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You do understand the quote was taken from the above linked article and thus not one's own don't you?
Pound's work was never up one's street personally so never bothered. Cannot even say he was covered at school or in college either so that's me for you.
Being as all this may considering the man's ill treatment upon arrest and so forth it does give some idea as to why he wasn't executed. I mean there are those who did worse, much worse during WWII and not only weren't put to death but in many cases not even arrested and prosecuted.
Iirc Tokyo Rose got off with jail time - and she did arguably worse than Pound.
Ezra Pound, writer of notoriously unreadable and unintelligible so called poetry, was convicted of treason after World War II for making propaganda broadcasts for the Axis aimed at audiences in the Allied nations. Yet, Pound avoided being executed and was confined to St. Elizabeth's mental hospital for years where he continued to write so called poetry, do interviews, and even have sex with women. Did Pound have people "pulling the strings" for him - perhaps high up people in government who shared his antisemitic views? Why wasn't he put to death?
One has the feeling if Pound were anything else but white and from decent enough "Yankee" stock things may have turned out differently. It didn't hurt that the man had made a name for himself as a poet and had the right friends in high enough places (or access to same) that could advocate on his behalf.
Anti-Semitism ran deep in certain circles of WASP Americans who pretty much ran most if not all parts of the US government. Therefore while not exactly thrilled with what Pound said and or did privately it may have been seen a small beer to some.
If one recalls correctly there were one or two British subjects who did things they shouldn't have during the war but their rank and or connections protected them from serious harm.
If we take a look at some who ran 'interference' for him we have:
Ike, Dag Hammarskjold, Robert Frost, TS Eliot, Archibald MacLeish...These great personalities all helped him get the treason charge dismissed. Funny thing is it's noted in a bio that when he then went to Italy after the dismissal he went to Naples and greeted everyone with a Fascist salute. Under the circumstances not politically correct but it tells something of how different he was an American during that time and how others 'compartmentalized' him as they saw his personality and how he lived his life. . It's evident he went against the grain in his work and in his approach to life. Like Whitman, I'd suggest Pound was another American revolutionary who indelibly influenced his time and future eras to come through their writing.
Both were iconoclasts in their own way and certainly blazed different trails.
After the war was over, most people in the Western countries had had enough of killing. It was one thing to execute those who had launched the war and committed war crimes, but nobody was all that eager to start killing people who had sympathized with the wrong side.
On the Eastern Front and in the formerly occupied countries, it was a different matter, of course.
I am an admirer of Pound's poetry, especially his Cantos.
That being said, one can be a giant of thought in one arena and a complete dunderhead in another. The fact that he was enamored of fascism early on and egged on Mussolini as he began his wars of conquest and pushed for even greater repression of Jews speaks to classic losing of one's moral compass in tightly-wound circles of thought. In a sense, Pound became the caricature of a pointy-headed intellectual in the minds of the public whose sons were dying in places such as Anzio while he holed up in his Italian villa. At the very least, an wise man would not have been on Mussolini's payroll making propaganda broadcasts against his native country during open hostilities.
While he claims that his three-week imprisonment prompted his insanity, I think the insanity verdict against him was a convenience. Nobody would have really stomached putting one of America's foremost, distinguished intellectuals in front of a firing squad.
But was he really crazy or so very smart that he deceived even doctors? My brother use to do that. He was not crazy but could sure make people think he was.
But was he really crazy or so very smart that he deceived even doctors? My
brother use to do that. He was not crazy but could sure make people think he
was.
Regarding Pound, a biographer noted what his daughter said about him....'visibly fighting a wasp nest in his brain'. Also, when he was freed from prison he said:
"'This a historic occasion..I am not anti-Semitic. I have been making jokes about Jews all my life..I might as well turn loose things you may not know ..I must keep on track. I'm talking too much. I don't have to tell it all in one day. I can come back. I've had the plug in for twelve years'.
Regarding Pound, a biographer noted what his daughter said about him....'visibly fighting a wasp nest in his brain'. Also, when he was freed from prison he said:
"'This a historic occasion..I am not anti-Semitic. I have been making jokes about Jews all my life..I might as well turn loose things you may not know ..I must keep on track. I'm talking too much. I don't have to tell it all in one day. I can come back. I've had the plug in for twelve years'.
Pound was a vicious antisemite but reportedly was not hostile to Jews he knew personally. Then again, even Henry Ford had a close Jewish friend....
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