"Be influenced by as many great writers as you can," said Ezra Pound. Pound was an "assimilative poet" par excellence, as George Bornstein calls him, a writer who more often "adhered to a . . . classical conception of influence as benign and strengthening" than to an anxiety model of influence. To study Pound means to study also his precursors—Homer, Ovid, Li Po, Dante, Whitman, Browning—as well as his contemporaries—Yeats, Williams, and Eliot. These poets, discussed here by ten distinguished critics, stimulated Pound's most important poetic encounters with the literature of Greece, Rome, China, Tuscany, England, and the United States. Fully half of these essays draw on previously unpublished manuscripts.

This pioneering study did much to rehabilitate Ezra Pound's reputation after a long period of critical hostility and neglect. Published in 1951, it was the first comprehensive examination of the Cantos and other major works that would strongly influence the course of contemporary poetry.

This collection of twenty essays investigates a series of different aspects of poetic influence in relation to the major modernist poet, Ezra Pound. The volume commences with five essays on matters to do with translation and poetic influence, which situate Ezra Pound as an important transitional figure between 19th-century and 20th-century translation strategies. The next five essays consider different influences on Pound’s poetry, and introduce the reader to new research in a variety of areas, including how specific Chinese cultural artefacts inform his poetry. The following five essays explore Pound’s influence on some of his major contemporaries, such as Eugenio Montale and Charles Olson, and also (through the reading he gave her as a girl) on his daughter, Mary de Rachewiltz. The concluding five essays exemplify different approaches to the thorny issue of Pound and politics, and end with two diametrically opposed interpretations of Pound’s political / poetic thought. The collection will be of great interest to scholars of Ezra Pound and of modern to postmodern poetry; but it will also serve as a useful and lively introduction to some of the debates within Pound scholarship to students coming to his work for the first time.

The Cantos of Ezra Pound is the most important epic poem of the twentieth century.

Ezra Pound forever changed the course of poetry. The author of a vast body of literature, his enormous range of references and use of multiple languages make him one of the most obscure authors and—because of his Fascism, anti-Semitism, and questionable sanity—one of the most controversial. This encyclopedia is a concise yet comprehensive guide to his life and writings. Included are more than 250 alphabetically arranged entries on such topics as Arabic history, Chinese translation, dance, Hilda Doolittle, Egyptian literature, Robert Frost, and Pound's publications. The entries are written by roughly 100 expert contributors and cite works for further reading. Ezra Pound forever changed the course of poetry. His vast body of poetry and critical works make him one of the 20th century's most prolific writers, and his influence has shaped later poets, great and small. His enormous range of references, deliberate obscurity, and use of multiple languages make him one of the most difficult authors and— because of his Fascism, anti-Semitism, and questionable sanity—one of the most controversial figures in American literary history. This encyclopedia is a concise yet comprehensive guide to his life and writings.

An international team of scholars provides an invaluable introduction to Pound's work and life.