Personae: The Shorter Poems (Revised Edition) [Paperback]

Ezra Pound (Author), Lea Baechler (Editor), A. Walton Litz (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 1990

A new edition of Pound's groundbreaking shorter poems.

If the invention of literary modernism is usually attributed to James Joyce, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, it was Pound alone who provided (in Hugh Kenner's words) "the synergetic presence") to convert individual experiment into an international movement. In 1926 Pound carefully sculpted his body of shorter poems into a definitive collection which would best show the concentration of force, the economy of means, and the habit of analysis that were, to him, the hallmarks of the new style.This collection, where Pound presented himself in a variety of characters or "masks," was called Personae. In 1926, Personae's publication gave solidity to a movement today the work stands as one of the classic texts of the twentieth century. Pound scholars Lea Baechler (of Columbia) and A. Walton Litz (Holmes Professor of English Literature at Princeton) have prepared a corrected text and supplied an informative "Note on the Text" explaining both Pound's original criteria for his selection and the volume's subsequent history.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Known for his delicate perception as well as his passionate opinions, Ezra Pound published this, his first collection of poetry, in 1926. Pound was as much a diviner as he was a poet, and his writing is as much observation and experience as it is prophecy. He was especially drawn to beauty and his writing extols the magnificence of profound emotion and the beguiling wonderment of intellect. From translations and reconstructions of pieces of ancient literature to his own postulations on art, love, and life, this is a worthy addition to any personal library. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Homage To Quintus Septimius Florentis Christianus: Troy
Homage To Quintus Septimius Florentis Christianus (1)
Homage To Quintus Septimius Florentis Christianus (2)
Rome
'dompna Pois De Me No'us Cal'
Die Heimkehr: 1
Die Heimkehr: 2
Die Heimkehr: 3
Die Heimkehr: 5
Die Heimkehr: 6
Die Heimkehr: 7. Song From 'die Harzreise'
Die Heimkehr: 8. Night Song
Above The Dock
Autumn
Conversion
The Embankment (the Fantasia Of A Fallen Gentleman On A Cold Night)
Mana Aboda
Her Monument, The Image Cut Thereon
The City Of Choan
Exile's Letter
The Jewel Stairs' Grievance
Lament Of The Frontier Guard
Leave-taking Near Shoku
Light Rain Is On The Light Dust
Poem By The Bridge At Ten-shin
The River Song
The River-merchant's Wife: A Letter
Separation On The River Kiang
Taking Leave Of A Friend
The Beautiful Toilet
Dieu! Qu'il La Fait
Homage To Quintus Septimius Florentis Christianus
Homage To Quintus Septimius Florentis Christianus (2)
1915: February
Abu Salammamm - A Song Of Empire
After Ch'u Yuan
Alba
Albatre
The Alchemist
The Altar
Amities
Ancient Music
Ancient Wisdom, Rather Cosmic
Ancora
And Thus In Nineveh
Apparuit
April
Arides
Au Jardin
Au Salon
Ballad Of The Goodly Fere
A Ballad Of The Mulberry Road
Ballatetta
The Bath Tub
Before Sleep
The Bellaires
Black Slippers: Bellotti
Blandula, Tenulla, Vagula
Cantico Del Sole
Canto 1 (1917)
Canto 2 (1917)
Canto 3 (1917)
Cantus Planus
Causa
Cino; Italian Campagna 1309, The Open Road
The Cloak
Coda
Coitus
Come My Cantilations
The Coming Of War: Actaeon
Commission
The Condolence
Dance Figure; For The Marriage In Cana Of Galilee
Dans Un Omnibus De Londres
De Aegypto
Doria
Dum Capitolium Scandet
The Encounter
Epilogue
Epitaph
Epitaph: Fu I
Epitaph: Li Po
Erat Hora
The Eyes
Famam Librosque Cano
Fan-piece, For Her Imperial Lord
The Faun
Fish And The Shadow
The Flame
For E. Mcc.
Francesca
Fratres Minores
Further Instructions
The Game Of Chess
The Garden
The Garret
Gentildonna
A Girl
Guido Invites You Thus
The Gypsy
Heather
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 1
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 10
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 11
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 12
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 2
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 3
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 4. Difference Of Opinion With Lygdamus
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 5
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 6
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 7
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 8
Homage To Sextus Propertius: 9
Horae Beatae Inscriptio
The House Of Splendour
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 1. E.p. Ode Pour L'election De Son Sepulchre
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 1. E.p. Ode Pour L'election De Son Sepulchre
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 10
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 11
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 12
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 13. Envoi, 1919
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 2
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 3
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 3
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 4
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 4
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 5
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 5
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 6. Yeux Glauques
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 7. 'siena Mi Fe'
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 8. Brennbaum
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: 9. Mr. Nixon
Ikon
Image From D'orleans
Impressions Of Francois-marie Arouet (de Voltaire)
In A Station Of The Metro
In A Station Of The Metro
In Durance (1907)
In Exitum Cuiusdam; On A Certain One's Departure
'ione, Dead The Long Year'
Ite
L'art, 1910
L'homme Moyen Sensuel
La Fraisne
Ladies
The Lake Isle
Langue D'oc: Alba
Langue D'oc: Avril
Langue D'oc: Compleynt Of A Gentleman Who Has Been Waiting Outside ..
Langue D'oc: Descant On A Theme By Cerclamon
Langue D'oc: Vergier
Les Millwin
Liu Ch'e
Marvoil
Mauberley: 1
Mauberley: 3. 'the Age Demanded'
Mauberley: 4
Mauberley: 5. Medallion
Meditatio
Mesmerism
Middle-aged; A Study In Emotion
Moeurs Contemporaries
Monumentum Aere, Etc.
Mr. Housman's Message
N.y.
Na Audiart
Near Perigord
The Needle
The New Cake Of Soap
Nicharchus Upon Phidon His Doctor
Night Litany (1)
O Atthis
An Object
Of Jacopo Del Sellaio
Old Idea Of Choan By Rosoriu
On His Own Face In A Glass
Ortus
Our Contemporaries
A Pact
Pagani's, November 8
Pan Is Dead
Papyrus
Paracelsus In Excelsis
The Patterns
Phanopoeia: Concava Vallis
Phanopoeia: Rose White, Yellow, Silver
Phanopoeia: Saltus
Phasellus Ille
Phyllidula
The Picture (venus Reclining)
Piere Vidal Old
Planh For The Young English King
The Plunge
Portrait D'une Femme
Post Mortem Conspectu
Praise Of Ysolt
Preference
Provincia Deserta
Quies
The Rest
The Return
Salutation
Salutation The Second
Salutation The Third
Salvationists
Satiemus
The Seeing Eye
Sennin Poem By Kakuhaku
Sestina: Altaforte
Shop Girl
Silet
Simulacra
The Social Order
Society
A Song Of The Degrees
Speech For Psyche In The Golden Book Of Apuleius
The Spring
The Study In Aesthetics
Sub Mare
Surgit Fama
Tame Cat
The Tea Shop
The Temperaments
Tempora
Tenzone
The Three Poets
Threnos
To A Friend Writing On Cabaret Dancers
To Dives
To Formianus' Young Lady Friend; After Valerius Catullus
To Kalon
To Whistler, American; On Loan Exhibit Of Paintings At Tate Gallery
To-em-mei's 'the Unmoving Cloud'
The Tomb At Akr Caar
The Tree
Ts'ai Chi'h
Villanelle: The Psychological Hour
Villonaud For This Yule
A Villonaud: Ballad Of The Gibbet
A Virginal
War Verse (1914)
The White Stag
Women Before A Shop
Elegies: 3. 26. Prayer For His Lady's Life
The Seafarer
Song Of The Bowmen Of Shu
South-folk In Cold Country
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: New Directions; Revised Edition edition (September 17, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081121138X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811211383
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,090 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Collection, March 30, 2001

