The Cantos by Ezra Pound is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections,
each of which is a canto. Most of it was written between 1915 and
1962, although much of the early work was abandoned and the early
cantos, as finally published, date from 1922 onwards. It is a
book-length work, widely considered to present formidable difficulties
to the reader. Strong claims have been made for it as one of the most
significant works of modernist poetry of the twentieth century. As in
Pound's prose writing, the themes of economics, governance and culture
are integral to its content. The most striking feature of the text, to
a casual browser, is the inclusion of Chinese characters as well as
quotations in European languages other than English. Recourse to
scholarly commentaries is almost inevitable for a close reader. The
range of allusion to historical events is very broad, and abrupt
changes occur with the minimum of stage directions. There is also a
wide geographical spread; Pound added to his earlier interests in the
classical Mediterranean culture and East Asia selective topics from
medieval and early modern Italy and Provence, the beginnings of the
United States, England of the seventeenth century, and details from
Africa he had obtained from Leo Frobenius. References left without
explanation abound.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1614:
Native American Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas)
1936:
Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak: A F5 tornado hit Tupelo, Mississippi,
killing 233.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupelo-Gainesville_Outbreak)
1945:
Tito allowed temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslavia.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Broz)
1955:
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigned.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill)
1998:
The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge opened to traffic.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi-Kaikyo_Bridge)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"Words are wise men's counters, they do but reckon by them; but they
are the money of fools." -- Thomas Hobbes
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes)