Americans on Ezra Pound

[Folgore]

I am curious to know what you Americans think about Ezra Pound, if you know him, and how is remembered in your country. thanks

 

[shuamort]

Hmm, a couple things come to mind when I hear his name. He translated some beautiful poetry from Japanese and Chinese. He was a bit of the grandfather of the beat poet scene. He changed the way poems were written and played a lot with structure. He was charged with treason when he came back to the US after WW2 for broadcasting some fascist propaganda while he lived in Italy, but ended up being declared insane. Although he was one of the bigger poets in the US, he's still a poet and this is the US which means that for the most part you'll get a shrug and a "who?"

L'Art
Green arsenic smeared on an egg-white cloth,
Crushed strawberries! Come, let us feast our eyes.