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Although no one can deny Pound’s talent as a writer, his anti-American sentiment clearly shows he was neither supportive nor a believer of the American Dream.

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Was Ezra Pound mad... or just downright bad?

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Was Ezra Pound mad... or just downright bad?

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Although Pound used the suggestive techniques of symbolism to fashion a new, modernist poetry. Pound also was at the head of a related poetic movement called imagism. The imagist and symbolist styles would prevail in poetry until the mid-twentieth century. Ezra Pound was very well known, but not in the way he should have been known. Yes, he is a very talented writer and has done a lot of very interesting things, but him speaking publicly about Jews who should be hung, does not make up for his blatant disregard for others who did nothing to him personally. He got off easily because people knew him. If that was not the case, he could have easily been executed.

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Was Ezra Pound mad... or just downright bad? Biography examines 'the most difficult man of the 20th century'

In the first part of the last century, Ezra Pound was a dominant figure in world literature who proved hugely influential on the movement known as Modernism

Swift's book, though, joins the man in far less triumphant times

Pound was living in fascist Italy when World War II started and praised Mussolini

He was later charged with treason but was saved by a plea of insanity

The Bughouse was Pound's nickname for St Elizabeths mental hospital where, from December 1945, he spent nearly 13 years

THE BUGHOUSE: THE POETRY, POLITICS AND MADNESS OF EZRA POUND

by Daniel Swift (Harvill Secker £25)

Ezra Pound was the most difficult man of the 20th century, writes Daniel Swift in his prologue - a claim that at first sight may seem completely over the top.

Yet the more you read of this startling book, the less ridiculous it sounds.

These days, I would guess, Pound is just a name for most people. Certainly, there can't be many whose idea of a good night in is a cup of cocoa and a quiet read of his punishingly demanding poetry.

But in the first part of the last century, he was a dominant figure in world literature who proved hugely influential on the all-conquering literary movement known as Modernism.

He helped T. S. Eliot with the writing of The Waste Land (generally considered the greatest Modernist poem) and James Joyce with the publishing of Ulysses (generally considered the greatest Modernist novel). Even Ernest Hemingway might never have developed his famous tough-guy prose style if Pound hadn't advised him to cut down on his adjectives.

Swift's book, though, joins the man in far less triumphant times. The Bughouse was Pound's nickname for St Elizabeths mental hospital where, from December 1945, he spent nearly 13 years. And plenty of people think he was lucky to do that.

Pound was living in fascist Italy when World War II started and happily stayed there once it had.

By the time it ended, he'd made around 200 radio broadcasts praising Mussolini, denouncing the Allies and attacking the Jews. Understandably charged with treason, he was arrested by the victorious American troops. When he was sent back to Washington, he faced the real possibility of being executed, like his British equivalent Lord Haw-Haw - until a plea of insanity saved him.

But was Pound ever actually insane? After all, there's something distinctly Catch-22 about the success of his lawyers' plea. Essentially, the proof that he was too mad to stand trial for broadcasting virulent fascist propaganda is that no one sane would have broadcast virulent fascist propaganda.

Not only that, but the poems that had been so admired just a few years before now became further evidence of his lunacy. Why else, the lawyers argued, would they be so incomprehensible - so full of wildly obscure literary references and untranslated gobbets of Italian, Greek, German, Latin and Chinese?

There are two conflicting conspiracy theories about why Pound ended up in St Elizabeths. One is that he was cheating justice; the other, that the authorities saw him as a dangerous threat. Yet, as Swift points out, both theories rely on him being sane.

Either way, no one at the hospital appears to have made any attempts to cure or even treat him.

Nor did he seem a man eaten away by remorse. As well as continuing to write and publish extremely difficult poetry, in the mid-Fifties he began contributing scores of anonymous opinion pieces to Right-wing journals, comparing the 'Jewish-Communist plot' to syphilis and regretting 'the fuss about Hitler'.

And yet, almost every American poet worth their salt headed to St Elizabeths, bringing Pound fudge brownies and cookies.

In return, they received often valuable help with their work - and, not least, a good subject to write about.

(Swift is very funny on how 'The Tale of the Bughouse Visit' became a genre of its own.) T. S. Eliot, by then a Nobel Prize winner, also came to reminisce with his old friend. Meanwhile, Pound even found room for an impressively tangled love life. Aged 66, he had an affair with a 33-year-old fan who had sent him a photo of herself in a bikini.

Faced with the anger of his wife and his long-standing mistress, he did give her up - but then moved on to a graduate student.

