, 1483- 1540, the scion of one of the
greatest
Flor- entine families.
A-Companion-to-the-Cantos-of-Ezra-Pound-II
CANTO XCII Sources
Dante, Pur. I, XXVIII,1nf X, Par. IX; Shakespeare, The Tempest I, ii; Cavalcanti, Ballata VII [T, III] ; Isaiah 1. 11; Joshua 2. 1? 24; Sordello, Le Poesie, ed. Marco Bono, Bologna, 1954.
Background
EP, NPL, 152; SR, 92; CON, 188; SP, 265; GK 229; John Read, The Alchemist in Life, Literature and Art, Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1947; Desmond Fitzgerald, Memoirs, ed. Fergus Fitzgerald, London, 1968; Francesco Guicciardini, Stana d'Italia, ed. Rosini, 10 vols. , Pisa, 1819; Roberto Ridolfi, The Life of Francesco Guicciardini, trans. Cecil Grayson, Knopf, 1968.
Exegeses
FR, Pai, 7? 2 & 3, 41; Akiko Miyake, Pai, 7? 2 & 3, 110; JW, Pai, 2? 2, 176? 181; J. Neault, Pai, 4? 1, 35; EH, Pai, 2? 3, 498-499; W. B. Michaels, Pai, 1? 1, 51; CE, Ideas, 110? 111; DD, Sculptor, 180? 181; HK,Era, 51? 53, 113, 412;MB, Trace, 303? 310.
Glossary
1. Mount: The mount of Purgatory, at whose summit is a dense forest high up in the air, with plants of such potency that if struck they scatter their virtue and their seed abroad. The lady tells Dante that because of
this, "the holy plain, where you are, is full of every seed" [Pur. XXVIII, 91? 120]. Pound spoke of ideas as seeds: "the thought once born. . . does lead an independent life . . . blowing seeds, ideas from the paradi?
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92/618
92/618-620
557
sal garden at the summit of Dante's Mount Purgatory, capable of lodging and sprouting where they fall" [NPL, 152] .
2. plant . . . seed: Pound wrote of
men, "their consciousness is 'germinal. ' Their thoughts are in them as the thought of the tree is in the seed, or in the grass, or the grain, or the blossom" [SR, 92].
3. weasel . . . celandine: Heydon [90:2] wrote: "Beasts have knowledge in the vertue of Plants. . . . The Weasel, when she is to encounter the Serpent, arms her self with eating of RlJe. . . . The SwaIlows make use of Celandine" [WB, in EH, Approaches, 312]. Divine intelligence works in all living things, according to "the plan that is in nature I rooted. " Pound said that beneath our kin~ ship with animals "is our kinship to the vital universe, to the tree, and the living rock"
[SR,92].
4. engraven . . . silver: In the numerical sys- tem of the Pythagorean alchemist, metals had their numbers engraved on them [MB, Trace, 304].
S. unity . . . frankincense: Evokes the
ence of the alchemist's laboratory and pro- vides a link with the opening of Thrones [96:3].
6. a sea-change: A metamorphosis as in Shakespeare's "suffer a sea-change / Into something rich and strange" [Tempest, I, ii]. Here, not base metal into gold but the mate- rial into the spiritual is queried.
7. Fitzgerald: Desmond F. , 1888-1947, Irish nationalist who fought in the Easter rising in Dublin in 1916. In the later years of the revolution and after Ireland's independence was established, a test of whether a person was really a founder of the Irish Free State was whether he was present in the post of- fice, the headquarters of the insurgents, dur- ing the rising. In the 20s and 30s a number of Irish patriots claimed they were there when they were not. Fitzgerald's "I was" is supported by fact. Three days after the post office was burned, he was arrested, but he was later released. After the new state was
consolidated, he became the minister for ex- ternal affairs and, later, minister for defence, but he lost office when Valera came to power in 1932. As a young man he was a member of the imagist group in London. According to Fitzgerald's son Fergus, it was his father and Florence Farr who introduced Pound to the imagist group [Fitzgerald,
Memoirs].
8. freed a man: Grattan Freyer writes: "Fitzgerald was a fearless fighter, as well as poet and philosopher. " When the post office was under fire he prob. did not take cover and was later accused of foolhardiness. In later years when people who falsely claimed to have been at the post office were ex- posed, D. F. "did his utmost to discourage recrimination against those who had played less heroic or divisive roles" [letter to editor] .
13. Ra-Set: [91:19].
14. e piove d'amor / in mil: I, "love is rain- ing / within us. " Phrases from Cavalcanti's Ballata VII [T, III].
15. ghosts dipping . . . : [91: 110] .
16. Pinella: [91:109].
17. Hewlett: [80:417]. Besides novels, he wrote travel accounts of Italy (such as The Road in Tuscany), retold Icelandic sagas, and wrote a lot of narrative poetry. The quote is prob. a memory of the closing lines of "Leta's Child," by Hewlett, where from prison he sees his love "Snow-white on some peak blue and cold, / Moon-toucht, and see thy rapt soul hold / Communion; see thee, from my bars, / Drink, motionless, the eter-
nal stars" [JE].
