Ezra
Pound
was
born in Hailey, Idaho in 1885. After graduating from Pennsylvania
University in 1906 he taught at Wabash College in Indiana.
In 1908 Pound travelled
to Europe and after arriving in London
he became friends with W.
B. Yeats,
Ford
Madox Ford,
Percy
Wyndham Lewis,
and James Joyce. His first collection of
poems, With Tapers Quenched, was
published in 1908. This was followed by Personae
and Exultations (1909) and a book of critical essays, The
Spirit of Romance (1910).
Pound became co-editor
of Blast in 1914. He was also London editor of the Little
Review and Paris correspondent for The
Dial.
Considered to be the motivating force behind modern poetry, he published
Lustra (1916), Homage
to Sextus Propertius (1919) and Hugh
Selwyn Mauberley (1920).
!n 1924 Pound moved to
Rapallo in Italy where he worked on the
Cantos. The first collection,
Draft of XVI Cantos appeared
in 1925. This was followed by Draft of XXX
Cantos (1930), Eleven New Cantos
(1937), The Fifth Decade of Cantos
(1937) and Cantos LII-LXXI (1940).
A supporter of Benito
Mussolini
he advocated fascist ideas
and during the Second World War made radio broadcasts
in Rome attacking the Allies.
Pound was arrested by partisans
in April 1945 and taken back to the United States
to be tried for treason. Judged to be insane he was confined in an
asylum. He continued to write poetry and published The
Pison Cantos in 1948 and Rock-Drill:
85-95 de los Cantares in 1956.
After his release in 1958
Pound returned to Italy. His later work
included The Cantos of Ezra Pound
(1970). Ezra
Pound died
in 1972.
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