Happy (late) Birthday, Ezra Pound

October 30th was the poet Ezra Pound's birthday (with the modernist sensibility to time and memory, I'm sure he wouldn't mind this coming a few days late...) A controversial figure throughout his lifetime, especially due to his support of Benito Mussolini and his anti-Semitism, Pound was nevertheless one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century. A central figure in the Modernist movement, Pound was actively involved in the careers of other writers, such as Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway, and most famously T.S. Eliot. Much of his own poetry promoted Imagism--an aesthetic of clarity and precise language. The three poems below--some of his most famous--demonstrate the imaginative sharpness of his writing. Somehow I doubt Ezra was into birthday cakes. (AP Photo/Larry Crowe)

In A Station Of The Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

Meditatio

When I carefully consider the curious habits of dogs
I am compelled to conclude
That man is the superior animal.

When I consider the curious habits of man
I confess, my friend, I am puzzled.

Salutation

O generation of the thoroughly smug
and thoroughly uncomfortable,
I have seen fishermen picnicking in the sun,
I have seen them with untidy families,
I have seen their smiles full of teeth
and heard ungainly laughter.
And I am happier than you are,
And they were happier than I am;
And the fish swim in the lake
and do not even own clothing.