No More Learning

64. Antoninus: [78:56].
65. Athelstan: Ruled 924-940. His distribu-
1
105/749-750
tions are recorded in William of Malmes- bury's Deeds ofEnglish Kings.
66. Ethelbald: King E. , 716-757. He ruled "ut omnia monasteria . . . a publicis vecti- galibus . . . absolvantur" ("that all monas- teries be absolved from public taxes").
67. Egbert: King o f Wessex (802-839). Sometimes referred to as the first king of England, he really had control of only small areas of the island.
68. consuetudiness: [cf. 47 above].
69. Paschal: From letter 85, in which Pope
Paschal II (1099-1118) wrote to Anselm tel- ling him to withstand the efforts of English kings to control investiture of bishops
687
77. Anselm . . . Rufus: A question of the investiture of bishops as well as monetary matters.
78. "Ugly? . . . whore! ": adapted from one of Anselm's "nugas" called "Song on Con- tempt of the World. " The lines translate: "If anyone has a base wife, he loathes and hates her; / If pretty, he anxiously fears adul- terers" [Migne, vol 158, col. 697; JW,Later,
161] .
79. Anselm . . . weak: Because of his ex- hausting struggles, A. had periods of depres- sion, perhaps not helped by stomach trou- ble. A rhyme with Plotinus [99:60]?
80. Trinity: [cf. 31 above]. Pound de- spaired for years over the great destruction wreaked on some sects of the Christian church by other sects on just the one issue of what he called "the numbers game. " One can refer to the three sides of a box and be clear only one box is at issue.
81. Essentia . . . : L, "Essence, feminine, immaculate, unstainable," Anselm sees the essence of all created things as part of the breath (anima) or loving spirit of the Father and Son and hence spotless and pure. The Latin words for "essence," and even "the Father," the highest nature (summa natura), all end in -a and are feminine. By grammar male and female become one.
82. Ambrose: St. A. , 340? -397, bishop of Milan, father of the Church, and author of the apochryphal De Tobia [On Tobias] in which he attacked usury: the source of Pound's "Hoggers of harvest" [88:44] cal- ling them "the curse of the people. "
83. Franks . . . : William of Malmesbury, in Deeds of the English Kings, says of the Franks: "decenni vectigalium indulgentia" ("for ten years given tax indulgences"). They were called Franks because of their ferocity [1. 68 ff].
84. Valentinian: V. III, 419-455, Roman emperor of the West (425-455), the son of Galla Placidia [96:80], who acted as regent. Her attempts to oust the Vandals and Alani
[Migne, vol. Jesum . . . "].
70. Guillaume: [6:2].
163, col. 106: "Unde
William IX,
1071-1127
71. Henry: Henry I, 1068-1135, king of En- gland (1100-1135), successor of William Ru- fus [cf. 49 above]. He continued the con- flict between church and state. His economic program is recorded in Wiliiam of Malmes- bury's New History, where [1. 14] we read: "fere ad centum millia libras; erant et vasa" ("almost 100,000 pounds; and there were vessels"). He left an important monetary re- cord on the so-called Pipe Rolls.
72. Maverick: Lewis M. , editor of Kuan Tzu [106:4].
73. mosaic? : Pound is suggesting that the ideogram he is putting together, a collection of "luminous details" about economic wis- dom and repression, may well be called a mosaic.
74. ov . . . K00J. 10V: H, "You do not want to come into the world" [102:50].
75. Charta Magna: [107:passim].
76. accensio: L, "sparked, as in kindling, or to inflame"; but perhaps Pound meant ascensio, for "a lofty fiight" [JW, Later, 163].
? ? ? ? 688
105/750-751
tells the story (much disputed) that he was murdered by his students, who stabbed hhn with pens while he was teaching.
98. Athelstan . . . : [91:52].
99. Aunt EtheIfled: Source says: "Took . care of education by the great zeal of his
aunt" [JW, Later, 164].
100. Canute: King of England (! OI7? 1035). He is to be honored because he lightened the burden of both taxes and tolls.
101. Gerbert: A Frenchman who was in? stalled as Pope Sylvester II (999-1003). He was educated in Spain in astronomy and mathematics, in the tradition of Averroes and Avicenna. Hence, the astrolabe, a new instrument that was an improvement over the tools of Ptolemy.
102. A tenth tithe . . . : A provision of Alfred to be honored because it was a share, not a blanket indiscriminate tax: a distinc- tion related to Social Credit.
103. CrommeIyn . . . : Any of 5 Crommelin brothers who became American heroes in WWII [HM, Caged, 69; Zapatka, Pai, 2? 3, 423].
