Pounding the Point Home: Ezra Pound's Historical Writing and Framing the Present

Ezra Pound is one of the most prominent figures in the Modernistic movement in poetry. His unrelenting style and “I'll-be-damned” approach to his work is uncompromising and it seems that he has no regard for the readers of his poetry. It is hard not to respect that sense of urgency and even though Pound is a controversial figure, as a declared fascist and his work for Mussolini during the second World War would open up to criticism, of some of his opinions. In 'Canto XLV', Pound is giving an account of what he perceives to be one of the great scourges of capitalism and he argues for a better system, where money does not feature as prominently. In this essay, my primary focus will not be to discuss Pound's world view, but focus on how history is distorted in his writings. I will start by underlining the main topos of the poem. Then, I will move on to the how Duccio is represented in this work. I want to investigate this reference to create a stronger understanding of why certain people have been singled out in the context of the poem and these persons are a window into understanding Pound's canon of art. Then, I will give my understanding of how Pound understands his own role in his own time, which will be the final segment of this essay.

'Canto XLV' is a free verse poem. The poem does not stand out in any stylistic manner from Pound's other works, who were mostly composed without metre to guide the reader. However, what does stand out is Pound's style that is uncompromising and unyielding. The poem is a relentless attack on usury, as we can see in the subtitle of the poem, 'With Usura' (Pound ll. 1). The Oxford English Dictionary defines usury as '[t]he fact or practice of lending money at interest; esp. in later use, the practice of charging, taking, or contracting to receive, excessive or illegal rates of interest for money on loan' and the latter part of the definition is one of the most criticised practices in capitalism (“Usury”). The reason that I have been saying that Pound is so unrelenting in his criticism of usury can be found in almost every single line of the poem. Whether it is lines like 'with usura, sin against nature' (ll. 14) or 'Usura is a murrain,' (ll. 25), we are convinced of Pound's objection to usury. It is important to notice how usury is personified by the name of Usura. The personification suggests that the concept can be demonised, the system is corrupt and everyone that enters into Usura's domain are corrupted by it.

The poem is filled with references and most of these are perosns or places that are significant to art in some way. In line 29, Duccio is said to be a result of something else than usury, like most other things in the poem (Pound). Duccio is one of the founding fathers of the Italian painting styles of the thirteenth century. His birth date is unknown but we know that he had died before 1319 and lived for the most part in Siena (Polzer 90). It is also likely that he learned his trade here. His importance to later painting is invaluable and he is one of the pioneers of the new style of renaissance painting that developed over the next three hundred years, and made Northern Italy one of the most important cultural centres in the entire late Medieval times and during the “golden age” of city states, such as Siena, Florence and Venice. An interesting aspect that concerns Pound's representation of history in 'Canto XLV' is his claim that with usury Duccio would not have been able to create his works. I have already established that Duccio was born somewhere in the middle of the thirteenth century and, as a result, he is predated by the Crusades by a sizeable amount of time. The Crusades were a time, when merchant bankers prospered and accumulated wealth in these city states, on a scale that mirrored the wealth of the Roman Empire. Lane argues that banks as institutions were commonplace in Florence and Milano, around the early fourteenth century (Lane 97). These banks started to appear with the consolidation of power that the Catholic church established in this period and the bankers would have been poor at their profession, if they did not take interest on the loans they issued to the crusading armies that travelled through the ports of northern Italy to the Holy Land (97). Therefore, we have established that banks thrived during Duccio's lifetime and his works were most likely funded by patrons, who indulged in banking and money-lending. I want to state that it is not certain, how Pound defines usury, but the practice that eventually leads to excessive interest on loans is in place, when Duccio is an apprentice in Siena. On the basis of this finding, we can discuss how Pound distorts history to suit his points and that does not seek Truth for its own sake. I have not found any sources from Pound's time that state the same point, so it is possible that these particulars of history were not known in the early twentieth century. In that span of time, our understanding of the Crusades has changed from a nationalistic endeavour to a pan-Christian effort and the result of expansionist policies by the Papal States, mired in racism and prejudice against Judaism and Islam (McKay 278). Of course, the money-lending that was performed in northern Italy in medieval times are not performed in the same manner today. The economy was far less defined and although it was controlled by centralised governments it does not resemble the behemoth that modern-day capitalism is. Therefore, it is possible that Pound only attacks the modern society and not the proto-capitalist elements that existed in Duccio's time.

Duccio's presence in Pound's poetry is not surprising, if we do consider the Italian painter as a pioneer of a new style of art. Pound would have been able to mould his own appearance, after Duccio, as an innovator and figurehead of the Modernists. His references to painters, Duccio, Angelico and Memling to name a few of the prominent painters present in the poem, poets and playwrights found throughout the poem with more or less obscure references, are in place to tell the reader that the old pioneers did not have to cope with usury as a limiting factor. One particular line stood out in the poem, his reference to 'Eleusis' (Pound ll. 46). The town is now a part of Athens and is most famous for being the birth place of Aeschylus, the first great Attic tragedy writer. Line 46 is ' They have brought whores for Eleusis' and this can be interpreted as the classics have been tainted by usury to a point where 'Corpses are set to banquet/ at behest of usura' (ll. 46-48). The taint is now all-pervasive and Pound does not mention his own works in this context. He could understand them as tainted by this societal corruption, but he could also see himself as a champion of righteousness and mark him as an equal to the greats. This comparison can then serve a purpose in making Pound stand out as an even greater pioneer that could rival the greats of classical and medieval times. 

I have attempted to give an account of Pound's use of history and how he distorts it to suit his own needs. This is not the only possible reading, but it is interesting to note how easily the reading conforms to this sort of discussion. I have argued that Pound's notion of usury is not the original notion of the word, but the modern version of the word (I use the word modern in its loosest sense, since usury has negative connotations from the 18^th century and onward (“Usury”)). I have also to some degree argued that Pound uses history and historiography in a subjective manner that places his values of the untainted society above the historical facts. Throughout this essay, I have attempted to stay as close to objective in my attempt to dissect and disseminate some of the historical inaccuracies of the poem. However, I must say that I had expected a higher level of accuracy from Pound and a less romanticised view of the past even in this pastoral-esque poem.

References

"Aeschylus". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016.

Lane, Frederic Chapin and Reinhold C. Mueller. Money and banking in medieval and Renaissance Venice. American Council of Learned Societies. 1985.

Mckay, John P., Bennet D. Hill and John Buckler. A History of Western Society. 7th Edition. Boston,

MA: Houghton Mifflin. 2003.

Pound, Ezra. “Canto XLV”. The Cantos of Ezra Pound. New York, NY: New Directions, 1993.

“Usury”. Oxford English Dictionary. OED Online. Oxford University Press.

Polzer, Joseph. “Studies in Late Dugento and Early Trecento: Who Is Duccio?”. Zograf. 2005. 30.

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