Guardian: Blue plaque finally, for raving anti-Semite poet Ezra Pound
Sufaud
English Heritage recognises poets' poet whose pivotal role in 20th
century literature was overshadowed by his anti-semitic views
John Ezard, arts correspondent
Thursday August 12, 2004
The Guardian
Ezra Pound, the "poets' poet" who has been ostracised for 60 years
because of his virulent anti-semitism and support for fascism, was
honoured with an official blue plaque yesterday.
The plaque, from English Heritage, is a first chink of light in the
cloud of infamy and disgrace which hangs over Pound's memory, although
he was the godfather of literary modernism and midwife to some of the
20th century's greatest works - notably TS Eliot's poem The Waste
Land.
The ceremony in London brought applause from an audience of those who
support him as an artist. One called it "an event long overdue" when
the plaque was unveiled at the house in Kensington Church Walk where
the US-born writer lived from 1909 to 1914.
The building is steeped in literary history. There Pound promoted the
work of then unknown writers including Eliot and James Joyce, worked
alongside WB Yeats and was visited by Robert Frost, DH Lawrence and
the Nobel prize-winning Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.
From there, he changed the course of poetry with his doctrine of
Imagism. This stressed clarity, precision and economy in verse,
breaking free from strict traditional rhymes and metres.
Eliot described Pound as "more responsible for the 20th century
revolution in poetry than any other individual". He followed Pound's
advice in revising The Waste Land and dedicated the poem to him,
acknowledging him as "il miglior fabbro" (the better craftsman).
But Pound is also credited with prompting a scatter of anti-semitic
lines in Eliot's verse. These still dog the more famous poet's
reputation:
My house is a decayed house,
And the jew squats on the window sill, the owner,
Spawned in some estaminet of Antwerp (Gerontion, 1920)
From the 1920s onwards, Pound grew obsessed with the Jewish people and
with a belief that usury, otherwise called "credit capitalism", was
rotting western civilisation. Living in Italy, he broadcast propaganda
for Mussolini and spoke in favour of Hitler.
He was found mentally unfit to answer charges of treason after the war
and was certified insane. In confinement, he wrote his admired Pisan
Cantos.
Yesterday his daughter Mary de Rachewiltz, 78, said: "My father has
been subjected to much criticism ... He always stood by his belief
that justice is for everyone."
A US Pound scholar, Professor William Pratt, said: "For English
Heritage to say that Pound is part of the authentic heritage means a
great deal. There's a lot about Pound I don't like but he changed the
history of English poetry."
Emily Cole, English Heritage's plaques historian, said: "It obviously
was quite a controversial case. But the panel [which approved the
plaque] were very conscious of his place in literature."
The director general of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Neville
Nagler, said: "I hope the unveiling is not any kind of endorsement, of
Pound's anti-semitic and highly offensive views which pervaded his
poetry."
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1281361,00.html