No More Learning

6. Borah: William Edgar B. , 1865. 1940, U. S. Senator from Idaho (1907. 1940). A leading spokesman on foreign affairs. Pound's offer to do what he could to help keep the U. S. out of the war elicited this response [Bosha, Pai, 11. 2, 284. 286].
7. ye spotted lambe . . . delight: Source unknown.
8. Roy Richardson: Captain in charge of prisoner training, DTC, Pisa.
9. Demattia . . . Crowder: Presumably both "blacke and white" trainees at the DTC, the white ones named first and the "(dark)" ones later. One of the black soldiers prob. looked like Henry Crowder, a black jazz musician with whom Nancy Cunard [80:43] had a violent and scandalous love affair (1928. 1935). Nancy's mother and many others disowned her because of it, but Pound defended both her and Crowder [AC, Nancy, 118. 171, 176? 182, passim]
10. Slaughter: A major in the cadre at Pisa [78:44].
II. Mr. Coxey: Jacob Sechler C. , 1854? 1951, American reformer. Time [Oct. I, 1945] reported about him: "'General' of the famed tatterdemalion army of unem~ ployed that marched from Ohio on Washing? ton in 1894, still full of fight at 91, gave a Chicago isolationist gathering something to wrestle with: 'The Government takes 20% out of your salary to pay you interest on the 10% you have deducted from your salary to buy bonds. . . . Then they have to tax the people so the Government can pay interest to the banks, so the banks will support Gov? ernment bonds upon which money is issued' " [p. 46].
12. Sine: Sinclair Lewis, 1885? 1953, Ameri? can novelist. Time [Oct. 8, 1945, 100] car?
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84/538? 539
465
ried a review of his Cass Timberlane which dealt with Lewis's whole work.
13. Bartok: Bela B. , 1881? 1945, Hungarian composer, pianist, and collector of folk mu~ sic. Time carried an obit [ibid. , 74].
14. Mr. Beard: Charles Austin B. , 1874? 1948, American historian. The line in ques- tion here occurred in the Armed Services edition (P. 29) of The Republic: "Beard: But all the democracies have new deals or man- aged economies of one kind or another. If any government keeps control over its own currency, it will in practice, more or less manage its economy" [p. 425].
15. Mr John Adams: During the controver? sies when some politicians and the press wanted war with France, Adams's foreign policy was to keep talking and keep out of war, a quite unpopular stance that helped defeat him in his bid for a second term [70:9, 10]. The idea is also (in Adams letter to B. Rush August 28, 1811) against banks of discount [71 :35; 94:10].
16. Carrara: Source of marble near Pisa [74:80]. MSB note: "Brancusi went down to buy marble. Found it all monopolized by some company. He noticed how they had
destroyed the mountains. "
17. Garonne: River [4:41].
18. Spagna: I, "Spain. "
19. T'ao Ch'ien: A. D. 365-427, called T'ao Yuan-ming when young, he was the most famous Middle Kingdom poet of his time. He left official life, for which he was un? fitted, to return to his home, children, and gardens. His "Peach-blossom fountain" is an allegory that tells of how a fisherman lost his way and came into a beautiful land "of fine houses, of rich fields, of fine pools . . .
[where] young and old alike appeared to be contented and happy" [Giles, Chinese Liter? ature, 130. 131]. The beautiful land is the land of his youth now lost forever, or the Old Dynasty.
20. Ho Ci'u: Prob. the town named SitS on a river in Shansi Province [53:121]. The ChI'
nese word for river is Ho. David Gordon has a note saying this town in old China is known only because of the event described: where it is described is not known.
21. Kv8y/po SEW';: H, "Fearful Cythera. " A
30. Yin: [53:48].
31. humanitas: L, "humaneness. "
32. jen2 : C, [82:37], "humaneness. "
33. Xaire: H, "Hail! "
34. Alessandro: A. Pavolini, secretary of the Fascist Republican party of the government established at Salo in 1943 [Tay, Pai, 4? 2 & 3,549].
35. Fernando: F. Mezzasoma, minister of popular culture of the Salo RepUblic. After Mussolini was executed, Mezzasoma and Pa- volini were shot along with 13 others. They were later hanged head down, with Musso- lini, in Milan [ibid. ].
36. e il Capo: I, "and the leader. " Mussolini.
