Hugh Selwyn Mauberley help please?? (poem)

Question

I have an essay due about Hugh Selwyn Mauberley by Ezra Pound very soon, and i'm totally baffled.
This is the hardest, most awkward poem i've ever read. I barely understand the poem, let alone the essay question!
The question is: "What attitude towards the arts, especially poetry, emerges from 'Hugh Sewlyn Mauberley?"
The module this question is for is related to the modernist movement.

Can someone PLEASE help me with this? Can anyone tell me which parts of the poem show an attitude towards the arts, and what that attitude is? So far, all i've got is that when Pound wrote " the 'age demanded' chiefly a mould in plaster, / made with no loss of time, / a prose kinema, not, not assuredly, alabaster / or the 'sculpture' of rhyme" That he was complaining that poetry (?) had become too focused on things that are outwardly beautiful and easy, with no enduring innter beauty. Beyond that, i'm LOST!

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

How much of the 'poem' are you reading? It's 20 pages of 'sub-poems', from E.P. Ode pour l'election de son sepulchre to Medallion.

I can tell you offhand that it was written as Pound gave up on the arts and artists in London and moved to Paris 'permanently', and the piece is pretty much all a venting of his frustration at British literary philistinism.

Guardian- · Answer

I'm reading the entire thing, and i'm supposed to pick out all the parts that show Pound's attitude to the arts. But i really can't see many... like in the part about the war...how is that possibly linked to the arts (especially poetry)?

If the whole thing is about his attitude to the arts, then i'm really not seeing it. If at all possible, can you give me a summary of his attitude to the arts in each of the seperate sections of the poem? I'm usually so good at understanding poetry but i just can't get my head wrapped around Pound (and modernism in general).

I would be incredibly greateful ito anyone that could put in so much effort to help me. Especially if you're like me and find reading Pound to be like wading through jelly.

Mister Micawber · Answer

It's a big topic. Start [url=http://www.enotes.com/hugh-selwyn] HERE[/url].

Guardian- · Answer

Thanks so much, this is really helpful.
One thing though, that guide says that the section "Siena mi fe, disfecemi maremma" discusses poetry, and in particular, the Rhymers club.

But as far as i can tell, this section is literally just talking about specific poets and nothing else; not commenting on the actual ART.

Can you see any commentary on poetry in this section?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Johnson , Dowson, and Plarr ('Verog') were all members of the Rhymer's Club. I presume that Walter Headlam, the Greek scholar, also joined them. I am certainly not privy to any of the actual personal anecdotes that Pound may be referring to, but the comments that Pound makes about these poets clearly illustrates his feelings about the quality and direction of contemporary English poetry:

Plarr: 'Among the pickled foetuses and bottled bones, engaged in perfecting the catalogue', 'out of step with the decade'. Images of death, of preserving the past, of making dull lists.

Johnson: 'the pure mind arose toward Newman as the whiskey warmed'. Cardinal Newman, the Christian philosopher, may have been a hot topic in the early 20th century, but his religious arguments are rather dry, not the stuff vital poetry is made of.

Dowson: 'found harlots cheaper than hotels'. Too concerned with venial comforts, perhaps.

Headlam: 'With raptures for Bacchus, Terpsichore and the Church'. He liked drinking, dancing and religion. And becoming an obscure translator of Greek drama.

Pound's attack on the poets is an attack on their poetical efforts, on their poetry.

Guardian- · Answer

Thanks a lot, you've been very helpful.

Do you have any thoughts on the section just before Medallion?

Mister Micawber · Answer

I don't know what Pound's connection to the Moluccas was; I'm sure he was never there, but no doubt he is referring to some specific event or association, since he usually does.  Nevertheless, his attack seems to be on the idle mind seeking quotidian pleasures instead of creating.  The section is to be enjoyed for its images ('the juridicial flamingoes'); Pound's only message is the note on the oar.

Guardian- · Answer

Thank you so much, i really appreciate your help. With lots of work and hours, i finished my essay....now on to my last one! Sadly, Yet again, another poet i haven't studied...

I'm so glad i found this wesite though, it's really helpful.

Hugh Selwyn Mauberley help please?? (poem)

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