By 

Michael Tencer (NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Personae: The Shorter Poems (Revised Edition) (Paperback)

I don't know what the other reviewer is talking about, but the book is arranged just fine. In fact, one would think that with the addition of the Note on the Text it would be irrefutably clear how it was arranged & selected, but I guess at least one guy didn't think so. The majority of the book is roughly chronological in the way Ezra Pound chose. The poems are broken into groups: Poems of 1908-1911, Poems from Ripostes (1912), Poems from Blast (1914), Poems of Lustra (1913-1915), Cathay (1915), Poems of Lustra (1915-1916), & Poems of 1917-1920. There are then Appendixes added, the first consisting of Three Cantos (1917); the second, uncollected poems from 1912-1917; & the third, The Complete Poetical Works of T. E. Hulme, which was originally an appendix to the book Ripostes. & then there's the Note on the Text explaining this layout. They removed the post-1926 work, as this shall appear in a future revision of Pavannes and Divagations, and they left out a few previously appendixed poems since they are already printed in The Translations or in Collected Early Poems. & then they added a few extra poems in appendix, the two recently-published war poems of 1914-1915, the original version of "In a Station of the Metro," & the prose poem "Ikon." & that's all of it, as is clear from the table of contents & note on the text. Now then, all that aside, these are absolutely brilliant poems. They contain stunning beauty, humor, originality, depth, & unbelievable intelligence & imagination. Pound completely changed what poetry was capable of, paving the way for countless innovators since with his inimitable driving voice. It would be a terrible shame if folks passed over this book just because one guy gave it less than its deserved five stars. The editors certainly didn't lie about anything - just because Pound wrote three cantos in 1917 that weren't part of the famous Cantos doesn't mean you've been swindled. (If fact, the conclusion to the third early canto later became, with some modification, Canto I.) So, hopefully this clarifies things, so that more people will have the chance to read these terrific poems. I'd also suggest, if you like this book, getting the readings that Pound made of "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley," "Moeurs Contemporaines," & some other poems. The tape is still in print, & Ezra Pound is one of the best readers around, up there with John Cage, William Burroughs, James Joyce ... Enjoy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Artist of the beautiful., October 5, 2005

By 

Duane Mulholland - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Personae: The Shorter Poems (Revised Edition) (Paperback)

This collection of Pound's earlier poems is the necessary companion of any modern poet. Especially noteworthy, and on display here, is the Pound Rhythm. Pound wrote poetry that embodied its own music. There is much to learn from Pound and in this volume he can be approached without the annotated index that is needed to tackle The Cantos.

5.0 out of 5 stars Before you swim, you first must wade, February 11, 2012

By 

dream factory (Triangulum, M33) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Personae: The Shorter Poems (Revised Edition) (Paperback)

Ezra Pound was the heart of the American poetry modernist revolution. But I found his poetry hard to digest. His masterwork 'Cantos' swept me helplessly out to sea. I tried reading the definitive Pound affair 'A Pound Era'. It buried me alive. But I yearned to feel Pound.

Then I came upon this collection of Pound poems. A bevy of short intense early works which I could wrap around and begin my friendship as such, without being trampled by his emotional and intellectual complexity.

There is a whole Pound galaxy out there. And this is a great collection to start with.