I think that Curtis Faville must think I’m crazy. But he’s very polite, to me at least, in the way he suggests this.

 

Dear Ron:

 

Ah what a gadfly you are to trot out the old crazy Pound debate once more. In my description of the Cantos for our ABE listing, I say "the jury is still out on the value of Pound's magnum opus; we are still sorting out his theses, arguing with his politics, and questioning his motives. All these issues will someday seem as irrelevant as the must, given time and distance." Yesterday over lunch I was reading Cyril Connolly's piece on visiting Pound in Venice toward the end of his days. Ez was stonily untalkative, but clearly still in command of most of his faculties. There is no question that a considerable portion of the "major poets" in the world is clinically insane. It is perfectly possible to be a fascist, Communist, John Bircher, pedophile, S&M freak, nun, gangster, guerrilla, Indian (American), etc., and still be an immensely interesting, accomplished, eccentric, original, or not, artist (or writer). In fact it may actually help if one has a peculiar perception of the world. I trust there are few today who would even know what Dante's "political" preoccupations were: Does that really matter on the fairly superficial level on which he is actually read/appreciated at this late date? Do we care if Catullus was an epicurean or a sophist? Sure, it's an interesting question, but does it affect our view of his gifts? Do we much need to know that Auden is Gay to appreciate his verse, say, between 1935 and 1950? I for one don't think so. Pound's activities in Italy are part of an immensely peculiar mind which had many dead ends and false starts and self-delusional obsessions. About genius we know that a megalomaniacal "authority" in irrelevant matters almost always accompanies great work. Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, Frank Gehry were/are all weirdly crazy in their way. But that doesn't detract from their monuments one iota. Hugh Kenner — Gay, Catholic Conservative that he is — is perhaps our greatest critic. Etc., etc., etc....

 

No, it won't do to harp about Pound's politics. The Cantos is a magnificent failure, filled with bad history, bad economics, bad sociology, and not a little bad, obscure fragmented poetry. But it does record a certain cross-section of life in a whole century, filled with ideas, "notions" and hundreds of jewels of shorthanded commentary which when you begin to understand them shine with ingenuity and eloquence. Or how about 'A' — ??? Or, is anyone making any arguments about Olson's sanity these days? Spicer's?????????? Come on!!

 

Curtis Faville

faville@batnet.com