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Cantos (3): A Draft of XXX Cantos

through the more typical means of using a
Ezra Pound’s epic poem The Cantos
mediating narrator or voice. The canto thus
asserts a universal moral vision wherein the
offers stark and contrasting images
muddied forces of greed and materialism
concerning smoldering Troy, athletic
struggle against those of natural process,
triumph, mythic marriage, the founding of
intellectual clarity, and spiritual light. In its
Thebes, and much more. It includes the
portrayal of this struggle, the long poem
kinds of paradisal imagery found recurring
defies the boundaries of time and space by
throughout the later cantos, as well as details
assuming that everything occurring in time
from violent tragedies recorded in myth,
and space is interchangeable, recurrent, and
literature, and life. Mythic Acteaon, for
best seen in its relationship to the same
example, turns into a stag and is devoured
essential truth that governs both the seen and
by his own hunting dogs. Seremonda’s
unseen worlds. This essential truth equates
husband kills her lover, the medieval
to an understanding of universal beauty, and
troubadour Cabestan, and serves his cooked
Pound’s long poem serves as an historical
heart to her in a dish. Philomela and her
and poetic commentary on the difficulty of
sister Procne kill the son of Tereus, Procne’s
creating, maintaining, or even recognizing
husband, and serve him to Tereus for dinner
such beauty. But how would he begin such a
to avenge a rape, escaping afterwards
poem? How would he make clear his
through the air following their
understanding of the struggle?
transformation into birds by the empathetic
As Ron Bush notes (see above),
gods.
Pound had been looking for a way to start
Collectively, the details in Canto 4
his long poem since 1915, when he first
illustrate the changing and seemingly
began writing versions of what have come to
unpredictable nature of human and divine
be known as the three Ur-Cantos. These
circumstance. They suggest that humankind
took their final form in 1925, having been
cannot defeat fate, the gods, or the forces of
recast as a result of Pound’s independent
human passion and self-interest. Yet at the
publication of Canto 4 in 1919. This canto
same time, amid fated circumstance,
confirmed that Pound’s poetic intent was to
humanity nevertheless continues to live, to
convey meaning through the conceptual
build, to try: Cabestan loves Seremonda;
interplay of juxtaposed images rather than
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All things change, it seems, but everything
Cadmus builds Thebes; marriages take
essential remains.
place; and crowds lead athletes in triumph
Once underway, Pound publishes
through the streets to the resounding
Cantos 5, 6 and 7 in 1921, and 8 in 1922. In
rhythms of poetry and song. These human
1923, he published cantos 8-11, the
triumphs amid horror and excess somehow
“Malatesta Cantos.” In these, Pound
occasionally evoke the human movement
addresses another problem related both to
towards beauty. They do so despite the
his method of delivering meaning and his
assertion at canto’s end that “No wind is the
attempt at envisioning beauty existing
king’s wind” (5/16). Control of circumstance
within the human condition. He used a
presumably lies somewhere beyond human
wealth of archival historical materials to tell
ken.
the story of Sigismundo Malatesta, 15th
Thus Canto 4 traces the course of
century Lord of Rimini. Yet before Canto 8
human sensibility towards and away from
delves into the historical record, a fight takes
the light. In doing so it also suggests one of
place between Truth and Calliope, muse of
the key means by which Pound would
epic poetry. The jagged edge of Truth wins
attempt to make his poem cohere. Ensuing
out over the artificially seamless reality
cantos would depend upon recurring
proposed by the traditional epic form
patterns of what Pound thought to be
defended by Calliope.
essential aspects of human character,
Truth’s victory is key for Pound.
transmuted by circumstance and time. His
Traditionally, epic poets alert their readers to
sometime protagonist Odysseus, for
the end of the story in the beginning, thereby
example, recurs in aspects of other sailors
safeguarding their tales and their readers
and personalities; his goddess Aphrodite
from unexpected intrusions and endings. By
likewise surfaces in the transmuted forms of
having Truth triumph, Pound in effect
the ancient Greek Helen of Troy, the
asserts in Canto 8 that he intends to create a
medieval Eleanor of Aquitaine, the “well
bolder kind of epic tale. His tale will unveil
tressed goddess Kalypso, and much later, in
a new reality rather than reiterate an old one.
a young unnamed Italian girl, described as
It will assert a truth of the kind that Pound
“benecomata dea”—a well tressed goddess--
suggested elsewhere could be “beaten
driving her pigs home at sunset (76/480).
