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Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound. “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter”. Ezra Pound ( 1885-1972). “In a Station of the Metro” The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough. Born in Hailey, Idaho / grew up in Pennsylvania

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Ezra Pound

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  1. Ezra Pound “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter”

  2. Ezra Pound (1885-1972) • “In a Station of the Metro” The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough. • Born in Hailey, Idaho / grew up in Pennsylvania • Taught at a conservative religious college for a while • Afterwards, Pound went to Europe in 1908 • Became a self-appointed spokesperson for the new poetic movement, called Imagism • T.S. Eliot dedicated his collection of poems, The Waste Land (1922) to Pound • Moved to Paris in 1921, and to Italy three years later • Continued to write poetry • His interest in economics and social theory led him to support Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy

  3. Ezra Pound • During WWII, he stayed in Italy • Became a propagandist for Mussolini’s policies • Criticized the struggle of the U.S. and its allies over a radio broadcast • Pound was taken prisoner in 1945 by the U.S. Army and confined • Taken back to the U.S. and charged with treason • Spent many years in a psychiatric hospital • Deemed criminally insane • Released due to complaints that his literary contributions outweighed his disastrous lack of judgment – Robert Frost = a supporter of this • Returned to Italy, which is where he spent the rest of his life

  4. “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” • Answer the following (pg. 576-577) • What events is Pound describing in each of the following: stanza 1, 2, 3, and 4? • What emotions and character traits do the images in lines 1-6 suggest? • What do lines 7-10 suggest about the circumstances of the speaker’s marriage and the way she felt about it for the first year? Cite details to support your answer. • At what point in the poem is there a turning point? How so? • Paraphrase line 14. • Why do you think Pound includes the images “swirling eddies” and “sorrowful noise” in the fourth stanza? • What image suggests that the river-merchant was reluctant to leave home? • Explain the meaning of line 25. • What do the images in the final stanza reveal about the speaker’s feelings? • Why might the river-merchant have left?

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