fluenced
followers
such as Picasso.
A-Companion-to-the-Cantos-of-Ezra-Pound-II
178. Dieudonne London: A restaurant in London named for the famous chef, Dieu- donet. Located at 11 Ryder Street, St. James. First number of Blast was celebrated there on July 15, 1914. There also (2 days later) Amy Lowell gave an Imagiste dinner which Richard Aldington called her "Boston Tea Party for Ezra" [Fang, II, 301].
168. Plarr: Victor Gustave P. , 1863? 1929, librarian of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, author of In the Dorian Mood (1896) and other works. His father, Gustave, was a mathematician.
169. Jepson: Edgar J. , 1863? 1938, English novelist. Iris Barrie wrote in The Bookman, Oct. 1931: "Pound and his close friend Edmond Dulac . . . were both passionately fond of jade, and Jepson collected it. He used to pass pieces of it about the table: Pound would finger each piece long and lovingly" [Fang, II, 116].
170. Maurie: Maurice Henry Hewlett, 1861? 1923, English essayist, novelist, and poet. Author of The Queen's Quair, based on the life of Mary Queen of Scots [80/ 515].
198. Mr. Graham:
R. B.
\
? ? ? ? ? 374
74/434-435
74/435-436
375
Blast, I. Sir John Lavery did a portrait of Graham on horseback, his left ear and black beard accented. A picture in the Time mentioned above prob. reminded Pound of Graham's portrait. In a letter to Harriet Monroe about what artists, poets, and sculptors did at the outbreak of WWI in 1914, Pound wrote: "Cunninghame Graham volunteered, after having lived a pacific socialist. He is to be sent off to buy re- mounts, as he is overage and knows more about horses than anyone else except Blunt"
[L, 46; MSB note: Mr. Graham. Heir to Scottish throne; would not claim the title; getting himself photographed] .
I. G. Farben Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft) works, German chemical and dye cartel, officially organized as a monopoly in 1925 at Frankfurt-on-Main. The same issue of Time [p. 21] reports: "the great I. G. Farben plant in Leverkusen has already asked the military government for permission to make a long list of chemi- cals out of raw material on hand. . . . Ger- many the practitioner of total war, most
certainly did not suffer total defeat" [MSB note: The fine things have been destroyed; Farben survived] .
200. Lilibullero: Lillibullero, a song mock- ing the Irish Catholics, popular in England during the revolution of 1688. It was used as a signature theme by the BBC during WWII and was sung by both British and American soldiers [Hunting, Pai, 6-2, 179].
201. Adelphi: Old hotel on the Strand [62:112] which was damaged ['] during the war [MSB note: One of the last bits of decent architecture. Comes in Adams'
canto]
202. Mr. Edwards: Henry Hudson E. , black soldier who made out of a packing box a table Pound could write on. DTC rules did not allow Pound to speak or to be spoken to by other prisoners. But many soldiers had the "charity" and found the means to ignore the rule.
203. Baluba: Pound's name for tribe in SW Belgian Congo [38:41; MSB note: hooking up with Frobenius].
204. nient' altro: I, "nothing else. "
205. XIX Leviticus: "Ye shall do no un- righteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure" [19. 35].
206. First Thessalonians: The verse cited says: "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own bUSiness, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you"
[4. 11].
207. Dioce: [cf. 8 above].
208. Terracina: Seaport on the west coast of Italy [39:39]. The several lines evoke (I) the birth of Aphrodite from the sea foam, and (2) the restoration of the goddess to her pedestal there, a lifelong wish of Pound
[Surette,Pai,3-2,204].
209. Anchises: Father of Aeneas who was approached by Aphrodite in human disguise. As Virgil put it [Aeneid I, 404-405], he knew her by her walk [23: 31, 34] .
210. wind. . . rain. . . process: [ef. 9 above].
211. Pleiades: A cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus (the seven daughters of Atlas). "Her mirror" is the sky and "she" is the recumbent earth [HK].
212. Kuanon: [cf. 81 above].
213. this stone: The spiritual peace evoked by the stone statue of Kuanon is similar to the peace evoked by the sapphires of Dante and Prester John [cf. 37 above; 76:145].
214. xe6vic< . . . : H, "Nether earth, Mother. " 215 herbs . . . : Hieratic herbs associated
with paradisal vision [CFT,Pai, 3-1, 93-94]. 216. katydid: Large green insect of grass-
hopper family which Pound? prob. saw near his tent; unable to fly because it was minus its right wing.
217. T1ElnNnI: H, Tithonus. In the myth
T. was given immortality without freedom from process of aging. He pleaded for death but could not die. He was loved by the goddess Eos, who turned him into a grass? hopper, the most musical of insects, so that she might hear her lover's voice sounding forever in her ears.
230. this stone: [cf. 213 above].
