Ezra Pound
1885 - 1972Ezra Pound was an influential American poet, critic, and intellectual who played a significant role in the development of early 20th-century modernist poetry. Born in Hailey, Idaho, he grew up in a middle-class family and was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and Hamilton College. Pound later traveled to Europe, where he spent the majority of his life.
Pound's early work was influenced by the imagist movement, which emphasized clarity, precision, and the use of concrete images in poetry. He was instrumental in promoting and shaping the movement and is often credited with co-founding it. His imagist poems, such as "In a Station of the Metro," are celebrated for their succinct and vivid imagery. In addition to his work as a poet, Pound was also a dedicated editor and critic, and he helped to launch the careers of several prominent modernist writers, including T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, and Ernest Hemingway.
Pound's later work, known as The Cantos, is a lengthy and complex series of poems that spans his entire career. The Cantos is a highly ambitious project that sought to capture the entirety of human history, culture, and knowledge in poetic form. The work is characterized by its use of various languages, historical and literary references, and a wide range of styles.
Despite his immense contributions to literature, Pound's life and career were marred by controversy. During World War II, he became a vocal supporter of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and made numerous anti-Semitic and pro-fascist statements. After the war, Pound was arrested by U.S. forces and charged with treason. He was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial and was incarcerated at St. Elizabeths Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Washington, D.C., for over a decade.
After being released from the hospital in 1958, Pound returned to Italy, where he lived for the remainder of his life. Despite the controversies surrounding his political beliefs, Pound's impact on modernist poetry and his contributions to the literary world cannot be denied. He remains a crucial figure in the development of 20th-century literature, and his work continues to be studied and debated by scholars and poetry enthusiasts alike.Read more on Wikipedia