September 20, 2022 • 30 mins
“Europe calling! Pound speaking! Ezra Pound speaking!” came over the airwaves in more than 100 shortwave broadcasts from Rome, directed toward America during WWII. Ezra Pound was an American ex-pat, poet, and intellectual who was a major figure of the Modernist literary movement in early-to-mid 20th century -- and was also a fascist collaborator and anti-Semite arrested for treason against the United States for his radio broadcasts.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shonda land audio in
partnership with I heart radiom. Ezra pound was an American
expat poet and intellectual who was a major figure of
the modernist literary movement in the Early To mid twentieth century.
(00:24):
He was also a fascist collaborator and anti semi who
was arrested for treason against the United States where his
radio broadcasts during the Second World War. Welcome to Criminalia.
I'm Maria Tremarqui and I'm holly FRY. Ezra Weston loomas
pound was born on October in the small town of Hailey, Idaho.
(00:49):
He was the only child of homer loomas pound, of
Federal Land Office official, and Isabel Weston. When Ezra was
only a few years old, the family moved east and
in June of eighteen eighty nine, following homer's appointment to
the United States Mint in Philadelphia, they settled in nearby Wincote, Pennsylvania.
It said that Ezra was eleven when he published his
(01:11):
first poem, Elmer. At the age of fifteen he told
his parents he wanted to be a poet. Ezra attended
Cheltenham Military Academy just outside Philadelphia. He went on to
attend the University of Pennsylvania for two years, from nineteen
o one to nineteen o three, and it's there where
he met the now famous poet William Carlos Williams, who
(01:33):
became a lifelong friend. He graduated with a degree in
philosophy from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in nineteen
o five, the four returning to the University of Pennsylvania
for Graduate School. He immersed himself in English literature and
Grammar and studied Latin Greek, French, Italian, German Spanish. He
received his masters in June of nineteen O six, but
(01:55):
withdrew from the university while working towards his doctorate. At
the start of the academic year of nineteen o seven,
pound began work as a professor of Romance Languages at
Wabash Presbyterian College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. It's widely described that
Ezra had begun to affect a quote, Bohemian manner by
(02:15):
this time. The details of what exactly that meant are
not clear, but it is clear that his career in
academia didn't fit with his art and his lifestyle and
his work as a professor came to an end not
long after it began. Another version of this story suggests
that he lost his position after six months, after having
(02:37):
been accused of hosting a woman in his room overnight.
Other versions of this story suggests he just wasn't what
they were looking for. But in February of Nineteen O eight,
with eighty dollars in his pocket and the manuscript of
a book of poems that had been rejected by at
least one American publisher, he set off for Europe. When
(02:57):
pound arrived in London, he taught, lectured and published reviews.
That same year he self published his first book, a
collection of poems and titled a Loom Spento, translated by pound.
As with tapers quenched, he would go on to have
more than seventy books published in his lifetime. In nineteen
o nine, pound found the success as a writer that
(03:19):
he had been hoping for. He published three books. Personni
in nineteen o nine, exultations, also in nineteen o nine,
and in the spirit of romance, this last one a
book of critical essays based on lectures he had given
during his early days in London. wrote one reviewer. Quote
pound is that rare thing among modern poets, a scholar.
(03:43):
He was an American poet and critic, but pound had
no trouble finding work overseas. He became a foreign editor
of a handful of American literary magazines. In London. He
became friends with other influential writers and critics of the time,
including w Yates Ford, madox Ford, Percy Wyndham, Lewis and
(04:03):
James Joyce. He promoted and also occasionally edited the works
of many now famous poets and novelists, including Yates, Joyce
and Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost and D H Lawrence. It's
pounds revisions, guidance and heavy handed editing that shaped t
s Eliot's famous poem the waste land, which is regarded
(04:24):
today as one of the most important poems of the
twentieth century. Pound basically became involved in a whole lot
of literary activities. He was also co editor of blast,
the short lived literary magazine of a London based modernist
art movement known as Vorticism. Only two issues were published
before that magazine folded, though. He was the London editor
(04:47):
of the American Literary magazine Little Review and a Paris
correspondent for transcendentalist magazine the dial. He wrote numerous reviews
for a variety of publications, including new age magazine inspired
by British Socialist Organization called the Fabian Society, the EGOIST,
which was a London literary magazine that claimed to quote
(05:07):
recognize no taboos, and Poetry magazine. His friend and fellow poet,
T s Eliot would later note, of pound quote. During
a crucial decade in the history of modern literature, approximately
nineteen twelve to nineteen two, pound was the most influential
and in some ways the best critic in England or America.
(05:30):
Ezra also continued to publish collections of his own poetry,
including Lustra, which came out in nineteen sixteen, and homage
to sextus Propertius in nineteen nineteen. In nineteen twenty he
published the poem Hugh Selwyn Mobberly, which is considered a
turning point in his writing career. But it was in
nineteen fourteen when Ezra moved to Rapolo, Italy, where he
(05:53):
began writing the now famous poem the Kantos. For nearly
fifty years he focused on this encyclopedic narrative poem. It
is comprised of a hundred and sixteen sections, each of
which is a canto. In addition to the famous Kantos,
pound is best known for advancing a modernist movement in
(06:13):
English and American literature, a movement that he and others
called Imagism, which signaled a new literary direction in poetry.
The core idea of this movement was to stress clarity,
precision and economy of language in writing and to shed
the sentiment and narrative that had shaped Victorian and romantic poetry.
(06:34):
Writers were encouraged to forego traditional rhyme and meter in
order to in pounds words, quote, compose in the sequence
of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of the metronome.
His challenge to other artists was to quote, make it new.
Part of his direction consisted of maxims, including quote. Do
Not Retell in mediocre verse what has already been done
(06:56):
in good prose and quote. Use No superfluous word, no
adjective which does not reveal something. Imagesn't reflected similar changes
happening in other art forms at the time, most notably
with painting and the cubist movement. Pound may have been
the leader of a literary movement, but it's reported he
(07:17):
became quite frustrated he couldn't have total control over it.
