Pound's domesticsituation and recurs, in part, in CantoLXXXI.

Canto LV is mainly concerned with therise of the Tatars and the Tartar Wars,ending about 1200. There is a lot onmoney policy in this canto and Poundquotes approvingly the Tartarruler Oulo who noted that the people"cannot eat jewels". This is echoed inCanto LVI when KinKwa remarks thatboth gold and jade are inedible. Thiscanto is mainly concernedwithGenghis and Kublai Khan and therise of their Yuan dynasty . The cantocloses with the overthrow of the Yeun

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Bellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Bellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Bellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_familyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_familyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_familyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Riteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Riteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Riteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xia_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xia_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xia_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_of_Shanghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_of_Shanghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_of_Shanghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulohttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KinKwa&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KinKwa&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KinKwa&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KinKwa&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_of_Shanghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xia_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Riteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_familyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Bell


14/336

and the establishment of the Mingdynasty , bringing us to around 1400.

Canto LVII opens with the story of theflight of the emperor Kien Ouen Ti in1402 or 1403 and continues with thehistory of the Ming up to the middle ofthe 16th century. Canto LVIII openswith a condensed history of Japanfrom the legendary firstemperor, Emperor Jimmu , whosupposedly ruled in the 7th centuryBCE, to the late-16th-century ToyotomiHideyoshi (anglicised by Pound asMessier Undertree), who issued edictsagainst Christianity and raided Korea , thus putting pressure on China'seastern borders. The canto then goeson to outline the concurrent pressure

placed on the western borders byactivities associated with the greatTartar horse fairs, leading to the rise ofthe Manchu dynasty .

The translation of the Confucianclassics into Manchu opens thefollowing canto, Canto LIX. The cantois then concerned with the increasingEuropean interest in China, asevidenced by a Sino-Russian bordertreaty and the founding of the Jesuitmission in 1685 under Jean-FrançoisGerbillon . Canto LX deals with theactivities of the Jesuits, who, we aretold, introduced astronomy , westernmusic, physics and the use of quinine . The canto ends with limitations beingplaced on Christians, who had come tobe seen as enemies of the state.

The final canto in the sequence, CantoLXI, covers the reigns of YongTching and Kien Long , bringing thestory up to the end of de Mailla'saccount. Yong Tching is shownbanning Christianity as "immoral" and"seeking to uproot Kung's laws". Healso established just prices forfoodstuffs, bringing us back to theideas of Social Credit. There are alsoreferences to the Italian Risorgimento , John Adams, and Dom Metello deSouza , who gained some measure ofrelief for the Jesuit mission.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianwen_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianwen_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianwen_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jimmuhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jimmuhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jimmuhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_Dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_Dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_Dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Gerbillonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Gerbillonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Gerbillonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Gerbillonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quininehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quininehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quininehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongzheng_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongzheng_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongzheng_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongzheng_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianlong_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianlong_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianlong_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risorgimentohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risorgimentohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risorgimentohttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dom_Metello_de_Souza&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dom_Metello_de_Souza&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dom_Metello_de_Souza&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dom_Metello_de_Souza&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dom_Metello_de_Souza&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dom_Metello_de_Souza&action=edit&redlink=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risorgimentohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianlong_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongzheng_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongzheng_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quininehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Gerbillonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Gerbillonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_Dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jimmuhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianwen_Emperorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynastyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynasty


15/336

LXII – LXXI (The AdamsCantos) [edit ]

John Adams : "the man who at certain

points /made us / at certain points /

saved us" (Canto LXII).

First published in Cantos LII –LXXI . Norfolk Conn.: NewDirections, 1940.

