other books by EZRA POUND COLLECTED SHORTER POEMS SELECTED POEMS 19081959 SELECTED CANTOS OF EZRA POUND DRAFTS AND FRAGMENTS OF CANTOS CX CXVII PISAN CANTOS THE CLASSIC ANTHOLOGY DEFINED BY CONFUCIUS LITERARY ESSAYS OF EZRA POUND (edited by T S Eltot) SELECTED PROSE 1909 1965 ( edIted by WIllIam Cookson) ABC OF READING TRANSLATIONS OF EZRA POUND SOPHOCLES WOMEN OF TRACHIS THE SELECTED LETTERS OF EZRA POUND 1907 19 II (edIted by D D PaIge) THE CANTOS OF EZRAPOUND FABER AND FABER • LONDON Collected edItIOn (Cantos I 84) FlCst publIshed In I954 Second ImpressIon I957 New Collected edmon (Cantos I 109) published m I964 Second ImpressIon I968 ReVISed Collected edItIon (Cantos 1 17 ) published In 1975 by Faber & Faber LImIted Queen Square London WCI Pnnted 10 the Umted States of Amenca © 1975 The Ezra Pound Literary Property Trust ISBN 0571048978 (hard bound edmon) ISBN 0571048986 (Faber Paperbacks) All nghts reserved Except for brIef passages quoted In a newspapt.r magazme, radIO, or televIsIon reVIew, no part of thIS book may be rt produced In any form or by any means, elcctromc or mechaOlcal meludlng photOCOPYIng and recording, or by any information storagt and lemeval system WIthout permIssIon 10 wrltlng from tht Publlsh,r CONTENTS A Draft of XXX Cantos (1930) I Eleven New Cantos XXXI-XLI (1934) 151 The FIfth Decad of Cantos XLII-LI (1937) 207 Cantos LII-LXXI (1940) 253 The Plsan Cantos LXXIV-LXXXIV (194 8) ~P3 SectIon Rock-Dnll De Los Cant ares LXXXV-XCV (1955) 54 Thrones de los Cantares XCVI-CIX (1959) 649 Drafts and Fragments of Cantos CX-CXVII (19 69) 775 A DRAFT OF XXX CANTOS I A then went down to the ship, Set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea, and We set up mast and sax! on that swart ship, Bore sheep aboard her, and our bodies also Heavy wlth weep1Og, and wmds from sternward Bore us out onward WIth bellymg canvas, Cxrce's thiS craft, the trxm-colfed goddess Then sat we amidshIps, wmd Jamnung the tIller, Thus with stretched sail, we went over sea till day's end Sun to hiS slumber, shadows o'er all the ocean, Came we then to the bounds of deepest water, To the Kxmmenan lands, and peopled cities Covered Wlth close-webbed mist, unplerced ever With glItter of sun-rays Nor With stars stretched, nor lookmg back from hea\en Swartest mght stretched over wretched men there The ocean flowmg backward, came we then to the place Aforesaid by Cuce Here did they rites, Penmedes and Eurylochus, And drawmg sword from my hip I dug the ell-square pltkm, Poured we hbatlons unto each the dead, First mead and then s~eet WIne, water mixed With whIte flour Then prayed I many a prayer to the SIckly death's-heads, As set m Ithaca, sterlle bulls of the best For sacrIfice, heap10g the pyre With goods, A sheep to Txreslas only, black and a bell-sheep Dark blood flowed 10 the fosse, Souls out of Erebus, cadaverous dead, of brIdes Of youths and of the old who had borne much, Souls stamed WIth recent tears, gIrls tender, D Men many, mauled wlth bronze lance heads, Battle spoll, beanng yet dreory arms, These many crowded about me, wIth shoutmg, Pallor upon me, cned to my men for more beasts, Slaughtered the helds, sheep slam of bronze, Poured omtment, cned to the gods, To Pluto the strong, and praIsed ProserpIm., Unsheathed the narroW sword, I sat to keep off the lmpetuous Impotent dead, Ttll I should hear Tlreslas But first Elpenor came, our frIend Elpenor, U nbuned, cast on the wlde earth, Llmbs that we left In the house of CIrce, Unwept, unwrapped 10 sepulchre, smce tOlls urged other PItIful splnt And I cned 10 hurrIed speech Elpenor, how art thou come to thIS dark coast~ Cam'st thou afoot, outstnppmg seamen'> And he 10 heavy speech III fate and abundant wme I slept 10 Clrce's 109Ie Gomg down the long ladder unguarded, I fell agamst the buttress, Shattered the nape-nerve, the soul sought A vel nus c But thou, Kmg, I bId remember me, unwept, unbuned, Heap up mIne arms, be tomb by sea-bord, and mscnbt d cc A man of no fortune, and with a name to come cc And set my oar up, that I swung mId fellows" And Anttdea came, whom I beat off, and then Tlreslas Theban, Holdmg Ius golden wand, knew me, and spoke first A second tlIDe'> why'> man of III star, t< Facmg the sunless dead and thlS Joyless reglon ~ t< Stand from the fosse, leave me my bloody bever For soothsay " And I stepped back, And he strong wlth the blood, saId then Odysseus •• Shalt return through