37. Pierre: P. Laval, 1883. 1945, premier of Vichy France [1942. 1945].
38. Vidkun: V. Quisling, 1887? 1945, Nor? wegian politician who collaborated in the German conquest of Norway (1940) and be? came head of the government under the Ger- man conquest of Norway (1940) and be? came head of the government under the German occupation.
39. Henriot: Philippe H. , French Fascist journalist and radio propagandist who was appointed to a ministerial post in the Vichy government during the German occupation of France in WWIl. Shot by French Resis?
T
recurrent
musical figure
[76: 106;
80: 129].
22. Carson: Prob. E. G. Carson, a miner whom the Pound family knew ca. 1910.
23. MyoId great aunt: Aunt Frank, who owned the Hotel "Easton" at 24 E 47th street and managed it after the death of "Amos" but did not have much financial success at it [74:461].
24. Tangiers: [74:160].
25. Natalie: N. C. Barney [80:220]. In reo
marks about her Pensees d'une amazone, Pound wrote: "[They] contain possibly sev? eral things not to be found in the famous Lettres addressed to that allegory, and at least one sublime sentence running I think 'Having got out of life, oh having got out of it perhaps more than it contained'" [Dial, LXXI, 4, Oct. 1921,458].
26. cielo di Pisa: I, "sky of Pisa. "
27. Wei: (Wei Tzu), 12th century B. C. , vis. count of the principality of Wei. He was the stepbrother of Cheou-sin, last sovereign of the Yin dynasty [53:56]; Wei became so disgusted with the cruelty of his kinsman that he retired from the court and left the kingdom.
28. Chi: (Chi Tzu). Viscount of the princi? pality of Chi, 12th century B. C. Uncle of Cheou-sin, last sovereign of the Yin dynasty_ Because he protested against the practices of the emperor, Chi was put into prison.
29. Pi? kan: (Pi Kan) 12th century B. C. , uncle of Cheou-sin, last emperor of the Yin dynasty. When Pi? kan objected to the ex? cesses of Cheou-sin, the emperor had him disembowelled on the spot. Analects XVII, 16: "The Viscount of Wei retired. TheVis? count of Chi became a slave. Pikan protested and died . . . Kung? Tze said: Yin had three men (with a capital M)" [CON, 279].
tance on 4. 1,99].
28 June
1944 [Bosha, Pai,
40. Imperial Chemicals: The British chemi? cal combine. The one who went out of in- dustrials was Wm. C. Bullitt, 1891? 1967 [RO]. He became an assistant to Cordell Hull and served as ambassador to the USSR and then to France, 1936? 1941.
After this he enlisted in the French army and served as a major during 1944? 1945. The implication seems to be that, as an inside wealthy Yale man, he knew the depression was coming and sold all his stocks. He is contrasted with Dorothy Pound, who sold her stocks in a munitions company not to save money but so as not to be mixed up with the killing.
? ? ? 466
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MSB note: She inherited the stock. Refused to have blood money.
41. quand . . . escalina: P, "when you come to the top of the stair" [Pur. XXVI, 146]. Part of the appeal of Arnaut Daniel. It is followed up: "In the time to come remem~ ber my pain. Then he dived back into the fire that refines them. " Eliot used the verse in the notes to The Waste Land.
42. 'haas: H, "custom, usage, character" [Peck, Pai, 1-1, 7-9; DP, Barb, 291-292].
MSB note: EP translates as gradations.
43. ming2 : C, [M4534]. Defined by Pound as the light descending from both sun and moon, thus intelligence [74:88; CON, 20]. MSB note: Distinctions in clarity means "degrees of decency in action. "
44. John Adams: [31:15].
45. Brothers Adam: Prob. Samuel Adams and John Adams, commonly known as "the brace of Adamses," as at 64/360 [EH].
46. Chung': C, [MI504], "center, balance" as in Chung Yung.
47. Micah: Hebrew prophet who flourished ca. 700 B. C. Micah 4. 5: "Everyone in the name of his god. " A passage Pound quotes in various ways: 74/435; 74/441; 74/443; 76/454; 78/479; 79/487.