231. staria . . . scosse: I, "it would rest without further tossing. " Guido da Monte? feltro says these words [Int. XXVII, 63] about respite from the tossing flames that encase him in the hell of evil counsellors [cf. epigraph to Eliot's "Prufrock"; MSB note: Dante, and the Possum: if I thought I was talking to anyone returning to the world, flame would not keep speaking] .
232. eucalyptus: On the way to Lavagna, Pound picked up a eucalpytus pip and kept it with him thereafter [M de R; 80:9].
233. mare Tirreno: I, "the Tyrrhenian Sea. "
234. MaImaison: A chateau near Paris; residence (1809-1814) of the Empress Josephine, and later of Maria Christina of Spain and o f the Empress Eugenie.
235. Sirdar: [cf. 175 above].
236. Armenonville: Pavillon d'Armenon- ville, fashionable restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris: "between the Porte Maillot and the Jardin d'Acclimatation" [Fang, II, 309].
237. Ventadour: Town near Egletons, SW o f Ussel. A ruined castle o f a famous ducal family is located there [cf. 72, 73 above].
238. Vssel: [cf. 72 above].
239. la bella Torre: I, "the beautiful tower. " The Leaning Tower of Pisa.
240. Vgolino: Vgolino della Gheradesca, 11212-1289, Vgolino da Pisa. He conspired to seize power in Pisa but was imprisoned and his wealth confiscated (1276). After other treasons against Pisa, he, his two sons, and two grandsons were imprisoned in the tower of Gualandi (since called Torre Della Fame) and starved to death [Int. XXXIII]. Dante [Int. XXXII] pictures V. eating his son's head.
241. H. : Adolf Hitler. 242. M. : Benito Mussolini.
199. Farben works:
The
(Interessensgemeinscha/t
218. in coitu . . .
shines. " The "lumen," or divine light, is expressed sexually [36:13].
: L, "in
coition the
light
219. Manet: Edouard M. ,
French impressionist painter. He painted a picture of the bar at the Folies-Bergere, 32, rue Richter.
220. La Cigale: A dance hall and restaurant near Place Pigalle, Montmartre, at 120, boulevard de Rochechouart.
221. Les Folies: F, "The Folies" (Bergere).
222. she did her hair . . . : Olga Rudge, who for a time dyed her hair red in honor of Vivaldi, who was known in his time as the Red Priest because of his flaming hair.
223. Drecol or Lanvin: Famous Parisian dress designers.
224. Aeneas: When he first met his mother (Aphrodite) in The Aeneid, he knew her at once.
225. la France . . . : F, "Nineteenth-century France. "
226. Degas: Edgar D. , 1834-1917, French impressionist painter who significantly in?
fluenced followers such as Picasso.
227. Guys:
newspaper illustrator who did drawings for the London News during the Crimean War. He settled in Paris (ca. 1885) and sketched the life and manners of the Second Empire during the period when impression. ism, as well as all the arts, flourished.
228. Vanderpyl: Fritz-Rene V. , 1876- Dutch writer Pound knew during his Paris years [7 :22] .
Constantin G. ,
1802-1892,
229. Vlaminck:
French painter, printmaker, and writer.
Maurice V. ,
1876-1905,
1832-1883,
; a
? ? 376
74/436-437
74/437-438
377
243. Frobenius: Leo F. [38:45; cf. 44 above ] .
244. der Geheimrat: G, "the privy coun? cillor. "
245. der . . . hat: G, "the [white] man who in Baluba made the thunder storm" [38 :41].
246. Monsieur Jean: J. Cocteau, 1891? 1963, French poet, playwright, and man of letters, whose creative powers Pound regarded most highly during the 20s and 30s: "Yet Greek drama exists. Cocteau by sheer genius has resurrected it" [GK, 93]; "Gaudier had and Cocteau has genius" [GK,105].
247. Possum: Pound endowed T. S. Eliot with this nickname because, like the possum, he was good at playing dead.
. . . Ius:
249. magna NUX animae: L, "great nut of the soul. " Some scholars believe this phrase should really be "great night of the soul," to evoke mystics who talk about "the dark night of the soul" [Shuldiner, Pai, 4-1,73]. But Pound probably means what he says, "nut," to evoke the Pythagorean theme of "the body is in the soul" [CFT, Pai, 2-3, 451] and establish the motif that will climax as "the great acorn of light" [116:8].
250. Barabbas: Thief released from prison in place of Christ who was then crucified with two other thieves [cf. 62 above].
251. Mr. Edwards: [cf. 202 above]. 252. Hudson: [cf. 189 above].
253. comes miseriae: L, "companion of misery. "
254. Comites: L, "Companions. " 255. Kernes: Trainee at DTC.
256. Green: Trainee at DTC who was in a "security cage" near Pound [77: 158] .
257. Tom Wilson: Black trainee at DTC [77:91].
258. Whiteside: The black turnkey at DTC, used by Provost Section to handle the solitary cells and "security cages. "
259. bag o'Dukes: Dukes Mixture, a brand of roll-your-own tobacco used at the DTC
[Williams, Poetry, 1949,218].