18. rain . . . silver: Replay of goden rain mo- tif [4:33] with Diana, and echo of "love is raining within us" [cf. 14 above].
19_ La Luna Regina: I, "The Moon Queen": Diana.
20. Ecbatan: [4:32]. City of "Dioce whose terraces are the color of stars" [74:8]. It was built on a hill and surrounded by 7 walls, each one higher than the other; the 6th wall was silver and the 7th, which con- tained the palace of the king, was gold.
21. Anubis: The Egyptian jackal god-his home was. the cosmic mountain-who guarded the "tent of the ? ritual resurrection known as Osirification" [B de R, Approaches, 178]. Pound evoked Anubis in an early poem, "Before Sleep" [P, 147]. The "cel- lula" corresponds to the sanctum sanctorum of temples [Miyake, Pai, 7-1 & 2, 110].
22. Mont Segur: P, "Secure Mountain" [23:25; 80:316].
23. Sanctus: L, "Consecrated. "
24. no blood: ~~To what purpose is the mul- titude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord. . . . I delight not in the blood of bul- locks [Isaiah 1. 11] .
25. ex aquis nata: L, "born out of water. " Ref. to Aphrodite.
26. 7(; . . . 'YE"O/lE"CI. : H, "the birth out of the waters. "
27. "in . . . appresso": I, "in this
by" [Par. IX, 112-113]. Taken from lines that read, "you would like to know who is in this light that nearby me here sparkles like the sun's ray in clear water. " The speaker is Rehab [Joshua 2. 1-24], the redeemed pros- titute who was the Israelite spy [JW].
28. Folquet: Folco of Marseille, 1150-1232, a writer of troubadour love songs who later
became bishop of Toulouse. He was reviled in the Chanson de la croisade for persecuting heretics. Dante placed him in his third heav- en [Par. IX, 80-142] because he was a poet
[JW].
29. nel terzo cielo: I, "in the third heaven. "
30. "And if . . . thought": Repeat of Venta- darn lines [20:3].
31. Coeli Regina: I, "Queen of Heaven. " The name of several churches and numerous paintings dedicated to the Virgin.
32. four altars: Perhaps the Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome is that place, but a number of places might qualify.
33. farfalla in tempesta: I, "butterfly in storm. " Recall of lines [Pur. X, 125] where the soul on the way to the beatific vision is likened in difficulty to a worm seeking the form of an "angelic butterfly" [74:68; 90:49; Frags. 38, 39].
certain
ambi-
. . .
the sentinel? Or did I not cover the sen- tinel ? "
10. "Gran dispitto": I, "Great contempt" [In! X, 36]. Said by Farinata degli Uberti [91: 75] . Here indicating the tone of voice of the questions in Italian.
11. "A chi stima . . . ronore assai": I, "to rum who esteem . . . honor enough. " From postscript by Guicciardini to Pound's Confu- cius: "Nothing is impossible to him who holds honor in sufficient esteem" [CON,
188].
12. Guicciardini: Francesco G.
, 1483- 1540, the scion of one of the greatest Flor- entine families. Although trained in the law, he started his lifelong work as a writer with The History o f Florence and The History o f Italy. But he was a man of action too: he was ambassador to Spain, governor of Mod- ena and Reggio, president of Romagna, lieu- tenant general of the papal forces in the League of Cognac, and governor of Bologna. A contemporary of Machiavelli, he was a supporter of the Medici power in Florence and instrumental in selecting Cosino de' Medici to succeed Alessandro after his assas- sination [5:33,43,45].
9. Signori
sentinella:
I, "Sirs,
did I cover
34. Nymphalidae: butterflies.
A family
o f
handsome
35. basilarch. _. erynnis: Each of the names is a genus of the family of Nymphalidae. Since the natural object is the adequate sym- bol, Pound wants to convey the qualities of different souls aspiring to reach paradise.
36. il tremolar . . . : I, "the trembling of the sea" [Pur. I, 116-/17]. The end of a line that starts: "from afar [di lontans] I heard. " From the dawn scene marking the first sight
light near-
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92/620-621
92/621-622
of light after the pilgrim's ascent from Hell [JW].
37. chh . . . ch'u: Onomatopoetic sounds of the sea.
38. "fui . . . refulgo": I, "I was called and here I glow" [Par. IX, 32]. Cunizza da Ro? mana [29: 14; 76: 16] is speaking in the third heaven of Venus.
39. Le Paradis . . . : F, "Paradise is not ficti- tious," meaning that it is real and around us always [Neault,Pai, 4? 1, 35].
40. Hilary: Hilary of Poiliers [95:72]. Pound lists "The church of St. Hilaire in Poitiers" first in a list of art works that manifest degrees of light in "black festering darkness" [SP,265].