We are going to take a break for a word
from our sponsor, and when we're back we will see
another side of Ezra pound to talk about. Welcome back
(07:44):
to Criminalia. Brace yourselves. The side of Ezra pound we're
going to talk about now is a side of hate
and ignorance, and it's what got him charged with treason.
You already have guessed as much, but heads up, we're
talking about some pretty volatile hate speech in this segment.
(08:07):
There is no denying Ezra pound's influence on American poetry,
but there is also no denying that Ezra pound was
a fascist and an anti semi and by the time
the Second World War began, he had grown to blame
the practice of usury, which he believed to be propagated
by a secret network of Jewish bankers, for all of
(08:27):
the evils afflicting the world. He strongly supported Benito Mussolini,
who he believed shared his economic views, and held private
audiences with the dictator during the war. He delivered pro
axis and Anti Jewish broadcasts four times a week between
nineteen and nine on shortwave radio aimed at America to
(08:51):
improve American sympathy for Italian fascism. In January nine. At
that time Italy had joined the war were but the
United States wouldn't. Until December that year, his calling card
quote Europe, calling pound, speaking as a pound speaking came
over the airwaves. Pound recorded more than one hundred shortwave
(09:13):
broadcasts from Rome, each criticizing United States President Franklin, D Roosevelt,
Roosevelt's family and the Jewish community. Pound warned the white
race was, quote, going towards total extinction. In one show,
he suggested hanging President Roosevelt, adding, quote, if you can
do it by do legal process. He praised Hitler's mind
(09:37):
COMP and urged his listeners to familiarize themselves with the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a widely distributed fabricated
anti Semitic text describing a Jewish plan for global domination.
He collaborated with Mussolini's fascist regime and he often parroted
fascist propaganda talking points on his show. Pound was paid
(10:02):
for his services urging America to stay out of the war.
Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, which is when
the United States did enter the war. He stated on
his show quote, America could have stayed out of the war.
If America had stayed neutral, the war would now be over.
For the United States to be making war on Italy
and on Europe is just plain damn nonsense, and for
(10:26):
this state of things, Franklin Roosevelt is, more than any other,
one man responsible. The broadcasts were transcribed by a United
States Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service listening station. Those transcriptions directly
led to his post war arrest in nine for treason.
(10:46):
It was in nineteen forty three when United States Attorney
General Francis Fiddle indicted pound and absentia for treason against
the United States. Treason is the only crime to find
in the United States Constitution, as we've talked about earlier
this season more than once, and it reads us. So
I'm going to remind us all. Treason against the United
(11:09):
States shall consist only in levying war against them or
in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or
on confession in open court. So there it is, and
we can move along. Pound answered the charge by writing
(11:33):
a letter to biddle, and we quote. I do not
believe that the simple fact of speaking over the radio
can in itself constitute treason. I think that must depend
on what is said. I obtained the concession to speak
over Rome radio with the following proviso, namely that nothing
should be asked to me contrary to my conscience or
(11:54):
contrary to my duties as an American citizen. I have
not spoken with regard to the SWAR, but in protest
against a system which creates one more after another. I
have not spoken to the troops and have not suggested
that the troops should mutiny or revolt. Pound was arrested
in Genoa, Italy, by the United States Army. The FBI
(12:17):
searched the residents where pound had been living when he
was arrested and removed more than seven thousand articles, letters
and other documents that were classified and then used as
evidence against him. Some versions of his arrest story suggest
he turned himself into American military officials, or maybe it
was that he went to Italian authorities to tell them
(12:39):
he had heard they were looking for him. Either way,
pound was arrested and two weeks after Nazi Germany surrendered
to the Allies. He was brought to the United States
Army Disciplinary Training Center north of Pisa, Italy. He would
be returned to the United States to sand trial, but
that would come later. We are going to take a
(12:59):
break here for a word from our sponsor, and when
we return we're going to talk about treason and the
insanity defense. Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about pounds trial,
(13:25):
and it may not be what you're expecting. In Pisa,
pound was placed in what we're known as the quote,
death cells, which were a series of six by six
FT outdoor steal cages lit by floodlights. It's reported that
engineers reinforced pounds cage with heavier steal than usual just
(13:46):
to keep out anyone trying to rescue him. During his
time there, he spent three weeks in isolation, sleeping on
the concrete. He was denied exercise and communication, except for
talks with a chaplain. After two and a half weeks,
it's reported that he began to break down under the stress.
Pound later said, quote, Ha, I was a dangerous criminal.
(14:10):
He continued, quote. They thought I was a dangerous wild
man and were scared of me. I had a guard
night and day, and when they built a cage out
of iron mats from airplane runways and put me in
the cage for the merriment of all, they posted a
guard outside. Soldiers used to come up to the cage
and look at me. Some of them brought me food.
(14:31):
Old As was a prize exhibit. It is in this
place where he actually produced one of his most famous works,
the Pison. Kantos pound was returned to the United States
and indicted for treason on November of the accusation he
betrayed his country. He stated it was a quote damn
(14:54):
fool idea and that he was, he insisted, trying to
save it. His insistence he was saving his country and
its constitution became part of the nine sentence report compiled
by a board of psychiatrists appointed by the court, three
for the government and one retained by pounds defense lawyer,
Julian Cornell. It was a statement that helped determine his fate,
(15:19):
but really not how he'd hoped. Included in their report,
they remarked on his quote uncertain living, his being quote
eccentric and his quote advancing years. They called him quote
abnormally grandiose, which actually we found many reports that backed
this description of pound as a larger than life character.