Pound's release from St Elizabeths, after much campaigning by the great cultural figures of the day, was largely regarded as a triumph of art over the establishment.

He had to publicly accept the legal verdict that his madness was 'permanent and incurable' - and, more humiliatingly still, that all his poetry and political opinions were 'the result of insanity'.

Swift does a fine job of allowing Pound's many contradictions to stay in place and reminds us, too, that 45 years after his death, there are plenty of contradictions left in the people who admire him.

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Was Ezra Pound mad... or just downright bad?

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In the first part of the last century, Ezra Pound was a dominant figure in world literature who proved hugely influential on the movement known as Modernism Swift's book, though, joins the man in far less triumphant times Pound was living in fascist Italy when World War II started and

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Everyone knew who Ezra Pound was, but the “awards” he received were not fair to any extent. Pound was supposed to and would have been executed if it weren’t for Dr. Winfred Olverholser, but he insisted that Pound was “insane” just because he was a fan and kept him alive because of that. The unfairness to the people he disrespected shows that no matter how good of a writer you are, you are not a good person. Ezra Pound cannot believe in the American Dream. There are many reasons as to why, but not living in America unless he was forced to, or being horribly disrespectful, are just a few reasons.  He did not deserve the life he got, and justice did not serve.

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Boundary Stones: WETA's Washington DC History Blog

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Acclaimed writer Ezra Pound called Washington home in the 1950s but he didn’t live where you might expect a man of his status to live. Far from it.

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When Ezra Pound was alive, he was praised for everything he did. He was not held accountable for his actions, and no one mentions that today. As Bev Brown states, “...His actions during World War Two remains frozen in time.” Pound was convinced that the War was just for money and decided to blame the Jews. He openly supported Hitler as well as embraced Mussolini’s fascism. It was very upsetting for the people he was offending, for many reason, but their emotions were just swept under the rug. No matter how good of a writer someone is, if they are openly anti-semitic and/or a fascist, they do not deserve the love that they receive. Pound got special treatment because of that and even after 12 years at St. Elizabeths Hospital, he learned absolutely nothing.

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Pure Poetry, Impure Politics, and Ezra Pound

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Pure Poetry, Impure Politics, and Ezra Pound

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Although Ezra Pound was a good writer, did you notice his anti-semitic views in some of his poems? Ezra Pound’s award winning story “The Cantos” shows it if you look for it. Pounds hurtful words to Jewish people, make it hard to believe that he supports the American Dream. He never lived in America when it was his “choice” and he even had a problem with the military. He got special treatment just because he was known, and his excuses were totally disregarded by everyone. Some of the writers that Pound worked with even claimed that it was insensitive and just wrong. He spoke live on broadcasts about his hatred for the military and Jewish people and some people had no problem with that. Ezra Pound most certainly does not support the American Dream. There is absolutely no evidence that points to him supporting it.

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Alger, Derek. “Ezra Pound --- Traitor/Poet.” History News Network, 28 Sept. 2003, https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/654

Brown, Bev, et al. “The Controversy of Ezra Pound.” For Reading Addicts, 30 Oct. 2018, https://forreadingaddicts.co.uk/poetry/the-controversy-of-ezra-pound/

Brown, Craig. “Ezra Pound Was a Fascist but Can Bad Man Be a Great Poet?” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 11 Feb. 2017, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-4211722/Ezra-Pound-fascist-bad-man-great-poet.html

Domestico, Anthony, and Pericles Lewis. “Ezra Pound.” Modernism Lab, 2001, https://campuspress.yale.edu/modernismlab/ezra-pound

McGann, Jerome. “Ezra Pound and Evil .” London Review of Books, London Review of Books, 6 Nov. 2019, https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v10/n13/jerome-mcgann/ezra-pound-and-evil

Viereck, Peter, et al. “Pure Poetry, Impure Politics, and Ezra Pound:the Bollingen Prize Controversy Revisited.” Commentary Magazine, 25 July 2016, https://www.commentary.org/articles/peter-viereck/pure-poetry-impure-politics-and-ezra-poundthe-bollingen-prize-controversy-revisited/

Walls, James. “Ezra Pound's Stay at St. Elizabeths.” Boundary Stones: WETA's Washington DC History Blog, 1 May 2014, https://boundarystones.weta.org/2014/05/01/ezra-pounds-stay-st-elizabeths

Walton, James. “Was Ezra Pound Mad... or Just Downright Bad?” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 6 Apr. 2017, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-4388166/Was-Ezra-Pound-mad-just-downright-bad.html