This section of the cantos is, forthe most part, made up offragmentary citations from thewritings of John Adams . Pound'sintentions appear to be to show

Adams as an example of therational Enlightenment leader,thereby continuing the primarytheme of the preceding ChinaCantos sequence, which thesecantos also follow fromchronologically. Adams is depictedas a well-rounded figure; he is astrong leader with interests inpolitical, legal and cultural mattersin much the same way thatMalatesta and Mussolini are

portrayed elsewhere in the poem.The English jurist Sir EdwardCoke , who is an important figure insome later cantos, first appears inthis section of the poem. Given thefragmentary nature of the citationsused, these cantos can be quitedifficult to follow for the reader withno knowledge of the history of the

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=10https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=10https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=10https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juristhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juristhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juristhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Cokehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Cokehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Cokehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Cokehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Johnadamsvp.flipped.jpghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Cokehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Cokehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juristhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cantos&action=edit&section=10


16/336

United States in the late 18th andearly 19th centuries.

Canto LXII opens with a briefhistory of the Adams family in

America from 1628. The rest of thecanto is concerned with eventsleading up to the revolution,

Adams' time in France, and theformationof Washington's administration.

Alexander Hamilton reappears,again cast as the villain of thepiece. The appearance of thesingle Greek word "THUMON",meaning heart, returns us to theworld of Homer's Odyssey andPound's use of Odysseus as amodel for all his heroes, including

Adams. The word is used ofOdysseus in the fourth line ofthe Odyssey : "he suffered woes inhis heart on the seas".

The next canto, Canto LXIII, isconcerned with Adams' career asa lawyer and especially his reportsof the legal arguments presentedby James Otis in the Writs of

Assistance case and theirimportance in the build-up to therevolution. The Latin phrase Eripuitcaelo fulmen ("He snatched thethunderbolt from heaven") is takenfrom an inscription on a bustof Benjamin Franklin . Cavalcanti'scanzone, Pound's touchstone textof clear intellection and precisionof language, reappears with theinsertion of the lines " In quella

parte / dove sta memoria " into thetext.

Canto LXIV covers the Stamp Act and other resistance to Britishtaxation of the American colonies.It also shows Adams defending theaccused in the BostonMassacre and engaging inagricultural experiments toascertain the suitability of Old-World crops for Americanconditions. The phrases Cumisego oculis meis , tutheleis , respondebat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washingtonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washingtonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washingtonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Otis,_Jr.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Otis,_Jr.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Otis,_Jr.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writs_of_Assistancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writs_of_Assistancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writs_of_Assistancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writs_of_Assistancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writs_of_Assistancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writs_of_Assistancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Otis,_Jr.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington


17/336

illa and apothanein are from thepassage (takenfrom Petronius ' Satyricon ) that T.S.Eliot used as epigraph to TheWaste Land at Pound'ssuggestion. The passage

translates as "For with my owneyes I saw the Sibyl hanging in a jar at Cumae, and when the boyssaid to her, 'Sibyl, what do youwant?' she replied, 'I want to die.'"

The nomination of Washington aspresident dominates the openingpages of Canto LXV. The cantoshows Adams concerned with thepracticalities of waging war,particularly of establishing a navy . Following a passage on the

drafting of the Declaration ofIndependence , the canto returns to Adams' mission to France,focusing on his dealings with the

American legation in that country,consisting of Franklin, SilasDeane and Edward Bancroft andwith the French foreign minister,the Comte de Vergennes . Intertwined with this is the fight tosave the rights of Americans tofish the Atlantic coastline. Apassage on Adams' opposition to

American involvement in Europeanwars is highlighted, echoingPound's position on his own times.In Canto LXVI, we see Adams inLondon serving as minister tothe Court of St. James's . The bodyof the canto consists of quotationsfrom Adams' writings on the legalbasis for the Revolution, includingcitations from MagnaCarta and Coke and on theimportance of trial by jury ( per

pares et legem terrae ).

Canto LXVII opens with a passageon the limits on the powers of theBritish monarch drawn from

Adams' writings under thepseudonym Novanglus. The rest o

Date post:	05-Jul-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	rodneyshrewsbury
View:	235 times
Download:	0 times

Understanding the Cantos by Ezra Pound

Documents