Ezra Pound S Pisan Cantos And The Noh

When Ezra Pound wrote his Pisan Cantos during his imprisonment at the Disciplinary Training Center, Pisa, in 1945, he remembered the Japanese Noh plays which he had translated in the 1910s. The present study examines the Noh allusions in the Pisan Cantos. It analyzes their frequency and distribution in the poem and the formal characteristics of Pound's re-use of material and structural Noh elements. On the basis of these analyses, it documents the meaning-generating potential of the Noh elements in Pound's poem. The critical approach of this study is based on intertextual theories and the ideogrammic method, which Pound came to know at about the same time he was introduced to the Noh. Pound's concepts of the 'image', the 'vortex', and the 'Unifying Image' are also discussed. The study includes a survey of pertinent books and articles by American, British, German, and Japanese scholars on the role of Japanese haiku and the Noh in Pound's writings.

Ezra Pound (1885 1972) was an American expatriate poet who was a major figure of the Modernist movement in the first half of the 20th century. After moving to London Pound became Yeats's secretary, and developed an interest in Yeats's occult beliefs. They lived together and studied Japanese especially the Noh plays. Pound translated Chinese, Greek, Latin and Japanese poetry into English. Certain Noble Plays of Japan: from the manuscripts of Ernest Fenollosa, chosen and finished by Ezra Pound was published in 1916. The introduction was written by Yeats. Plays included are Nishikigi by Motokiyo, Hagoromo, Kumasaka, and Kagekiyo.

The first book to deal with the subject of Ezra Pound's relationships with Japanese literature as a whole, this book provides a wealth of new scholarship on this subject, including on the 19th-century Japanese contexts that led to Pound's interest in 'hokku' and Fenollosa's No translations on which Pound based his own; significant original research on Pound's Japanese friendships that enriched his understanding of Japanese literature; and an examination of all the explicit references to No in The Cantos in unprecedented depth. It demonstrates that the works for which Ezra Pound is most famous, such as 'In a Station of the Metro' and his epic poem, The Cantos, were shaped by his lifelong interest in Japanese literature.

INTRODUCTION NISHIKIGI HAGOROMO KUMASAKA KAGEKIYO NOTES

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Ezra Pound was undoubtedly one of the most influential and controversial figures in twentieth century poetry. His brilliant yet obscure encyclopedic epic poem Cantos explored the history of civilization, his hatred for war and his disappointments in man's imperfection. This limited edition has been designed by the LaNana Press' printer, Charles Jones, and it reflects the style and generosity of materials and processes that were the hall mark of private press publishing in 1920s and 30s. The book has a large page format (318 x 241mm) with the text set in type faces designed by Eric Gill: Gill Sans light and Joanna. Charles Jones has printed 200 copies on a Vandercook Universal III press, on Magnani Biblios mould made white wove paper. The edition is hand bound in Harmatan's tan leather with Japanese bookcloth overboards and slipcased. Each copy of the book is numbered and signed by Omar Pound and Charles Jones.