Ezra Pound: Poet: A Portrait of the Man and His Work: The Young Genius 1885-1920 Vol I of III by A. David Moody

Ezra Pound is an incredibly interesting and unlikable character. Between his growing up years, decision to get involved with poetry at an early age and his travels and life in Europe, activities during World War II and events afterward, Pound’s life is fascinating in many parts.

Moody attempts to incorporate all of these things in three volumes.

Volume I begins in 1885 with Pound’s childhood. Here, Moody doesn’t spend much time but we are introduced to Pound’s early years and they are descriptive enough. While it does have just enough detail, it does move quickly if only because those formative years weren’t as important for the future of Pound as they would be for most people.

Volume I does cut just before the arrival of many expats in Paris but we do get to see Pound traveling to Europe, his early publishing attempts, meeting his future wife Dorothy, and other relationships. The friendships and connections he developed during this time were important. While Pound wasn’t necessarily a great successful poet at this time, toward the end of the book, he was finally gaining some traction and was a respected, if not at times poverty-stricken, poet.

On top of Pound’s perspective, we’re invited to the thoughts and discussions of other writers at the time and their comments on Pound. Early on we see Pound’s elitism, especially when it comes to poetry. Since devoting his life to poetry at the age of 15, he took a hard view of many modern poets and writers. But, for writers which he saw some promise in, he definitely helped along the way such as T.S. Eliot and James Joyce.

Aside from a mere study of his life, Moody gets into the thick of it in breaking down some of Pound’s early poems. He also adds which unnamed poems may be of Pound’s and early attempts at beginning what would later become Pound’s epic, yet unfinished work, The Cantos. Additionally, Moody brings in a number of critics against Pound, especially in those early years where his work may have been not as clear nor as good. Indeed, even Pound mentions later in life that his poetry in those early years was largely worthless with few exceptions.

However, the writing is very dry and the book doesn’t come with a bibliography. If you can get through these two slight negatives, there is nothing but positive things to say about this first volume. If you have already read a primer on Pound and want to look for something deeper, Moody’s work is easy to recommend. You don’t even need a primer if you want to begin reading about Pound in detail. Moody’s work is a perfect place to begin no matter where you’re at in wanting to understand Pound or the beginnings of the Lost Generation further.

Ezra Pound: Poet: A Portrait of the Man and His Work: The Epic Years 1921-1939 Vol II of III by A. David Moody

Through Volume II, Pound remains a vastly interesting subject. While he likely wasn’t very likable in person, due to his elitist attitude and other opinions, studying him from afar is certainly compelling. Within this next stage of Pound’s life we’re introduced to his other attempts to make money such as translating texts, his further support of other poets in his time and the criticisms levied against him.

While it isn’t necessary from the author, we’re also shown in detail of Pound’s often contradictory belief system between Democracy and Fascism. Pound is also quite wrong in many instances considering his knowledge in history, particularly American history. As studious as Pound was toward poetry and translating within certain languages, that learned ability was only applied to two very narrow subjects. Everything else he was rather lazy in his knowledge and research in spite of his many opinions on those topics.

The author continues with his style in Volume I and it remains strong. There are two instances I found to be rather questionable. The first is when Dorothy, Ezra’s wife, cheats and the author explicitly blames Ezra for the cheating. Cheating was Dorothy’s decision and if Ezra had done things to push her away, it remains to be a choice that Dorothy took. The action is entirely hers. This isn’t to say that Ezra wasn’t unethical in his life but, when Ezra cheated, the author didn’t blame Dorothy. The double-standard is astounding.

The other point is the rundown and critiques of some of Pound’s Cantos entries during this time. The Cantos is a large epic of poems Pound was putting together over his lifetime. Unfortunately, most of the entries are rather poor and even Hemingway spoke critically of them after the first ten or so. While this is a book on Ezra Pound and his life, the author had needed to include The Cantos. But, such detail on individual Cantos and their dissection certainly wasn’t necessary and, having disliked The Cantos, I found it rather tedious.

The author is largely objective and remains apart from most of Ezra’s beliefs and attitudes. The only exception was the one which I had cited two paragraphs before. Volume II of this series is certainly another excellent addition to the understanding of Pound’s life.

Ezra Pound: Poet: A Portrait of the Man and His Work: The Tragic Years 1939-1972 Vol III of III by A. David Moody

To avoid redundancies, the third volume mirrors much of the previous two but it certainly goes into the later years and last moment of Pound’s life. During this time Pound was arrested and incarcerated in a mental asylum within the United States for over a decade and held without trial for the things he said during World War II.

Toward his later years, Pound doesn’t do much. While he eventually stops putting entries into The Cantos, it remains an unfinished work. Moody, unfortunately, continues his critiques of the poems in an incredibly mind-numbing way. If one has interest in The Cantos, certainly the selected chapters would be of much more use but for those who either don’t know or dislike the work Pound released, these chapters can safely be ignored as they add nothing to the overall view of Pound’s life.

We also receive more detail on Pound’s belief and the questions of whether he still held onto those beliefs toward the end of his life. He certainly held onto a number of popular issues today which in the past had labeled him a Fascist as he wanted social credit scores and what would later be wanted by the modern W.E.F., World Economic Forum. There is little doubt Pound likely would’ve supported this organization almost as much as he supported Fascist Italy.

Upon completing the volumes there are questions which rise such as what if Pound had focused on The Cantos, but hadn’t made it so economic or political in nature? What if he had focused solely on literature and poetry as he had in much of his early life? What if he had stayed away from Fascism, antisemitism, social credit scores or other such invasive topics? And considering Pound’s influence on Frost, Eliot, Hemingway and the like, how many other lives would he have influenced if he had simply stuck to his field?

Whether we like it or not, Ezra Pound is a fascinating man who has shaped modern poetry and literature as a whole. Whether one chooses to read these volumes or a smaller all-encompassing book, to understand Pound is to understand literature, particularly in the 1920s and beyond. My suggestion would be to read a singular book on Pound and if it interests you, to jump into these three. Or if you’re looking to go whole-heartedly into Pound and understanding the man, literature in his time and how he shaped poetry, then these three volumes are the absolute best you will find on the topic.