Outside the courtroom, one of the psychiatrists, Dr Wendell Munsey,
(15:44):
testified that, on the evidence of excerpts from the CONTOS
and pounds other writings, he judged that quote, there has
been for a number of years a deterioration of the
mental processes. The board's unanimous opinion was that the defendant
was quote, mentally unfit to advise properly with counsel or
to participate intelligibly in his own defense. Archibald McLeish, a
(16:09):
three time Pulitzer Prize winning writer and contemporary of pound,
said of the case. Quote, it is pretty clear that
poor old Ezra is quite quite Balmy. On the basis
of the testimony from the board, he was ruled unfit
to stand trial. In December of n sixty year old
pound was committed to St Elizabeth's Psychiatric Hospital in Washington
(16:31):
D C, where, it was ordered he would receive treatment
until he might become mentally competent to stand trial. If
he had been fit to stand trial and was convicted,
pound would have likely faced the death penalty for the
first thirteen months of his confinement, pound was held at
Howard Hall, the hospital's maximum security ward, an area enclosed
(16:53):
by a twenty two FT concrete perimeter wall used to
house the quote, violent and criminally insane of his situation.
Pound later said quote. I met a very pleasant chat.
We had many interesting conversations. He seemed no crazier than I.
When I found out that he had been committed for
killing his wife, I reconsidered my position. In early ninety seven,
(17:18):
pound was moved to what was known as center building.
It was a less fortified area and those there were
granted more leeway in receiving visitors, and a lot of
people wanted to see him, from his longtime friends to
young poets who just wanted to meet him. Then something
a bit out of the ordinary happened that drew a
(17:39):
lot of attention to Ezra during his confinement. In Ninety nine,
pound was awarded the Bull Engine Prize. The jury, interested
in recognizing his enormous poetic achievements and influence, overlooked his
political agenda and treason trial and bestowed the literary honor
upon him for the poison Kanto's work that the prestigious
(18:02):
prize was given to a fascist who was being held
for treason against America, triggered a pretty major controversy, not
just among the literary crowd but also in Congress. The
bull engine prize at the time was awarded by the
Library of Congress. Congressman Jacob K Javits of New York wrote, quote,
after having read the editorial treason's strange fruit, I am
(18:26):
particularly concerned about the awarding of the Bull Engin Library
of Congress award of one thousand dollars to Ezra pound.
I would very much appreciate learning how the fellows who
make this award were chosen, who they are and the
basis of their selection. Another congressman, James T Patterson of Connecticut,
addressed the House regarding the award recipient, stating, quote. Should
(18:50):
we encourage the activities in literature of moral lepers? Javits
called for an investigation, saying, quote. Must we not be
equally diligent to investigate the infiltration of fascist ideas, especially
in so August and institution as the Library of Congress?
The matter went before the Congressional Joint Committee on the
(19:11):
Library of Congress, whose chairman was Senator Theodore F Green
of Rhode Island. The committee did not convene to investigate anything,
not really. What they wanted was a resolution to the problem,
and quickly it was decided that the library of Congress
would abstain from giving prizes or awards. Senator Green told
(19:31):
the press, quote, I think it is a bad policy
for the government to give prizes and awards, especially in
matters of taste. For those curious, because you may know
that this prize still exists, the bull engine prizes now
awarded through the Yale University Library. No one questioned whether
or not the work was suitable for the award. It
(19:53):
was generally agreed yes, yes, it was. It was about pound,
his politics and his acts against the United States. Ernest
Hemingway wrote of the poem quote. The best of pounds writing,
and it is in the contents, will last as long
as there is any literature. But, as Luther H Evans
of the Library of Congress later observed, quote, the award
(20:17):
possessed that bizarre quality that makes news. Along with excited
reports and dignant editorials appeared in the press. Teasing out
the artist from the fascist and anti semi proved difficult
for some who had come to love his poetry and
followed his literary movement. The New York Times reacted to
pound receiving the award with this headline, quote. Pound in
(20:40):
Mental Clinic Wins Prize for poetry penned and treason cell.
An editorial in The New York Herald Tribune stated, quote.
This emphasis on an objective criterion of beauty and excellence,
akin to belief in an objective truth, is fundamental to
a free and rational society. In maintaining it, the judges
acted in the only way that is open to men
(21:02):
who are sensitive to a later verdict of history. In
that same edition of the Tribune, though, poet and critic
Lewis under Meyer called the Pison Kantos quote a rag
bag and tail end of pound at his worst. It
shows a very disordered mind, one affected by the seeds
of Fascism pullets. Her prizewinning poet, Robert Hillier, thought the
(21:25):
award quote regrettable. For aesthetic rather than political reasons, he
continued quote. I never saw anything to admire, not one
line in pound. Poet Robert Frost called pound quote possibly
crazy but more likely criminal. Pound, upon being told he
had won this prize, prepared a statement for the press.
(21:47):
No comment from the Bug House, that was his nickname
for St Elizabeth's, but then he decided not to release
that statement. Eventually, while at St Elizabeth's, pound was granted
permission to spend time out on the grounds, where he
would lecture two groups of eager young poets who called
themselves the asrologists. Author Daniel Swift describes this in his
(22:10):
book the Bug House, the poetry, politics and madness of
Ezra pound as, quote, the world's least Orthodox Literary Salon
convened by a Fascist held in a lunatic asylum. Fellow
poets and authors rallied around Ezra Pound and, please for
his freedom, kept a constant awareness of his situation. In
(22:30):
the new directions booklet of tributes to pound that was
written for his birthday, Ernest Hemingway wrote, quote. Will Gladly
pay tribute to Ezra but what I would like to
do is get him the hell out of St Elizabeth's,
have him given a passport and allow him to return
to Italy, where he has justly valued as a poet.
