Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was an American Modernist poet.

Pound was born in Idaho. Soon after his birth, his family relocated to Philadelphia, where he lived until he was a young man. In 1908, Pound settled in Europe, where he would stay until after World War II. Pound became a prominent literary figure, and was closely associated with a number of important (though short-lived) movements. He worked closely with T.S. Eliot, and was friends with Ernest Hemingway. (Hemingway's recollections of their friendship can be found in A Moveable Feast)

In 1924, Pound relocated to Italy. He was greatly enamored of Benito Mussolini's fascist regime, in support of which he would eventually publish newspaper articles and give radio broadcasts. Pound was indicted for treason during the war, and with the fall of Italy to the Americans, was eventually captured and imprisoned in POW camp. After the war's conclusion, Pound was brought back to America and found unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity. He was placed in St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. Despite the efforts of prominent American intellectuals, Pound remained at St. Elizabeths until 1958.

Ezra Pound's early poetry is restless. He ransacked world literature, looking for material he liked and forms he found intriguing. He was fascinated by the tightness of troubador literature; he read Confucius and translated Chinese poetry from the notes of the late Ernest Fenollosa. He translated ceaselessly, for himself and so that readers might get a broader sense of world literature. In 1915, Pound began his Cantos, where he was finally able to bring all of his interests together.