Unit 17 Ezra Pound and Robert Frost

The father of the American modern poetry
Early Life
Born in Idaho and raised in Wyncote, Philadelphia. At the age of twelve, Pound entered a military school, where he learned Greek and Latin. He then studied languages at the University of Pennsylvania, and befriended there William Carlos Williams. From 1903 to 1906 Pound studied Anglo-Saxon and Romance languages at Hamilton College. In 1908 Pound travelled widely in Europe. He founded with Richard Aldington (1892-1962) and others the literary 'Imagism', and edited its first anthology, Des Imagistes (1914).
Unit 17 20th-Century American Poets
Ezra Pound (1885-1972) Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Ezra Pound (埃兹拉· 庞德) 1885—1972
Historic Position
A leading spokesman of the “Imagist Movement”(意象主义运动） One of the most influential American poets and critic
A Chinese imagistic poetry
Thoughts on Autumn
To the tune of Sky Scouring Sand
A withered vine, an old trees gaunt and a raven croaking on high; A small bridge, the murmuring water and a thatched cottage nearby; An ancient path, the west wind and a bony horse is heard to neigh; Lo! The sun sets today; At the earth-end a heart-broken traveler plods his weary way. (辜正坤 译)
— Katherine Anne Porter,
Literary Contribution
• Imagism • Vorticism • Modernism
意象主义 旋涡主义（画派） 现代主义
Imagism(1909-1917)
• Background: It came into being in Britain and US around 1910 as a reaction to the traditional English poetry to express the sense of fragmentation and dislocation.
古池や蛙飞び込む水の音
—松尾芭蕉（1644-1694）「俳聖」 訳文：闲寂古池旁， 青蛙跃进水中央， 水声扑通响。
In a station of the Metro
《在一个地铁站》
• In a station of the Metro is an imagist poem by Ezra Pound published in 1913 in Poetry《诗歌》. The poem attempts to describe Pound’s experience upon visiting an underground metro station in Paris in 1912, and Pound suggested that the faces of the individuals in the metro were best put into a poem not with a description but with an “ equation”. Because of the treatment of the subject’s appearance by way of the poem’s own visuality（可视性）, it is considered a quintessential（典型的） imagist text.
Characteristics of His Writing
Pound’s poetry is best known for its
clear, economical and concrete, visual images, fresh rhythms, and muscular, intelligent, unusual lines, such as, in Canto LXXXI, “The ant’s a centaur in his dragon world,” or in poems inspired by Japanese haiku(俳 句）, such as “In a Station of the Metro” (1916).
• Definition: The imagists, with Ezra Pound leading the way, hold that the most effective means to express the these momentary impressions is through the use of one dominant image.
Байду номын сангаас
Major works
Cantos /《诗章》 the intellectual diary since 1915
encyclopedic epic poem/（学识渊博的史诗性
诗歌） It explores western civilization from the classical past through the medieval period and the Renaissance to the modern age, and describes remedies for its cultural ills.
Manifesto of Imagism
• 1. Direct treatment of the ‘thing’ whether subject or objective. (Direct treatment) • 2. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation/ elimination of merely ornamental（装饰的or superfluous(多余的） words (Economy of expression) • 3. As regarding rhythm: to compose in the sequence of musical phrase, not in sequence of a metronome(节拍器）." (New rhythm)
Influences on Imagism
• Greek poetry • Chinese poetry • Japanese poetry
Ancient China
• The greatest cultural influence over Pound came perhaps from ancient China, especially Confucius（孔子）.
山东山水诗人——孔孚 （1925-1997）
泉边 掬一捧水 洗一洗眼睛 心也绿了
Haiku(俳句）
A haiku(俳句） is a Japanese poem with three lines.
1. A haiku has 17 syllables，ordered into three lines of five, seven, and five syllables
《天净沙·秋思》 马致远 枯藤、老树、昏鸦，小桥、流水、人家， 古道、西风、瘦马，夕阳西下，断肠人在天涯。
意象并置
孤独、凄凉和忧伤的氛围
意象并置(Juxtaposition of images)
• 柳永： “今宵酒醒何处？杨柳岸、晓风残月” • 王维《使至塞上》：“大漠孤烟直，长河落日圆” • 柳宗元《江雪》:“千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。孤舟笠 翁，独钓寒江雪。” • 温庭筠 ：“鸡声茅店月，人迹板桥霜” • 贺铸：“一川烟草，满城风絮，梅子黄时雨” • 司空曙：“雨中黄叶树，灯下白头人” • 马戴：“落叶他乡村，寒灯独夜人” • 辛弃疾：“照影溪梅，怅绝代、幽人独立” • 白居易《长恨歌》：“玉容寂寞泪阑干，梨花一枝 春带雨”。 (同样，前一句写面孔，后一句写的是花 。)
Literary Influence: Mentorship
Pound spent much of his time concerned with
promoting the careers of many of the great writers of the time and was a key figure in the publication of many influential works, he provided invaluable feedback to T. S. Eliot on the manuscript of The Waste Land, and he encouraged Ernest Hemingway and others as well. "Pound was one of the most opinionated and unselfish men who ever lived, and he made friends and enemies everywhere by the simple exercise of the classic American constitutional right of free speech.”
Later Life
1920,Pound moved to Paris. Four years later, he settled
in Italy. 1933, He met Mussolini in and saw in him the longneeded economic and social reformer. During World War II, he made a series of hysterical and bitter radio broadcasts, that were openly fascist. In 1945 he was arrested by the U.S. forces. Pound spent 12 years in Washington in a hospital for the criminally insane. He died in Venice in 1972.
2. Use of a season word (kigo)（季语） 3. The topic of a haiku poem usually deals with nature.
Examples of Haiku（俳句）
• An old silent pond… • A frog jumps into the pond, • Splash! silence again. 《古池》 （ふる いけ）
Major works
Cathay:《华夏集 》《神州集 》《中国诗章》
poems and translation of ancient Chinese poems Hugh Selwyn Mauberley 《休· 赛尔温 · 毛伯利》 his disillusionment and his view of his own career
The first line of a haiku contains five syllables. The second line of a haiku contains seven syllables. The third line of a haiku contains five syllables.