Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound’s classic book about the meaning of literature.

ABC of Reading

Donald

I moved halfway across the country (with ~2000 books!), so I'm a little behind on my reading. I jumped back into the fray with the greatest poetic mind of the last Century. Pity he was a fascist...

This is Ezra Pound's textbook/manifesto for reading poetry. He attempts to give the reader a foundation to work from, and it's really fantastic. His vitriol against Milton is amazing, and he introduced me to several poets I didn't know (and made me reconsider my feelings towards Donne).

The glories of Homer, Chaucer, Villon, Aeschylus, &c. are sung, as they should be. EP actually puts Shakespeare beneath Chaucer, which is interesting. (For me, Shakespeare's sonnets remain the high-point of the English language... they are actually perfect and one of the few credible arguments for 'divine intervention'.)

I wish he'd written more about Rimbaud and also the Provencal poets. I wish I'd read this when I was 16.

So, I'm reminded not only to read poetry but to SING it and LISTEN to it. What a glorious suggestion!

ABC of Reading

Reviews