41. improvisatore: I, "improviser,"
42. Omniformis: L, "every shape" [23:1].
43. Pontifex: Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of the Pontifical College in ancient Rome [89:79].
44. Margarethe: Queen Margherita of Savoy [86:5].
45. Uncle Carlo: Carlo De1croix [cf. 49 below].
46. Rimini bas? reliefs: [8:43; HK, Era, 253]. Sigismundo's "clean? up" of the pre? vailing art modes by his work at the Tempio seems implied.
47. Semele: Mother of Bacchus (Dionysus) by Jupiter. By the trickery' of Juno, she was led to exact a promise from Jupiter that he would come to her in all his splendor. Since he swore by the river Styx, he had to so appear. The immortal radiance reduced her to ashes.
SO. un ministro: I, "a minister. "
51. les soc / anonymes: F, "anonymous so- cieties": massive impersonal corporations.
52. Bottai: Guiseppi B. , secretary of the ministry of corporations, 1927? 1932. He helped draft the Carta del Lavoro that de? fined working norms for the state. From 1936 to the collapse of the government, he was minister of education. He is cited here for his quick phone call to Turin to help Pound get the Vivaldi manuscripts [JW] .
53. instanter: L, "sudden. "
54. Torino: Count di T.
55. Vivaldi: Antonio V. , ca. 1675? 1743. Pound and Olga Rudge helped to popularize his concerti and, even more, assisted in re- trieving drafts of his compositions from Dresden before their destruction by WWII bombs.
56. ministri: I, "ministers. "
57. Marinetti: Filippo Tommaso M. , 1876? 1944. He fought in Russia during WWI and was a political activist as well as a primary figure in the futurist movement. Pound men- tioned him among the avant-garde in art
during the 30s [SP, 396, 456, 459].
58. Hans Sachs: German meistersinger (1494? 1576) and leading poet of the Nurem? berg schoo! . Although a shoemaker by trade, he educated himself, became master of his guild, and wrote 6000 songs, fables, and tales as well as 208 plays.
59. Schnitz Brandt: Hermann Carl George B. , a professor at Hamilton nick- named "Schnitz" ("Slice") by students.
64. Y ang tse: The Y ellow River, which to flood seasonally [53: 116].
used
48. "10 porto blindness. "
. . .
la
cecita:
1,
"I
carry
the
49. Delcroix: Carlo D. [88:46]. He was blinded in the Fascist struggle. His work for war veterans was made difficult by the "Two evils": usury and theft. His will to act is indicated by ! tis willingness to struggle with the bureaucracy [GK, 229, 249].
60. "war ein . . . dazu": G, "was a maker and a poet as wei! . " Pound liked poets who were good and careful craftsmen.
61. the armada: Return to Drake and sea battles [91:21].
62. 300 years: Reina [91:4,5].
63. Nein! . . . Wolken: G, "No! but in clouds. "
Boris de Rachewiltz [B de R], Massime degli antichi Egiziani, Milan, 1954, and II Libra Egizio degli Inferi, Rome, 1959; Ber? nart de Ventadorn, "Tant a1 rno cor pIe de joya," no. 44, Appel, 1915,260? 263: Dante,Inf. XX, XXVII, Par. III, V, Pur. XXVII, Convivio [Conv. ]; EP, LUstra, 196.
Background
EP, SP, 452-457, 28, 25, 47? 52; SR, 80. Boris de Rachewlltz [B de R], "Pagan and Magic Elements," in EH, Approaches, 174? 197; E. A. Wallis Budge, A History of Egypt, Vo! . III, Netherlands, 1968; Eustace Mullins, This Difficult Individual, Ezra Pound [EM, Difficult]; M de R. Discretions, 151; Allan Wade, ed. , The Letters of W. B. Yeats, New York, 1955.
Exegeses
JW, Pai, 2? 2, 183? 187; J. Neault, Pai, 4? 1,7,28; M de R, Discre?
tions, 113? 114; NS, Reading, 96? 102; HK, Era, 364; BK, Pai, 5? 1, 214; EH, Pai, 2? 1, 143; CE, Ideas 157? 158; CB? R, ZBC, 32, 140? 143; HK, Era, 338? 339, 530? 531; MB, Trace, 310? 324; Timothy Materer, "Ez to WynDAMN," in Helix, 13/14 (this double issue is devoted to Ezra Pound).
shoe-
65. 25 hundred: Figure seems to derive from Anters time [93:4]. And the "2 thou? sand years" from the time of Christ.
66. Apollonius: [91 :9; 94:42].
67. Erigena: One of the most important light? p! tilosophers [74:90], as are the others listed here.
68.
69. Richardus: [85:52].
Avicenna:
[93 :48].
70. Hilary: [Cf. 40 above].
71. brown . . . sweat: Reference Raphaelite painting, with its blurred lines and shadows.
72. cannon . . . opium: The British purpor- tedly trained the Chinese to use opium and developed a lucrative trade in it during their 19th? century occupation of China.
73.