I believe he made bad mistakes in the war and
(22:51):
continuing to broadcast for that Sad Mussolini. After we were
fighting him, but I also believe that he has paid
for them in full and has continued finement is a
cruel and unusual punishment. Playwright Arthur Miller took a different stance, writing, quote,
a greater calamity cannot befall the art than that Ezra pound,
(23:11):
the Mussolini mouthpiece, should be welcomed back as an arbiter
of American letters. There are a few versions of the
story of his release. The popular version is that pounds
release happened because of a kind of unofficial pardon after
a long running campaign on behalf of his fellow writers
and artists, including prominent names like Franklin, right, Igor Stravinsky,
(23:34):
William Carlos Williams and Hemingway. After he won the Nobel
Prize in literature in Nineteen fifty four, Hemingway referred to
pound in his speech, saying, quote, this would be a
good year to release poets. Pound was a leading figure
in a prominent and important literary movement and those who
followed him, it seems, did so despite his sins. On
(23:59):
April Eighteenth, United States Federal District Court Judge Belietha laws,
who coincidentally, oversaw pounds treason trial as well dismissed the
indictment for treason that had been lodged more than a
decade prior against Ezra. His immediate released from St Elizabeth
after thirteen years was ordered. He was released in May,
(24:22):
and the United States Justice Department did not oppose the
motion permitting pound to promptly sail for Italy, the country
that he considered his home. He lived in Venice until
his death on November one nineteen seventy two. What I
can say about pound is what a ride with this
guy right. He's a complicated dude for this perfecty poor
(24:51):
I wanted to do something extra delicious because there is
this thing where it is hard to read about people
who are often lauded as really great eats and discover
that they were in some ways train wrecks or that
they just did they had a very stupid bad view
on something, when you otherwise consider them kind of a genius.
(25:12):
It's problematic. So I wanted to make something that was
very delicious to help take that edge off, and I
also started thinking about literary cocktails. Have you ever had
a drink called the last word? Okay, no, but I
have a love where you're going here. Because years ago
my father sent me a book. That's basically the title
(25:33):
of the book. It's like dinners from famous literary works
and cocktails. So the last word is a cocktail that's
quite old. It predates prohibition, so it was around in
the nineteen teens, and it is usually made in the
following way. Three quarters of announce of dry GIN, three
quarters of announce of Maraschino liqueur, the Italian pronunciation, since
(25:56):
it's Ezra, is Mariskino, so we'll go with that. Three
quarters of announce of green chartreuse and three quarters ann
ounce of fresh lime juice. This is a delicious cocktown.
We are not doing quite this one for today because
we want to tweak it and make it as Ra's words.
I wanted to make it even a little sweeter. I
(26:19):
love Chartreuse to a dangerous degree. However, that's kind of
an expensive spirit to keep on hand if you only
use it from time to time. Absolutely yeah, and it's
also one that not everybody can get locally super easily. Some,
not all, liquor stores are going to carry chartreuse, so
I wanted to do a twist on this that includes
(26:39):
the basics but subs out that chartreuse for another delicious
thing that we have had on the show enough times
the people that follow along probably have it, and even
if you don't, it's pretty easy to get so for
Ezra's which we are calling Ezra's words instead of the
last word, because Ezra's words were a mixed bag. And
while I don't normally like Jim I'm learning to of
(27:00):
it and I love this cocktail so so. This one
is three quarters of Ann Ounce of dry gin, three
quarters of an ounce of Mariskino liqueur, you're gonna keep that,
three quarters of announce of fresh lime juice and, instead
of the Chartreuse, three quarters of an ounce of elder
flower liqueur. Come on, shake a shake it again, pour
(27:23):
it into a chilled glass. We've done a few of
those lately. This is such a beautiful sip. The Mariskuino
and the elder flower are both pretty sweet, but because
the dry gin is not at all to me, it
doesn't feel very cloying Lee sweet. Depending on your tolerance
for sweet drinks, you might find it very sweet. You
can always up the lime juice to help counter that
as well, if you wanted to. I love this drink
(27:48):
and love it like I said, it's just super yummy
and I like it because it's not a huge drink.
We recently did the Sydney Riley, which that is a
lot of spirit, and this has a lot of spirit,
but it doesn't feel quite so dangerous as it's not
as many ounces. The mocktail for this is another one
where we got a step completely away, because everything in
(28:09):
this except the lime juice is an alcohol. So for
the mock tail you're going to use, say, measurements three
quarters of announce of everything, which I love because that
also keeps it simple. If you want to also throttle
up or down on your volume, you don't have to
do any mass you just match all of your measures.
So for this you're gonna do Ginger Beer for one
of them, Cherry Syrup, for one of them, elder flower
(28:32):
syrup and lime juice. The reason I went with ginger
beer is because it does have that kind of cutting.
I would go with a very bity ginger beer because
it's gonna help counter the sweetness of two kinds of syrups.
That sounds like a delicious mocktail. Yeah, again, you can
throttle up your lime juice if you want. You can
increase the amount of ginger beer if you want it
even like a softer sweetness, just very refreshing. This one
(28:56):
is like the one that I want to carry around
over ice, like all day long. It'll like a garden party.
It is sweet and Yummy and it's I don't know.
It just makes me think of things that are far
more delightful than anyone committing treason and then claiming that
they didn't commit treason because clearly they don't understand the
definition of treason. Oh, I said that out loud. I
(29:17):
don't think you understand what the maybe read the definition
in the constitution. You didn't. You did exactly what it said.
I said. Terrible thing you did. You did support an enemy.
You did anyway. So that is as risk words both
sweet and sour and some way, but they come out
(29:39):
delicious in this instance, which would be a way better
legacy if it were me, I would think, than some
of the foolish things that Ezra pound did. The EGO
is a wild thing. You can make you believe that
you are right, even when all evidence says otherwise, even
when your train is on the very wrong track. That's
that's my Harry on. As rebound, we hope that if
(30:02):
you make this you enjoy sipping it, whether it be
it's alcoholic or non alcoholic version, and we also want
to thank you for spending this time with us and
we hope that we have you back again next week
for more discussion of history's crimes. And I promise they're
always going to be more drinks. CRIMINALIA is a production
(30:28):
of Shonda land audio in partnership with I heart radio.