splteful Neptune, over dark seas, •• Lose all compamons" And then Antlclea came LIe qUiet DIVUS I mean, that IS Andreas DIVUS, In officma Wecheh, 1538, out of Homer And he sailed, by Sltens and thence outward and away And unto Cltce Venerandam, In the Cretan's phrase, With the golden crown, AphrodIte, Cyprl mummenta sortita est, mIrthful, otlchalchl, With golden GIrdles and breast bands, thou wIth dark eyelIds Beanng the golden bough of ArgIclda So that II H It all, Robert Browmng, there can be but the one Sordello " But Sordello, and my Sordello~ Lo Sordels SI fo dl Mantovana So-shu churned In the sea Seal sports m the spray-whIted circles of chff-wash, Sleek head, daughter of 11r, eyes of Picasso Under black fur-hood, hthe daughter of Ocean, And the wave runs In the beach-groove ct Eleanor, ~XEPaliS and ehE7l"TohtS' " And poor old Homer bhnd, blInd, as a bat, Ear, ear for the sea-surge, murmur of old men's vOlces Let her go back to the shlPs, Back among GreClan faces, lest eVlI come on our own, EVil and further evu, and a curse cursed on our children, Moves, yes she moves lIke a goddess And has the face of a god and the vOice of Schoeney's daughters, And doom goes wlth her lD walkmg, Let her go back to the ships, back among Grecian vOIces" And by the beach-run, Tyro, TWisted arms of the sea-god, Llthe smews of water, gnppmg he~, cross-hold, And the blue-gray glass of the wave tents them, Glare azure of water, cold-welter, close cover QUiet sun-tawny sand-stretch, The gulls broad out thelr WIngs, mppmg between the splay feathers, ANG 111o,tl) grl~'-CO\ < I t.d And thL ohvc, to \\ lnd\\ arJ Kalcnd'1 Mal.l L1 S10, Ll S10, tor ~orro\\ but theft, l~ c;oIllLtlllng IntelhglI1t In thL cherry-stone Can1.1c;, brIdge'>, 1ud hOl1~l \\ aIls orange - 111 \unhght But to hItch scn~lb111t) to tf11cICnC\J ~ grass vcr~t1'\ grall1t< , For the httle hght and Ill0re harnl0n) Oh God of all n1el1, none chcluded and howls for Schwundgeld 111 the ConventIon (our Constltutlonal T7 Whlchwhat) Notlung new but theIr Ignorance, ever p< rennl1.1 Parsley used III the sacrIfice 'lud (calhng P'lul PLtLr) I2( ( docs not 11lean one, oh, four, I04t'1; Error of cll"lOS Jllstlficatlon IS [raIn k.Indness of hC'lrt and froul her hands floweth mercy As for who denland behef rather than JustIce And the host of Egypt, the pyralnld bul1der, WaltIng there to be born No more the pseudo-gothIc sprawled house out over the bndge there (Washmgton BrIdge, NYC) but everythtng boxed for economy That the body IS mSlde the soul- the hftUlg and folding brIghtness the darkness shattered, the fragment That Yeats noted the symbol over that portico (ParIs) And the bull by the force that IS In lumnot lord of It, mastered And to know mterest from usura (Sac Calroh, prezzo giUStO) In tIns sphere IS Glustlzla In mountam aIr the grass frozen emerald and wIth the mmd set on that lIght saffron, emerald, seepIng "but that kInd of Ignorance" saId the old prIest to Yeats (m a ratlway tram) "IS spreadmg every day from the schools"to say nothIng of other varIetIes ArtIcle X for example-put over, and 100 years to get back to the awareness of (what's hIS name In that ConventIon) And m thy mmd beauty, o ArtemIS As to sm, they Invented It-eh~ to Implement dommation eh~ largely There remams grum pmess, malvaglta Sea, over roofs, but stul the sea and the headland And m every woman, somewhere In the snarl IS a tenderness, A hlue light under ~tars The ruined orchard~~ tree,; rotting Ell1pty fratne" at Litl1onc And for a little 111agnaniJllity son1c\vhcrc~ And to kno\'" the share froIll the charge (scala altrui) God's eye art ~ou, not surrender perception And in thy Blind beauty, ArtCJ11is Daphne afoot in vain speed When the Syrian onyx is broken Out of dark, thou, Father Helios, leadest, but the l11ind as Ixion, l111still, ever turning 79° CXIV "Pas meme Freron h'lls personut pas meme Freron," "I hate no-one," sald VoltaIre "not even Freron " And before Mr Law scarcely 300 and now 1800 great vessels and he, John Law, dIed ill Vemce m poverty We far from recognIzmg mdebtedness "not even Tom Pick" "You respect a good book, contradlctmg It- the rest aren't worth powder" AmId corrIdors and ambassadors glow worms and lanterns, and tws movmg IS from the mward o d1 dlversa natura (GIordano Bruno) and ill these trIangular spaces ~ And IS here atnong serIOUS characters and not reasonmg from a belly-ache Or that Arl mIght have