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down” by the imposition onto truth of such a
promotes a universal harmony based on
predictable structural form as that of the
order, civility, and intelligence.
traditional epic. Thus by 1923 not only had
Canto 13 introduces Kung or
Pound decided against using a single
Confucius. From his first appearance
mediating sensibility to bring coherence to
Confucius serves as a uniquely stable
his long poem, but he had also formally
manifestation of the factive personality. He
announced his intent to stray from the
is envisioned in the canto with his students
traditional epic plan for the sake of greater
amid peaceful cedar groves, considering
human truth.
how men and governments can stand firm
Cantos 12 and 13 were published
against all of the difficulties that blow into
th
together in 1924. The first offers a 20 -
the world. As such, Confucius is one of the
century American merchant named Baldy
few characters whose vision is sufficiently
Bacon as yet another protagonist cut partly
important to Pound that he refers to
in the recurring figure of Odysseus, who
Confucius here and there throughout the
appears throughout the cantos in such guises
cantos, long after references to other factive
as Malatesta, the Chinese philosopher
personalities have ceased. In Canto 13
Confucius, the American presidents Adams
Pound adds his own closing lines indicating
and Jefferson, the Italian Fascist Mussolini,
that he too, like Confucius, will oppose
and others. Collectively, Pound sees all of
chaos and stupidity with order, intelligence,
these figures as manifestations of the
and beauty. “‘The blossoms of the apricot/
“factive” personality. They are the doers of
blow from the east to the west’,” Pound
the world, men and women of vision who
writes, “‘And I have tried to keep them from
are often stopped short of fulfilling their
falling’” (13/60). The very next cantos,
visions as a result of the dark and imbecilic
however, suggests that doing so will be a
forces of their day. Yet even as failures these
daunting task.
men and women move human culture
The Dantean “Hell” Cantos 14 and
towards beauty. Malatesta builds a temple
15, and the “Purgatory” Canto 16 were first
the outside of which is covered in well-
published when Pound in 1925 brought all
wrought art; Adams, Jefferson and
of his revised cantos together under the
Mussolini create nations; and Confucius
working title A Draft of XVI Cantos. Cantos
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character of certain gods, goddesses, and
14 and 15 are replete with unpleasant
symbols, and is associated with fertility,
images of self-serving, corrupting,
creation, and all kinds of growth. Thus in
unproductive people surrounded by fecal
this canto Dionysius, Venus, Athena,
matter and water slugs, their “faces smeared
Persephone and others traverse a land and
on their rumps” (14/61), their penises limp,
seascape abundant in bounding white
their condoms “full of black-beetles”
hounds and loping porpoise, where gulls cry
(15/63). Canto 15 ends with another human
above cresting waves and bees fly amid
protagonist being led through the oozing
vines bursting under a still paradisal light,
fetid mud of Hell to safety, then being
“not of the sun” (17/77). In this manner, the
washed in acid to remove all traces of his
canto moves spatially towards an idealized
experience. Canto 16 begins with the same
Venice--one of the first historical cities
protagonist at “hell’s mouth,” where he
wherein Pound tries to locate permanently
meets the romantic poet and painter, William
his sense of earthly beauty. Even in Canto
Blake, who is running about and howling
18, however, historical Venice proves
against evil (16/68). The Purgatory of Canto
incapable of sustaining elevated beauty, and
16 is a place for flawed heroes such as
instead succumbs to the forces of darkness.
Malatesta, and for past thinkers and builders.
Borso and Carmagnola, for example, two
It also contains men who died or who fought
15th-century Italians to whom Pound refers
in World War I--a real life hell described by
as “men of craft” (17/78), are separately
Pound as having been created by the forces
attacked in Venice: Borso has arrows shot at
of self-interest, ugliness, and corruption.
him, and Carmagnola is betrayed and
These same forces appear to struggle
executed.
with clarity, truth, and beauty in Cantos 17
Canto 18 opens with the 13th-
and 18. Canto 17 envisions a divine energy
century Mongol Kublai Khan bringing
capable of overcoming the dark forces.
cultural and economic order to his kingdom.
According to Eugene Paul Nassar, the
Khan employed paper currency rather than
presence of this divine energy is often
heavy gold coin to promote economic
invoked by Pound through his switch from a
exchange. In this way, the figure of Khan
normal to an elevated lyrical mode of poetic
introduces what would become for Pound an
expression. It is also embodied in the
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obsession with the belief that the human
was an unexpected and exciting new kind of
struggle against self-interest, ugliness, and
poetry; but at the same time, this new poetry
corruption needed to include the re-creation
drew charges of incoherence and artlessness
of economic principles as part of its task. Yet
from critics. They were kind to Pound at
in the same canto in which sound economics
first, but soon began to wonder. In 1918, the
is heralded as part of the solution to human
three early Ur cantos were explained by one
problems, Pound suggests that just the
critic as part of Pound’s meditative
opposite also is true. Weapons makers and
autobiography, and the poet T.S. Eliot called
munitions dealers of World War I vintage
them a “rag-bag” of Pound’s readings,
feed the human penchant for war, and for
somehow containing a “positive coherence.”
their efforts, are rewarded economically and
By 1925 the critical mood had changed, and
socially by a society that on one level
perhaps anticipating further charges of
appears unable to tell the difference between
incoherence, Pound announced that he did
philanthropists and criminals. As the poet
not want anyone yet commenting on his
notes in disgust at the end of the canto,
work.