104. del Valle: Lt. Gen. Pedro A. del Valle, who commanded the U. S. Marines in the Battle of Okinawa, WWII. He became a staunch defender of Pound in the 1950s [EM, Difficult, 355]. David Horton, Rex Lampman, Harry Meacham, and others 0[- chestrated a campaign of such heroes in their efforts to get Pound out of St. Elizabeths. They all saw him as a defender of the Can? stitution.
105. 7rcxVDvp-yicx: H, "knavery" [99/706]. 106. Guido: G. Cavalcanti [4:46].
107. Proslogion: The major theological work of St. Anselm.
108. Villon: [97:35]. Franl'ois V. , 1431- 1464? , one of Pound's favorite French poets [SR, 166-178].
106/752 689 CANTO CVI
Sources
Lewis Maverick, ed. , Economic Dialogues in Ancient China: Se- lections from the Kuan-tzu, trans. T'an Po-fu and Wen Kung-wen, Carbondale, Ill. , 1954 [Kuan]; Analects XIX, 18 [CON, 285] ; Paul the Deacon, History o f the Langobards, trans. William Dud? ley Foulke, N. Y. 1906 [Deacon, Langobards]; Ovid,Meta, VIII, 580-683; EP, SR, 34; Hagoromo [CNTJ, 103].
Background
EP, Bridson Interview,ND 17, 175;SP, 53.
Exegeses
EH, Pai, 10? 3, 285-286; HK, Era, 107? 108, 119, 185, 546; MB,
Trace, 425-443; CFT, Pai, 2? 3, 453-454.
Glossary
from France only led to their conquest of Africa in 429 [JW].
85. Alani: Nomadic peoples from the Cau? casus who merged with the Vandals in France and Spain and eventually conquered North Africa.
86. Omnia Galli. : L, "All Gaul. " Here refers to Faramond, the first king of the Franks in 425.
87. Pepin . . . : [96:51]. King of the Franks (751? 768). He was crowned over an altar to Zagreus (Dionysus) at the Church of St. Denis in Paris [95:73]. He is thus linked with St. Dionysius [95:72].
88. Ethelbald: [Cf. 66 above].
89. Charles: Charlemagne, son of Pepin the Short.
90. Offa: King of Mercia (757. 796).
His laws became highly regarded and his coinage system was used for 500 years. Wm. of Malmesbury says Charlemagne gave him a "baltheum" ("belt") and a "gladium Huni? scum" ("sword of the Huns") as part of the first recorded commercial treaty in English history [97:64].
91. Quendrida . . . Kenelm: In 821 the 7? year? old king of Mercia (later called St. Kenelm) was killed by his sister Quendrida
1. her daughter: Kore/Persephone. The opening pages of this canto are a sort of subject-response incantation between the Eleusinian mystery rites and the oriental wis- dom that climaxed in Neoconfucianism, or "between Kung and Eleusis" [52: 18].
2. Demeter: [98/684-685]. Mother of Per? sephone, who was abducted by Dis, the god of the underworld.
3. Phlegethon: [75:1].
4. Ideograms: Kuan3 [M3557], "to gov? ern"; tzu [M6939], "master"; together, the name of Kuan Chung, or Kuan I-Wu, prime minister of the state of Ch'i, 684-645 B. C. He was given the honorific title tzu ("mas- ter, teacher, philosopher") after his death. His extensive writings became known by his name. The book by Maverick [Kuan] has a selection of 32 essays, followed by a detailed commentary. All of the essays reflect the primacy of agriculture and appear to be a major source for Kung's thought 150 years later. Essay 1, titled "On Shepherding the People," starts: "Every ruler. . . should above all things adjust his administration to
the four seasons. He should flll and watch over the granaries and public storehouses . . . When the granaries have been fllled, then the people will obey the laws and the rules of courtesy" [Kuan, 31]. Later: "The ancient kings . . . enriched their subjects through the increased production of grain. The people cannot live without grain to eat" [Kuan, 70].
decrees . . .
[JW, Later, 163].
92. Egbert: [Cf. 67 above]. 93. looping the light . . . :
5. NINE
"Basic Methods of Government," records de- crees adopted by 9 assemblies. "At the first assembly, the following regulation was is- sued: 'Unless ordered by the God of the Sombre Heavens . . . none shall conduct a military campaign, even for only one day. ' At the second assembly, this regulation: 'Take care of the aged who have lost their relatives; feed those who are permanently ill; give shelter to helpless persons'" [Kuan, 58]. The 9 together add up to a precis of the Analects.
94. Harlulf's . . . : Wm. of M. says he took the story of Charles of the Suevi's visions from H. 's Chronicon Centulense [Migne, vol. 174, col. 1211 ff].