48. Kumrad Koba: Joseph Stalin [74:34]. Koba, "the bear," andlor "the indomitable," [Pai, 11-2,285] was his boyhood nickname. "Kumrad" is borrowed from e. e. cum-
mings's book No Thanks. 1rme lAug. 27, 1945] , in a note about Potsdam, says Stalin disliked Churchill and his long-winded speeches. Once when Churchill was com- plaining about "Russian plundering in SQuth- eastern Europe, Stalin merely grunted; his interpreter said that he had no comment. Truman sprang up, said that he had investi- gated the British charges and was prepareq to substantiate them. Stalin twinkled point- edly and replied: "I will believe the Ameri- cans' " [po 30].
49. Winston, P. M. : Time (July 30, 1945]. Since Churchill was defeated in the election of July 26, a photograph showing him leav- ing Hitler's chancellery in this issue may have evoked the words "last appearance. "
50. e poi . . . uguale: I, "and then I asked the sister / of the little shepherdess of the hogs / and these Americans? / do they be- have well? / and she: not very well / not very well at all/ and I: Worse than the Ger- mans? / and she: the same. "
51. Lincoln Steffens: Joseph Lincoln S. , 1866-1939, an American journalist whose political speeches and writings appealed to Pound in the late 20s [19:24,25].
52. Vandenberg: Arthur Hendrick V. , 1884-1952, member of the U. S. Senate from Michigan (1928-52); he was leader of the Senate "isolationist bloc" before WWII, but later served as a U. S. delegate to the United Nations conference in San Francisco (1945).
line 351; WT, 50; Dante, Par. X, Conv. 4, Pur. XXIV; Aristotle, Politics VII, 4; Otto Eisenschiml, Why Was Lincoln Murdered? , Little, Brown, 1937; James Legge, The Shoo King, in The Chinese Classics, vol. III, 1865 (rpt. Hong Kong University Press, 1960).
Background
EP, SP, 322, 71, 323; GK, 77, 84, 105; P, 152; SR, 48; Otto Eisenschiml, In the Shadow ofLincoln's Death, New York, Wil- fred Funk, 1940; Eustace Mullins, This Difficult Individual, Ezra Pound, New York, 1961, [EM, Difficult] ; 1. Kirkpatrick,Musso- lini: A Study o f a Demagogue, London, 1964.
Exegeses
Thomas Grieve, "Annotations to the Chinese in Section: Rock- Drill," Pai, 4-2 & 3, 362-509 (unless otherwise documented, the Chinese materials in the glosses for Rock-Drill are based on this study). HK, Era, 528; Neault, Pai, 3-2, 219-27; JW, Seven Trouba- dours, 156-57; Mondolfo,Pai, 3-2, 286; HK,Pai, 1-1, 83; Richard Jesse Freidenheim, "Ezra Pound: Canto 85," Ph. D. dissertation, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1977.
Glossary
CANTO LXXXV Sources
David M. Dewitt, The Judicial Murder ofMary E. Surratt, Balti- more, 1895; Guy W. Moore, The Case ofMrs. Surratt, Univ. of Oklahoma, 1954; Seraphin Couvreur, Chou King, Paris, Cathasia, 1950 [Couvreur]; Russell Grenfell, Unconditional Hatred, Devin- Adair, 1953 [UH]; CON, 27-29, 232,21,20,77; James Legge, The Four Books, Shanghai, 1923 [Legge]; Sophocles, Electra,
1. Ideogram: Ling2 [M4071]. Combines "heaven" over "cloud" over "3 raindrops" over "ritual. " Pound translates as "sensi- bility. "
2. Our dynasty: The Shang dynasty (1753- 1121 B. C. ). The line is Pound's version of a line in Couvreur's Chou King, P. IV , Chap. XIV: "Now our Chou King grandly
and excellently has taken over God's affairs" [po 295]. This chap. , entitled "The Numer- ous Officers," is an announcement to the remaining officers of the Shang dynasty made by the duke of Chou after he had helped King Wu conquer Shang and move to the new city, La. The message of Chou is that Cheou, the last king of Shang, lost his sovereignty to King Wu because of his moral
disorder [53:56].
3. Ideogram: I [M2936], "he, she, it, that one. "
4. Ideogram: Yin [M7439], "ruler," thus "I yin" means "the one who rules. "
5. I Yin: Chief minister of Ch'eng T'ang, 1766-1753 B. C. , first emperor of the Shang dynasty. After the death of T'ang, I Yin became a sort of regent and mentor to the young king and taught him the principles of virtuous government. His teachings are the substance of P. III, Chaps. IV, V, and VI [pp. 1l3-132] of Chou King.