For more podcasts from Shonda Land Audio, please visit the
I heart radio APP, apple podcasts or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows,
Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shonda land audio in
partnership with I heart radiom. Ezra pound was an American
expat poet and intellectual who was a major figure of
the modernist literary movement in the Early To mid twentieth century.
(00:24):
He was also a fascist collaborator and anti semi who
was arrested for treason against the United States where his
radio broadcasts during the Second World War. Welcome to Criminalia.
I'm Maria Tremarqui and I'm holly FRY. Ezra Weston loomas
pound was born on October in the small town of Hailey, Idaho.
(00:49):
He was the only child of homer loomas pound, of
Federal Land Office official, and Isabel Weston. When Ezra was
only a few years old, the family moved east and
in June of eighteen eighty nine, following homer's appointment to
the United States Mint in Philadelphia, they settled in nearby Wincote, Pennsylvania.
It said that Ezra was eleven when he published his
(01:11):
first poem, Elmer. At the age of fifteen he told
his parents he wanted to be a poet. Ezra attended
Cheltenham Military Academy just outside Philadelphia. He went on to
attend the University of Pennsylvania for two years, from nineteen
o one to nineteen o three, and it's there where
he met the now famous poet William Carlos Williams, who
(01:33):
became a lifelong friend. He graduated with a degree in
philosophy from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in nineteen
o five, the four returning to the University of Pennsylvania
for Graduate School. He immersed himself in English literature and
Grammar and studied Latin Greek, French, Italian, German Spanish. He
received his masters in June of nineteen O six, but
(01:55):
withdrew from the university while working towards his doctorate. At
the start of the academic year of nineteen o seven,
pound began work as a professor of Romance Languages at
Wabash Presbyterian College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. It's widely described that
Ezra had begun to affect a quote, Bohemian manner by
(02:15):
this time. The details of what exactly that meant are
not clear, but it is clear that his career in
academia didn't fit with his art and his lifestyle and
his work as a professor came to an end not
long after it began. Another version of this story suggests
that he lost his position after six months, after having
(02:37):
been accused of hosting a woman in his room overnight.
Other versions of this story suggests he just wasn't what
they were looking for. But in February of Nineteen O eight,
with eighty dollars in his pocket and the manuscript of
a book of poems that had been rejected by at
least one American publisher, he set off for Europe. When
(02:57):
pound arrived in London, he taught, lectured and published reviews.
That same year he self published his first book, a
collection of poems and titled a Loom Spento, translated by pound.
As with tapers quenched, he would go on to have
more than seventy books published in his lifetime. In nineteen
o nine, pound found the success as a writer that
(03:19):
he had been hoping for. He published three books. Personni
in nineteen o nine, exultations, also in nineteen o nine,
and in the spirit of romance, this last one a
book of critical essays based on lectures he had given
during his early days in London. wrote one reviewer. Quote
pound is that rare thing among modern poets, a scholar.
(03:43):
He was an American poet and critic, but pound had
no trouble finding work overseas. He became a foreign editor
of a handful of American literary magazines. In London. He
became friends with other influential writers and critics of the time,
including w Yates Ford, madox Ford, Percy Wyndham, Lewis and
(04:03):
James Joyce. He promoted and also occasionally edited the works
of many now famous poets and novelists, including Yates, Joyce
and Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost and D H Lawrence. It's
pounds revisions, guidance and heavy handed editing that shaped t
s Eliot's famous poem the waste land, which is regarded
(04:24):
today as one of the most important poems of the
twentieth century. Pound basically became involved in a whole lot
of literary activities. He was also co editor of blast,
the short lived literary magazine of a London based modernist
art movement known as Vorticism. Only two issues were published
before that magazine folded, though. He was the London editor
(04:47):
of the American Literary magazine Little Review and a Paris
correspondent for transcendentalist magazine the dial. He wrote numerous reviews
for a variety of publications, including new age magazine inspired
by British Socialist Organization called the Fabian Society, the EGOIST,
which was a London literary magazine that claimed to quote
(05:07):
recognize no taboos, and Poetry magazine. His friend and fellow poet,
T s Eliot would later note, of pound quote. During
a crucial decade in the history of modern literature, approximately
nineteen twelve to nineteen two, pound was the most influential
and in some ways the best critic in England or America.
(05:30):
Ezra also continued to publish collections of his own poetry,
including Lustra, which came out in nineteen sixteen, and homage
to sextus Propertius in nineteen nineteen. In nineteen twenty he
published the poem Hugh Selwyn Mobberly, which is considered a
turning point in his writing career. But it was in
nineteen fourteen when Ezra moved to Rapolo, Italy, where he
(05:53):
began writing the now famous poem the Kantos. For nearly
fifty years he focused on this encyclopedic narrative poem. It
is comprised of a hundred and sixteen sections, each of
which is a canto. In addition to the famous Kantos,
pound is best known for advancing a modernist movement in
(06:13):
English and American literature, a movement that he and others
called Imagism, which signaled a new literary direction in poetry.
The core idea of this movement was to stress clarity,
precision and economy of language in writing and to shed
the sentiment and narrative that had shaped Victorian and romantic poetry.
(06:34):
Writers were encouraged to forego traditional rhyme and meter in
order to in pounds words, quote, compose in the sequence
of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of the metronome.
His challenge to other artists was to quote, make it new.
Part of his direction consisted of maxims, including quote. Do
Not Retell in mediocre verse what has already been done
(06:56):
in good prose and quote. Use No superfluous word, no
adjective which does not reveal something. Imagesn't reflected similar changes
happening in other art forms at the time, most notably
with painting and the cubist movement. Pound may have been
the leader of a literary movement, but it's reported he
(07:17):
became quite frustrated he couldn't have total control over it.