95. For a thousand . . . versa: Pound's judg? ment of all the people and events he has been reading about and, in the canto, giving cues to.
96. Alfred: A. the Great (849? 899? ). He "instituted the tenth'parts called tithings" [JW, Later, 164].
97. Erigena: [36:9; 74: 104]. Wm. of M.
6. Venice shawls: [98:14,15].
7. ThisTzu. . . :Theguideinthefinalrites
[Cf. 63
above].
: Essay 8,
entitled
? 690
106/752-753
106/753-755
691
of Eleusis, or a reference to Kuan Tzu above, or perhaps both.
8. Kuan Chung: [Cf. 4 aboveJ.
9. Patera: Patara. Legend has it that a cup of white gold preserved at the temple at Lyndos on the island of Rhodes was mod- elled on the breast of Helen. Pound first marvelled in print at the thought in 1917 [PD, 102J. Pound's spelling appears to come from Paul the Deacon [96: 10J, who said of the goblet Alboin made out of Cunimund's head: "This kind of goblet is called among them 'scala,' but in the Latin language 'pa- tera'" (Deacon, Langobards, 51; EH, Pat, 10-3, 585-586J.
10. beEO"H,"thegod. "
11. Caledon: Prob. a reference to the swift-
footed Atalanta of Calydon, whose speed was like the wind but who was tricked by the golden apples to lose the race to Hippo- menes; or perhaps the destruction of Caly~ don by fire after the death of Maleager at the hands of his mother / sister Althea
[Meta. VIII, 580-683J .
12. Apeliota: [74:304J. The East Wind.
13. deep waters . . . : [91:4J
14. nueva lumbre: P, "new reflections. " From, "~V dar nueva lumbre las armes y hierros," in a canzon of Arnaut Daniel, which Pound translated: "And the arms irons give forth new (or strange) reflections"
[SR, 34J.
15. the flame's barge: [91:28J.
16. Amazon, Orinoco: Great rivers in Brazil.
17. Kuan Chung: [Cf. 4 aboveJ. Pound said: "Fuller [BuckminsterJ wrote me that he'd seen the Kuan~tzu three years ago and that it was the best book on economics he'd ever read . . . When Mencius and a few high- brows were objecting to Kuan Chung be- cause he wasn't a saint, Confucius said, 'You cannot judge a man like that as you would any bum who could die in the gutter and nobody know it. ' If it weren't for Kuan
Chung, we'd still be dressing ourselves like barbarians" [Bridson, ND 17, 175J.
18. Antoninus . . . : [78:56J. Paraphrase: If Antoninus got as far as Kuan Chung did in understanding economics, his knowledge has been hidden from us. Said Pound, "Now as I see it, billions of money are being spent to hide about seventeen historic facts" [ibid. ; see contrary opinion in MB, Trace, 433].
19. Ideogram: Kuan ' [M3571]' "a frontier pass or gate . . . a customhouse; suburbs of a city. " Not to be confused with kuan3 [M3557J above: "to govern. " Pound appar- ently confused the character for gate with that of pi [M5089J. It was an error he made earlier in translating the first line of Ode 1, "Hid! Hid! ' the fish-hawk saith" [EP, Confu- cian Odes, 2; EH, Letter to ME, 9 Mar. , 1977J.
20. Ad . . . donat: L, "He gave the city to posterity. " But the -as ending does not exist as an accusative or anything else. Perhaps by "posteros" Pound meant "gate. "
21. Artemis: Prob. a coin uttered by Anto- ninus with the image of the goddess.
22. 400 . . . copper: The Kuan Tzu "There are 467 mountains producing cop- per. . . . If there is cinnabar on the surface there will be copper and gold beneath"
[Kuan, 145-146J. Cinnabar: the chief ore of mercury.
23. Ko Lu: "From the mountains in Ko Lu there came a flood, which washed down gold" [Kuan, 146J.
24. XREIA: H, "gold. " "So these minerals commanded high and stable prices. . . . 'When the demand for it becomes urgent, gold becomes heavy. . . . ' The ancient kings estimated the degree of urgency, and issued decrees accordingly" [Kuan, 147J .
25. Yao . . . jade: "The ancient kings . . . made use of their concentrated value. Pearls and jade were adopted as the superior mon- ey; gold the middle" [ibid. J.
lines are a reprise of the Eleusinian and grain-rite mysteries celebrated to evoke the earth's return to life in the spring.
27. Luigi: [97:232J.
42. Sulmona: [103/736; 105/746; for the lion and gold light, see 21:43J.
43. king-wings: The "blue-grays" and the "king-wings" are butterflies [Frag/802J.