Ezra Pound – Clara Hsu

Listening to Ezra Pound

The Seafarer intoned in an ancient tongue, accompanied by a drum. Sparsely played, the drum conjured up fog and a vast space, or maybe the echoes of wind and waves. A baritone voice spun out the verses with an elastic tension that never let down. The syllables were musical notes of different values, creating rhythms. The Seafarer—the poem was the music. Spellbinding, it demanded attention. Listen!

Recorded in 1939, the reading was amazingly clear. Pound came alive to illustrate the power of poetry and speech. Thanks to the internet, we are privileged to have this and other great recordings at the tip of our fingers, to be inspired, to learn from, to enjoy.

Two Seafarers

Jack Foley gave me two versions of The Seafarer, an Anglo-Saxon poem translated by Edwin Morgan and Ezra Pound. Morgan’s version was an easy read, as his was written in modern vernacular. Pound’s character came off as the voice of the ancient. His words were succinct and crafted, and carried a sense of drama throughout.

The same seafarer was a lamenting old man in one and a stately persona in another. Except for a few images, these pieces gave me two distinct impressions of the character.

In school we are taught to write “properly”, but what does it take to write powerfully, to achieve a distinct style and voice?

When Li Po Meets Ezra Pound

The River Merchant's Wife — The River Merchant’s Wife by Mary Wallace

Stepping into Tranquil Resonance Studio, the hustle and bustle of Chinatown disappeared behind my back. Yellow walls, wood floor, traditional Chinese xuanzhi furniture, brush paintings, tea sets and a row of guqins (seven-stringed zithers) on the wall had the style of an old Chinese study.

David Wong, proprietor, listened to my reading of Li Po’s “Cho-Kan Hang”.

“I think the Fisherman’s Song would work well with this,” David said. He played the tune on the guqin and I read the poem again, first in Cantonese, then a translation in English by Ezra Pound with the title, “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter”.

All thirty lines of “Cho-Kan Hang” were made up of five syllables. I found it binding and difficult to be expressive.

“In a ‘five syllabic finite poem’,” said David, ” expressiveness is to be derived only from the varied tone of each character.”

The fluid and irregular lines spoken by Ezra Pound’s river-merchant’s wife gave a definite contrast to Li Po’s wistful lady. Reading the poem one after the other, the character was fully realized—she might be confined within four walls, but her feelings knew no bound—by two poets centuries apart.

Into The Universe

At the Poetry Salon last night some of us read poems with Halloween theme. It was also Ezra Pound’s birthday. Al Averbach recited a short poem by Pound. Then Steve Mackin read John Keats, whose birthday was today. For poets, we look out into the universe to find these masters. They are our guiding lights. A visual poem came to me and this is what I “saw”:

* keats * * * *joyce * *

* * stein * * * * * basho **

* * * * * * duncan * * parker * *

crane ** * * * * li po* ****

*mcclure * *cummings * Apollinaire

* * * * browning * * *

* *** * * ** smart* *pound * * *

* ** *eliot* * * *** * *yeats ** *

* * * * * ** * *** ** * *

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