Ezra Pound Quotes

American poet and critic (1885–1972)

Ezra Pound (October 30, 1885 – November 1, 1972) was an American expatriate poet, musician and critic who was a major figure of the Modernist movement in early to mid-20th century poetry. He was the driving force behind several Modernist movements including Imagism and Vorticism.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Native Name: Ezra Weston Loomis Pound

Alternative Names: Ezra Loomis Pound

From Wikidata (CC0)

Artists are the antennae of the race but the bullet-headed many will never learn to trust their great artists.

It has been complained, with some justice, that I dump my note-books on the public.

Poetry must be as well written as prose.

One discards rhyme, not because one is incapable of rhyming neat, fleet, sweet, meet, treat, eat, feet but because there are certain emotions or energies which are nor represented by the over-familiar devices or patterns.

Who brought this to pass?
Who has brought the flaming imperial anger?
Who has brought the army with drums and with kettle-drums?
Barbarous kings.
A gracious spring, turned to blood-ravenous autumn,
A turmoil of wars-men, spread over the middle kingdom,
Three hundred and sixty thousand,
And sorrow, sorrow like rain.

Image…that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time.

It is better to present one image in a lifetime than to produce voluminous work.

Poetry is a sort of inspired mathematics, which gives us equations, not for abstract figures, triangles, spheres, and the like, but for the human emotions. If one has a mind which inclines to magic rather than science, one will prefer to speak of these equations as spells or incantations; it sounds more arcane, mysterious, recondite.