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