We are going to take a break for a word
from our sponsor, and when we're back we will see
another side of Ezra pound to talk about. Welcome back
(07:44):
to Criminalia. Brace yourselves. The side of Ezra pound we're
going to talk about now is a side of hate
and ignorance, and it's what got him charged with treason.
You already have guessed as much, but heads up, we're
talking about some pretty volatile hate speech in this segment.
(08:07):
There is no denying Ezra pound's influence on American poetry,
but there is also no denying that Ezra pound was
a fascist and an anti semi and by the time
the Second World War began, he had grown to blame
the practice of usury, which he believed to be propagated
by a secret network of Jewish bankers, for all of
(08:27):
the evils afflicting the world. He strongly supported Benito Mussolini,
who he believed shared his economic views, and held private
audiences with the dictator during the war. He delivered pro
axis and Anti Jewish broadcasts four times a week between
nineteen and nine on shortwave radio aimed at America to
(08:51):
improve American sympathy for Italian fascism. In January nine. At
that time Italy had joined the war were but the
United States wouldn't. Until December that year, his calling card
quote Europe, calling pound, speaking as a pound speaking came
over the airwaves. Pound recorded more than one hundred shortwave
(09:13):
broadcasts from Rome, each criticizing United States President Franklin, D Roosevelt,
Roosevelt's family and the Jewish community. Pound warned the white
race was, quote, going towards total extinction. In one show,
he suggested hanging President Roosevelt, adding, quote, if you can
do it by do legal process. He praised Hitler's mind
(09:37):
COMP and urged his listeners to familiarize themselves with the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a widely distributed fabricated
anti Semitic text describing a Jewish plan for global domination.
He collaborated with Mussolini's fascist regime and he often parroted
fascist propaganda talking points on his show. Pound was paid
(10:02):
for his services urging America to stay out of the war.
Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, which is when
the United States did enter the war. He stated on
his show quote, America could have stayed out of the war.
If America had stayed neutral, the war would now be over.
For the United States to be making war on Italy
and on Europe is just plain damn nonsense, and for
(10:26):
this state of things, Franklin Roosevelt is, more than any other,
one man responsible. The broadcasts were transcribed by a United
States Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service listening station. Those transcriptions directly
led to his post war arrest in nine for treason.
(10:46):
It was in nineteen forty three when United States Attorney
General Francis Fiddle indicted pound and absentia for treason against
the United States. Treason is the only crime to find
in the United States Constitution, as we've talked about earlier
this season more than once, and it reads us. So
I'm going to remind us all. Treason against the United
(11:09):
States shall consist only in levying war against them or
in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or
on confession in open court. So there it is, and
we can move along. Pound answered the charge by writing
(11:33):
a letter to biddle, and we quote. I do not
believe that the simple fact of speaking over the radio
can in itself constitute treason. I think that must depend
on what is said. I obtained the concession to speak
over Rome radio with the following proviso, namely that nothing
should be asked to me contrary to my conscience or
(11:54):
contrary to my duties as an American citizen. I have
not spoken with regard to the SWAR, but in protest
against a system which creates one more after another. I
have not spoken to the troops and have not suggested
that the troops should mutiny or revolt. Pound was arrested
in Genoa, Italy, by the United States Army. The FBI
(12:17):
searched the residents where pound had been living when he
was arrested and removed more than seven thousand articles, letters
and other documents that were classified and then used as
evidence against him. Some versions of his arrest story suggest
he turned himself into American military officials, or maybe it
was that he went to Italian authorities to tell them
(12:39):
he had heard they were looking for him. Either way,
pound was arrested and two weeks after Nazi Germany surrendered
to the Allies. He was brought to the United States
Army Disciplinary Training Center north of Pisa, Italy. He would
be returned to the United States to sand trial, but
that would come later. We are going to take a
(12:59):
break here for a word from our sponsor, and when
we return we're going to talk about treason and the
insanity defense. Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about pounds trial,
(13:25):
and it may not be what you're expecting. In Pisa,
pound was placed in what we're known as the quote,
death cells, which were a series of six by six
FT outdoor steal cages lit by floodlights. It's reported that
engineers reinforced pounds cage with heavier steal than usual just
(13:46):
to keep out anyone trying to rescue him. During his
time there, he spent three weeks in isolation, sleeping on
the concrete. He was denied exercise and communication, except for
talks with a chaplain. After two and a half weeks,
it's reported that he began to break down under the stress.
Pound later said, quote, Ha, I was a dangerous criminal.
(14:10):
He continued, quote. They thought I was a dangerous wild
man and were scared of me. I had a guard
night and day, and when they built a cage out
of iron mats from airplane runways and put me in
the cage for the merriment of all, they posted a
guard outside. Soldiers used to come up to the cage
and look at me. Some of them brought me food.
(14:31):
Old As was a prize exhibit. It is in this
place where he actually produced one of his most famous works,
the Pison. Kantos pound was returned to the United States
and indicted for treason on November of the accusation he
betrayed his country. He stated it was a quote damn
(14:54):
fool idea and that he was, he insisted, trying to
save it. His insistence he was saving his country and
its constitution became part of the nine sentence report compiled
by a board of psychiatrists appointed by the court, three
for the government and one retained by pounds defense lawyer,
Julian Cornell. It was a statement that helped determine his fate,
(15:19):
but really not how he'd hoped. Included in their report,
they remarked on his quote uncertain living, his being quote
eccentric and his quote advancing years. They called him quote
abnormally grandiose, which actually we found many reports that backed
this description of pound as a larger than life character.
