Ezra Pound: Erased From History
by Mike King
Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was a world-renown expatriate American poet who, when it came to writing, emphasized the importance of clarity, precision and, most of all, economy of language. Pound worked as a literary editor in London during the early 20th century, where he mentored and helped to promote now famous contemporaries of his such as T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Robert Frost and Ernest Hemingway.
Angered by Britain’s role in starting World War I and disillusioned by the aftermath, Pound left for Italy in 1924. He blamed the war on Jewish finance capitalism, and embraced the fascism of Italy’s new leader, Benito Mussolini. Later on, Pound expressed support for Adolf Hitler, and wrote for publications owned by the British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley.
As you might expect, media outlets such as Time Magazine began taking cheap shots at the ex-pat literary genius. A 1933 article smeared Pound as: “a cat that walks by himself, tenaciously unhousebroken and very unsafe for children.”