6. roots: ''The word 'roots' is emphatic . . . ; a dynasty grows massively when a great sen- sibility roots it" [HK, Era, 528]. Note rhyme with the tree Yggdrasil of Norse Mythology [cf. 38 below; 90:3].
7. Galileo . . . 1616: In 1616 no works of Galileo were specifically listed in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum established in 1564; but the essential principles of his thought as found in Copernicus were cited. Pound's source is Unconditional Hatred by Captain Russell Grenfell [87:21]. This book is also the source of "Wellington's peace. " Grenfell examines the accusation that Germany was the sole cause of two world wars and rejects
? 468
it as unscientific and biased. But war propa-
ganda in England made it impossible to talk about: "It became as dangerous from 1940 to 1945 to suggest this accusation was not in accordance with the evidence as it had been for Galileo to question the belief . . . sup- ported by the Papacy . . . that the sun went around the earth. Galileo's published theory was put on the Index . . . in 1616. . . . In like fashion, any objection to the official propa- ganda . . . that the Germans were the wicked people of the world was liable to get the
objector into trouble" [pp. 186-187J.
8. Wellington's peace: Grenfell (Uff) con- trasts the unreasonableness of the Churchill- Roosevelt war objectives (the total destruc? tion of Germany as a European power following "unconditional surrender") with the wisdom of Wellington, whose guidelines after Waterloo prevented either Germany or France getting territory which might lead to future wars [87:21 J.
9. Ideogram: Chih [M939J, "come to rest. " This character, used 8 times in The Cantos, has a pivotal function: as in the Ta Hsio, chih is the ground whence virtuous action springs. Pound translates: "The Great Learn- ing, . . is rooted in coming to rest, being at ease in perfect equity. Know the point of
rest and then have an orderly mode of pro~ cedure" [CON 27? 29J. To the Analects Pound adds a note: "There is no more im- portant technical term in the Confucian phi- losophy than this chih (3) the hitching post, position, place one is in, and works from"
[CON, 232J . Pound based a number of his visual reactions to Chinese characters on the etymologies of Morrison [87: 87] , which are now supposed to be unscientific and in-
accurate. As did Morrison, Pound saw a base horizontal stroke,_. as "earth," a top hori- zontal stroke,-, as "heaven," and a middle horizontal stroke, ? as "man," who lives be- tween heaven and earth. Thus, the ideogram for the fully humane man who lives accord- ing to the process of heaven and earth is the character for man used in combination with the horizontal strokes for heaven and earth 1=:. Since this gloss is a cue to Pound's
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continuous perception about hundreds of other characters, the reader is urged to get the idea firmly in mind. The character for ling, above, has the strong base line for earth and the strong stroke for heaven over all. Here chih3 pictures the hitching post based firmly on the earth. If we add a horizontal stroke at the top for heaven, we get the character for "right. " Put the sun, a j over the earth, _ , and we have "dawn. " The ideogram for "earth, soil, land" shows an
element of the character for "tree" standing
on the earth: L . The character for "king," I , has a vertical line showing the king's function as a man translating heaven's will to the people. The character for p'i [cf. 179 belowJ adds a perception of Pound not shared by many others: the 3 strokes be? tween heaven and earth become an arrow pointing toward heaven. And the same char- acter minus the horizontal base stroke be- comes a negative, "with no ground beneath it. " At 98/685, this perception is applied to "the lot of 'em, Yeats, Possum and Wynd- ham. " And so on with numerous characters in the text [John Cayley, Pai, 13? 1 J.
10. gnomon: (a) a sundial; (b) a column or shaft erected perpendicular to the horizon. Shadows define the position of the sun and the time of day. Also a Neoplatonie light metaphor: shadows are defined as light (lux, lumen) pours. Chou King contains records of
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central responsibility and function of the state, she was a Western ruler, one who, like Elizabeth, can be identified with the Confu? cian idea of order.
14. Versus . . . (turbae): L, "Opposed to . . . disorderly crowd," Couvreur: " 'Quae despi- ciebant probos prudentesque viros et ad- haerebant potentihus, vere plurimae erant turbae' "(" 'Many were the unruly men who scorned virtue and ability and aligned them- selves with might''') [Pt. III, Chap.