Outside the courtroom, one of the psychiatrists, Dr Wendell Munsey,
(15:44):
testified that, on the evidence of excerpts from the CONTOS
and pounds other writings, he judged that quote, there has
been for a number of years a deterioration of the
mental processes. The board's unanimous opinion was that the defendant
was quote, mentally unfit to advise properly with counsel or
to participate intelligibly in his own defense. Archibald McLeish, a
(16:09):
three time Pulitzer Prize winning writer and contemporary of pound,
said of the case. Quote, it is pretty clear that
poor old Ezra is quite quite Balmy. On the basis
of the testimony from the board, he was ruled unfit
to stand trial. In December of n sixty year old
pound was committed to St Elizabeth's Psychiatric Hospital in Washington
(16:31):
D C, where, it was ordered he would receive treatment
until he might become mentally competent to stand trial. If
he had been fit to stand trial and was convicted,
pound would have likely faced the death penalty for the
first thirteen months of his confinement, pound was held at
Howard Hall, the hospital's maximum security ward, an area enclosed
(16:53):
by a twenty two FT concrete perimeter wall used to
house the quote, violent and criminally insane of his situation.
Pound later said quote. I met a very pleasant chat.
We had many interesting conversations. He seemed no crazier than I.
When I found out that he had been committed for
killing his wife, I reconsidered my position. In early ninety seven,
(17:18):
pound was moved to what was known as center building.
It was a less fortified area and those there were
granted more leeway in receiving visitors, and a lot of
people wanted to see him, from his longtime friends to
young poets who just wanted to meet him. Then something
a bit out of the ordinary happened that drew a
(17:39):
lot of attention to Ezra during his confinement. In Ninety nine,
pound was awarded the Bull Engine Prize. The jury, interested
in recognizing his enormous poetic achievements and influence, overlooked his
political agenda and treason trial and bestowed the literary honor
upon him for the poison Kanto's work that the prestigious
(18:02):
prize was given to a fascist who was being held
for treason against America, triggered a pretty major controversy, not
just among the literary crowd but also in Congress. The
bull engine prize at the time was awarded by the
Library of Congress. Congressman Jacob K Javits of New York wrote, quote,
after having read the editorial treason's strange fruit, I am
(18:26):
particularly concerned about the awarding of the Bull Engin Library
of Congress award of one thousand dollars to Ezra pound.
I would very much appreciate learning how the fellows who
make this award were chosen, who they are and the
basis of their selection. Another congressman, James T Patterson of Connecticut,
addressed the House regarding the award recipient, stating, quote. Should
(18:50):
we encourage the activities in literature of moral lepers? Javits
called for an investigation, saying, quote. Must we not be
equally diligent to investigate the infiltration of fascist ideas, especially
in so August and institution as the Library of Congress?
The matter went before the Congressional Joint Committee on the
(19:11):
Library of Congress, whose chairman was Senator Theodore F Green
of Rhode Island. The committee did not convene to investigate anything,
not really. What they wanted was a resolution to the problem,
and quickly it was decided that the library of Congress
would abstain from giving prizes or awards. Senator Green told
(19:31):
the press, quote, I think it is a bad policy
for the government to give prizes and awards, especially in
matters of taste. For those curious, because you may know
that this prize still exists, the bull engine prizes now
awarded through the Yale University Library. No one questioned whether
or not the work was suitable for the award. It
(19:53):
was generally agreed yes, yes, it was. It was about pound,
his politics and his acts against the United States. Ernest
Hemingway wrote of the poem quote. The best of pounds writing,
and it is in the contents, will last as long
as there is any literature. But, as Luther H Evans
of the Library of Congress later observed, quote, the award
(20:17):
possessed that bizarre quality that makes news. Along with excited
reports and dignant editorials appeared in the press. Teasing out
the artist from the fascist and anti semi proved difficult
for some who had come to love his poetry and
followed his literary movement. The New York Times reacted to
pound receiving the award with this headline, quote. Pound in
(20:40):
Mental Clinic Wins Prize for poetry penned and treason cell.
An editorial in The New York Herald Tribune stated, quote.
This emphasis on an objective criterion of beauty and excellence,
akin to belief in an objective truth, is fundamental to
a free and rational society. In maintaining it, the judges
acted in the only way that is open to men
(21:02):
who are sensitive to a later verdict of history. In
that same edition of the Tribune, though, poet and critic
Lewis under Meyer called the Pison Kantos quote a rag
bag and tail end of pound at his worst. It
shows a very disordered mind, one affected by the seeds
of Fascism pullets. Her prizewinning poet, Robert Hillier, thought the
(21:25):
award quote regrettable. For aesthetic rather than political reasons, he
continued quote. I never saw anything to admire, not one
line in pound. Poet Robert Frost called pound quote possibly
crazy but more likely criminal. Pound, upon being told he
had won this prize, prepared a statement for the press.
(21:47):
No comment from the Bug House, that was his nickname
for St Elizabeth's, but then he decided not to release
that statement. Eventually, while at St Elizabeth's, pound was granted
permission to spend time out on the grounds, where he
would lecture two groups of eager young poets who called
themselves the asrologists. Author Daniel Swift describes this in his
(22:10):
book the Bug House, the poetry, politics and madness of
Ezra pound as, quote, the world's least Orthodox Literary Salon
convened by a Fascist held in a lunatic asylum. Fellow
poets and authors rallied around Ezra Pound and, please for
his freedom, kept a constant awareness of his situation. In
(22:30):
the new directions booklet of tributes to pound that was
written for his birthday, Ernest Hemingway wrote, quote. Will Gladly
pay tribute to Ezra but what I would like to
do is get him the hell out of St Elizabeth's,
have him given a passport and allow him to return
to Italy, where he has justly valued as a poet.