260. ac ego in harum: L, "and I too in the
pig-sty" [39:24]. 261. Circe: [1:1].
262. ivi . . . animae: L, <II went into the pig-sty and saw soul-corpses" [39:24].
263. Carrol (of Carrolton): Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 1737-1832, Revolutionary leader [69:66]. A number of the trainees, particularly blacks from the south, had names of former presidents and even of famous men who did not get as far, such as Carroll.
264. Crawford: Carrol C. , inmate at DTC.
265. ElEAArEIN: H, (infinitive of ElfA'YW): "to enchant, bewitch," which is what Circe did; also, in Homer, to cheat, cozen.
266. nee benecomata: L, "nor fair-tressed" [ef. Andreas Divus, trans. , ad. XI].
267. Kirke: H, "Circe. "
268. K(tKQ: ? ? . 'E8WKEV: "she had given them dreadful drugs" [39:7]. Circe bewitched the "mountain wolves and lions" with her potions.
269. veleno: I, "poison. "
270. Predappio: Town in NE Italy where Mussolini was born, the son of a blacksmith. The several lines ending here concern usury as a disease that infects the whole social fabric. Said Pound: "When a given hormone defects, it will defect throughout the whole system" [GK,60].
271. Upward . . . bank: [cf. 275 below]. In a poem entitled "The Discarded Imagist" [The Egotist, June 1, 1915; rpt. Poetry,
Vol. 6, no. 6, 1915], Upward wrote: "I withstood the savages of the Niger with a revolver: / I withstood the savages of the Thames with a printingpress" [EP, GE, 118]. In 1901 as British Resident in Nigeria h e s t o o d o n " t h e blood~stained s t o n e o f Somarika, with a revolver in his hand, and three human skulls at his feet" and faced "an ogre, whose boast it is that he never had to strike more than one blow to cut off a human head. " [Some Personalities, London, 1912. ] Later he started a publishing venture in London which became "The Wisdom of the East" series.
278. Babylon: Prob. the owner of Babylon, suggesting the confusion o f voices from which the work of Matteo and Pisanello rescued the 15th century.
279. nox animae magna: L, "great night of the soul" [cf. "Dark Night of the Soul," St. John of the Cross; cf. variant "nux" in 249 above ] .
280. Taishan: [cf. 46 above].
281. To study . . . untrumpeted: Pound translates the opening lines of the Analects thus: "1. He said: Study with the seasons winging past, is not this pleasant? 2. To have friends coming in from far quarters, not a delight? 3. Unruffled by men's ingnoring him, also indicative of high breed" [CON, 195].
248. pouvrette
never did I read a letter" [Villon, Testament, "Ballade Pour Prier Nostre Dame"]. Pound was impressed with this Villon ballad early on and discusses it in a chapter entitled, "Montcorbier, alias Villon" [SR, 166-178].
F,
"poor and old
282. filial . . . process:
Analects I, II, 2 thus: "2. The real gentleman goes for the root, when the root is solid the (beneficent) process starts growing, filiality and brotherliness are the root of manhood, increasing with it" [ibid. ].
283. nor . . . alacrity: Analects I, III: "He said: Elaborate phrasing about correct appearances seldom means manhood"
272. Sitalkas: The
[~[7&AK<>S] , "Prohibitor of Corn-Growing. "
Upward bought at Corfu an ancient Greek gem that seemed to represent John Barley- corn with a seed basket on his arm and three spikes rising from his cap. Upward seems to have had a seal ring made out of the gem: "a sardonyx or blood-stone, green with red spots. " An impression of the seal is used on the cover of Upward's book The Divine Mystery [Moody,Pai, 4-1, 56-57; 78/479].
273. Niger: River in W Africa.
274. Thomas bank: The Thames River bank.
. . . shot
1863-1926, cultural anthropologist, student
o f primitive religions, world traveler and friend of many people around Pound (1911- 21), including G. R. S. Mead and A. R. Drage. Pound's idea of the Eleusinian mysteries were seen through such books as Upward's The Divine Mystery, 1910 [Knox, Pai, 3-1, 71-83]. Upward committed suicide in 1926.
276. Matteo: M. da Pasti, d. 1468. Vero- nese sculptor and medalist. Made intaglio medallions of Sigismundo Malatesta, Isotra, etc. [264].
277. Pisanello: Antonio Pisano, 11397- 1455, V eronese painter and medalist. Made medals of Sigismundo, his brother Novello, etc. [26 :78].
. . . . . . respect
275.
Upward
himself:
Allen U. ,
harvest: Analects I, V: "He what you do and keep your . . . be friendly to others, employ the people in season. [Prob. meaning public works are not to interfere with agricultural production. ]" Pound's brackets and italics
[ibid. ].
285. E al Triedro . .