“War, one war after another / Men start ‘em
In 1928, and doubtless under even
who couldn’t put up a hen-roost” (18/83).
more pressure to explain his poetic plan,
Despite the perceived difficulty of
Pound suggested to his friend and fellow
solving societal problems in his cantos, by
poet William Butler Yeats that his long
the mid-1920s Pound had solved several
poem’s structure was much like a “Bach
problems concerning the intention and
fugue.” In 1929, Pound wrote his father that
design of his long poem. He had been bold
the poem was to operate musically,
in his attempt at writing a new kind of epic,
somewhat like “subject and response and
one proceeding without a mediating
counter response.” After several such
sensibility, without a traditional structure,
attempts at explanations, it began to seem
and without a fixed protagonist. He had been
clear to many that Pound really did not have
even bolder in his attempt to write such an
an answer to questions concerning
epic while using as both resource and
coherence--yet all the while his poem
subject all of human and divine endeavor,
became more ambitious and daring.
manifest through time and space. The result
Between 1925 and 1928, eleven new cantos
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omniformis omnis intellectus est.” Taken
were written and published as A Draft of
from the 3rd century A.D. Neoplatonist
Cantos 17-27 in 1928.
Porphyry’s De Occasionibus, the phrase
Cantos 18-28 continue to chronicle
translates “and every intellect is capable of
the contention between clear and muddied
assuming every shape.” In related fashion,
human action, and illustrate Pound’s belief
Canto 25 recalls that the Neoplatonic
that even in those who possess clarity, right
understanding of the Greek term 
action is often beclouded by personal flaws
suggests that intelligence is the active divine
or by the dark actions of others. In Canto 19
agent of the universe. Together, these and
a man with an invention that will benefit
like assertions link human and divine
people is convinced by a big company to sell
intellect, natural process, production, clarity,
out, move into a mansion, and forget that his
and an insistent, vibrant, pulsing of the
invention is kept off the market. In canto 20
blood. Such alliances throughout the cantos
Niccolo D’Este, ruler of 15th century Ferrara
are also continually linked to natural
and a great peacemaker, beheads his son
proliferation and ritualized traditions such as
Ugo and wife Parasina in a jealous rage and
the ancient Greek Eleusinian mysteries, a
falls prey to remorse. Joe, an American
“blood rite,” (21/100,25/118) that delivers to
craftsman in Canto 22, cannot compete in a
those who undergo it an epoptea, or
work environment driven by capitalism and
emotional and intellectual “awakening” to
characterized by mass production. His work
their immortal place within the universe.
is too well and carefully done. And in the
Awakenings of this sort create a paradise in
16th century Venice of Canto 25, civic
the mind and heart, and once there, Pound
leaders watch while two caged lions
variously suggests, an earthly paradise
copulate, unaware of how separate they have
cannot be far behind.
become from the kinds of action that
Pound added three more cantos and
produce new life and growth.
in 1930 published A Draft of XXX Cantos.
Yet cantos 18-27 also suggest that
Three years later, he formally declared the
humanity can control its own destiny
“ideogrammic method” as the one he was
through recognizing the connection between
using in his lengthening poem. The roots of
mind, nature, and action. Canto 23, for
Pound’s ideogrammic method can be traced
example, begins with the Latin phrase “Et
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to his study of Ernest Fenollosa’s theory
beautiful world created and maintained
concerning Chinese poetry, beginning in
through artistry, intellect, and natural
1912. While it is uncertain whether
process must continue, and while that
Fenollosa’s theory served as a mediating or
struggle will be a difficult one, any success
organizing force in the first thirty cantos,
makes the world a better place, if even for a
there can be little doubt that after 1933,
fragment of time.
Pound began creating cantos in accordance
with his understanding of it. This resulted in
the composition of increasingly large blocks
of textual images intended to deliver a
multivalent understanding or “ideogram” of
a subject or topic. Yet sometimes Pound’s
text blocks spanned several pages and
cantos. For many of his devoted readers, the
ensuing results often stretched the limits of
their imagination and their sense of poetics.
Pound’s last canto in A Draft of XXX
Cantos envisions a fight wherein the precise
and pitiless goddess Artemis triumphs over a
materialistic and chaotic Madam X. For
many of Pound’s readers, however, the true
outcome of that fight would remain forever
unclear. Even after another thirty or so years
had passed, and another eighty-six or so
cantos had been written, Pound’s long
unfinished poem may be said to serve more
as a testament to his enduring system of
beliefs than it does to any clear and finite
outcome he may have had in mind. For him,
the struggle of those who believe in a
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8
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