I believe he made bad mistakes in the war and
(22:51):
continuing to broadcast for that Sad Mussolini. After we were
fighting him, but I also believe that he has paid
for them in full and has continued finement is a
cruel and unusual punishment. Playwright Arthur Miller took a different stance, writing, quote,
a greater calamity cannot befall the art than that Ezra pound,
(23:11):
the Mussolini mouthpiece, should be welcomed back as an arbiter
of American letters. There are a few versions of the
story of his release. The popular version is that pounds
release happened because of a kind of unofficial pardon after
a long running campaign on behalf of his fellow writers
and artists, including prominent names like Franklin, right, Igor Stravinsky,
(23:34):
William Carlos Williams and Hemingway. After he won the Nobel
Prize in literature in Nineteen fifty four, Hemingway referred to
pound in his speech, saying, quote, this would be a
good year to release poets. Pound was a leading figure
in a prominent and important literary movement and those who
followed him, it seems, did so despite his sins. On
(23:59):
April Eighteenth, United States Federal District Court Judge Belietha laws,
who coincidentally, oversaw pounds treason trial as well dismissed the
indictment for treason that had been lodged more than a
decade prior against Ezra. His immediate released from St Elizabeth
after thirteen years was ordered. He was released in May,
(24:22):
and the United States Justice Department did not oppose the
motion permitting pound to promptly sail for Italy, the country
that he considered his home. He lived in Venice until
his death on November one nineteen seventy two. What I
can say about pound is what a ride with this
guy right. He's a complicated dude for this perfecty poor
(24:51):
I wanted to do something extra delicious because there is
this thing where it is hard to read about people
who are often lauded as really great eats and discover
that they were in some ways train wrecks or that
they just did they had a very stupid bad view
on something, when you otherwise consider them kind of a genius.
(25:12):
It's problematic. So I wanted to make something that was
very delicious to help take that edge off, and I
also started thinking about literary cocktails. Have you ever had
a drink called the last word? Okay, no, but I
have a love where you're going here. Because years ago
my father sent me a book. That's basically the title
(25:33):
of the book. It's like dinners from famous literary works
and cocktails. So the last word is a cocktail that's
quite old. It predates prohibition, so it was around in
the nineteen teens, and it is usually made in the
following way. Three quarters of announce of dry GIN, three
quarters of announce of Maraschino liqueur, the Italian pronunciation, since
(25:56):
it's Ezra, is Mariskino, so we'll go with that. Three
quarters of announce of green chartreuse and three quarters ann
ounce of fresh lime juice. This is a delicious cocktown.
We are not doing quite this one for today because
we want to tweak it and make it as Ra's words.
I wanted to make it even a little sweeter. I
(26:19):
love Chartreuse to a dangerous degree. However, that's kind of
an expensive spirit to keep on hand if you only
use it from time to time. Absolutely yeah, and it's
also one that not everybody can get locally super easily. Some,
not all, liquor stores are going to carry chartreuse, so
I wanted to do a twist on this that includes
(26:39):
the basics but subs out that chartreuse for another delicious
thing that we have had on the show enough times
the people that follow along probably have it, and even
if you don't, it's pretty easy to get so for
Ezra's which we are calling Ezra's words instead of the
last word, because Ezra's words were a mixed bag. And
while I don't normally like Jim I'm learning to of
(27:00):
it and I love this cocktail so so. This one
is three quarters of Ann Ounce of dry gin, three
quarters of an ounce of Mariskino liqueur, you're gonna keep that,
three quarters of announce of fresh lime juice and, instead
of the Chartreuse, three quarters of an ounce of elder
flower liqueur. Come on, shake a shake it again, pour
(27:23):
it into a chilled glass. We've done a few of
those lately. This is such a beautiful sip. The Mariskuino
and the elder flower are both pretty sweet, but because
the dry gin is not at all to me, it
doesn't feel very cloying Lee sweet. Depending on your tolerance
for sweet drinks, you might find it very sweet. You
can always up the lime juice to help counter that
as well, if you wanted to. I love this drink
(27:48):
and love it like I said, it's just super yummy
and I like it because it's not a huge drink.
We recently did the Sydney Riley, which that is a
lot of spirit, and this has a lot of spirit,
but it doesn't feel quite so dangerous as it's not
as many ounces. The mocktail for this is another one
where we got a step completely away, because everything in
(28:09):
this except the lime juice is an alcohol. So for
the mock tail you're going to use, say, measurements three
quarters of announce of everything, which I love because that
also keeps it simple. If you want to also throttle
up or down on your volume, you don't have to
do any mass you just match all of your measures.
So for this you're gonna do Ginger Beer for one
of them, Cherry Syrup, for one of them, elder flower
(28:32):
syrup and lime juice. The reason I went with ginger
beer is because it does have that kind of cutting.
I would go with a very bity ginger beer because
it's gonna help counter the sweetness of two kinds of syrups.
That sounds like a delicious mocktail. Yeah, again, you can
throttle up your lime juice if you want. You can
increase the amount of ginger beer if you want it
even like a softer sweetness, just very refreshing. This one
(28:56):
is like the one that I want to carry around
over ice, like all day long. It'll like a garden party.
It is sweet and Yummy and it's I don't know.
It just makes me think of things that are far
more delightful than anyone committing treason and then claiming that
they didn't commit treason because clearly they don't understand the
definition of treason. Oh, I said that out loud. I
(29:17):
don't think you understand what the maybe read the definition
in the constitution. You didn't. You did exactly what it said.
I said. Terrible thing you did. You did support an enemy.
You did anyway. So that is as risk words both
sweet and sour and some way, but they come out
(29:39):
delicious in this instance, which would be a way better
legacy if it were me, I would think, than some
of the foolish things that Ezra pound did. The EGO
is a wild thing. You can make you believe that
you are right, even when all evidence says otherwise, even
when your train is on the very wrong track. That's
that's my Harry on. As rebound, we hope that if
(30:02):
you make this you enjoy sipping it, whether it be
it's alcoholic or non alcoholic version, and we also want
to thank you for spending this time with us and
we hope that we have you back again next week
for more discussion of history's crimes. And I promise they're
always going to be more drinks. CRIMINALIA is a production
(30:28):
of Shonda land audio in partnership with I heart radio.
For more podcasts from Shonda Land Audio, please visit the
I heart radio APP, apple podcasts or wherever you listen
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