heard about fishes, thank Alex Falls wlute btanco c(h)ade yet sentIent sees not TheIr dichotomIes (femmme) present In heaven and hell Tenthnls trailing 79 caught tn rock 1\ under \\ ave Gems sunned 3'5 llurrors, 1.1tcrnatL These snnpl< ll1cn \vho h'lVl fought agalI1lit Jealousy, as the luan of Ontldl O,vnerslup' 0\\ nep;lu p , There was a thoughtful 111an natned Macleod To nutlgatt o\vl1Lrslup And the hterature of Jus tlnlC (S'lndro's, Flrcllze) was In paIntlng Governed by \vood (the control of) -* 4S mu Another by n1etal (control of) Fu HI, etcetera ThIs IS not vanIty, to have had good guys III the flmdy or fenunlne g1.1ety-qulck on the uptake "All the saIne 111 a hundn d years" "Harve was hke th'lt" (the old c'lt-head re a quec;tloll of canduct ) "the appoInted when nothIng c'\n c;top I t unappolnted whetl nothmg can kdl you" Even old Sarah, qUIck on the uptake snoblsm-mentethe trtbu Armes et blasons' me foot" AI's conversatIon-reputed 79 Old Joel's "Locke" found m Texas and Del Mar vaguely on Assay CommIssIon (H L P ) If It was Del Mar Tanagra mIa, Ambracla, for the dehcacy for the kmdness, The grass flower chngs to lts stalk under Zephyrus Fear, father of cruelty, are we to wnte a genealogy of the demons) And on July 14th saId "That hzard's feet are hke snow flakes" 1:£t' Qa~cix.'t1JAO~ (pale yOWlg four toes) ubi amor,lbl oculus But these had thrones, and m my mmd were soll, uncontendmgnot to posseSSIon, m hypostasiS Some hall of nurrors Quelque toue "au Louvre en quelque toue" to reign, to dance In a maze, To hve a thousand years m a wmk York State or PansNor began nor ends anytlung Boy m the frUlt shop would also have lIked to write somethmg, but said "blsogna esser portato " The kIndness, mfimte, of her hands Sea, blue under chffs, or u W illtam murmunng "Shgo m heaven when the mISt came to Tlgulho And that the truth 15 m kmdness 793 CXV From The SClcntlst~ are In terror and the European 1111nd \to1") Wyndhanl Le\VlS chost blIndness rathtr than ha\- chis rnlnd ~top NIght under wInd Inld garofaru, the petals arc ahnost stIll Mozart, Lmnaeus, Sulnlona, When one's frIends hate each other how can there be peace In the world ;l Their aSperltleS diverted li1e in my green tune A blown husk that IS finIshed but the lIght SIngs eternal a pale flare over marshes where the salt hay whlc;per~ to tlde's change TIme, space, neither lIfe nor death l~ the allc;wer And of man seekIng good, domg eVIl In melner Heunat where the dead walked and the I1vmg were Dlade of cardboard 794 CXVI Ca111e Ncptunus hIs Illlnd leapIng lIke dolphins, These conct.pts the htll11an llund h'ls att1.1ned To luakc CosnlosTo achIeve the possibleMuss, wrecked for an error, But the record the p1.hnlpsesta httle hght 111 great darkness- CUlllcuhAll old "crank" dead In Vlrg1111a Unprepared young burdened wIth records, The VISIon of the Madonna above the CIgar butts and over the portal "Have made a mass of laws" (111ucchlO dlleggl) Lltterae nlhtl sanantes JUStInIan'S, a tangle of works unfinIshed I have brought the great ball of crystal , who can hft It ~ Can you enter the great acorn ofhghtl) But the beauty IS not the madness 795 Tho' 111) errors and Vv reck 'i he about nlC And I anl not a denl1god, I calulot ll1ak.e It cohere Iflove be not 111 the hOUSL there IS nothIng The VOIce of fanl1ne unheard How caIne beauty agaInst tlu~ bl'lckne~~, TVv Ice be1.uty under the eln1~- To be saved by sqUIrrels and blucJ1Yc; ~ , plus J' allne Ie cluen" Anadne DIsney agamst the ll1etaphyslcals, and Laforgue more than they thought l11lum, SpIre thanked ll1e In proposlto And I have learned more fron1Jules (Jules Laforgue) SInce then deeps In hlnl, and Lllll1aeUS el11 cresccdt IlOStrl- but about that terzo thIrd heaven, that Venere, agaIn IS all "paradlso" a nIce qUIet paradIse over the shambles, and some clunbmg before the take-off: to "see agam.," the verb IS "see," not "walk on" I e It coheres all right even If my notes not cohere Many errors, a lIttle rIghtness, to excuse Ius hell and my paradiso And as to why they go wrong, thmkmg of rightness And as to who w111 copy tlus pahmpsest ~ al poco glorno ed a1 gran cercmo d'ombra But to affirm the gold thread In the pattern (Torcello) aI Vlcolo d'aro (TlgullIO) To confess wrong wIthout losmg rIghtness CharIty I have had sometImes, I cannot make It flow thru A lIttle hght, hke a rushhght to lead back to splendour 797 FRAGMEN1 tock We have heard the blrd