Ezra Pound has been called "the inventor of modern poetry in English." The verse and criticism which he produced during the early years of this century very largely determined the directions of creative writing in our time, and virtually every major poet in England and America today has acknowledged his help or influence. Pound's lyric genius, his superb technique, and his fresh insight into literary problems make him one of the small company of men who through the centuries have kept poetry alive, one of the great innovators.
This book offers a compact yet representative selection of Ezra Pound's poems and translations. The span covered in Pound's entire writing career, from his early lyrics and the translations of Provencal songs to his English version of Sophokles' Trachiniae. Included are parts of his best known works - the Chinese translations, the sequence called Hugh Selwyn Mauberley, the Homage to Sextus Propertius. The Cantos, Pound's major epic, are presented in generous selections, chosen to emphasize the main themes of the whole poem.