Poetry Post: Ezra Pound

I have been a bit slack on the Poetry Posts. Not so Sanjeev. The last three days he has moved across the Atlantic and conversed with six poets. On the 20th, he did Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman.  As he closed, he gave an indication for the poets he would be chatting up with on the 21st. This is what he tweeted:

sanjeevn: With those words, I bid au revoir for today. Tomorrow, 2 more giants on whose shoulders modern #poetry stands. Hint: Born in US, Poets in UK

The two poets were Ezra Pound and TS Eliot.

sanjeevn: Speaking of #poetry, Ezra Pound & T. S. Eliot, American expatriate poets, are my 2 poets for the day

In this post, we will discuss Ezra Pound

sanjeevn: EP is considered the giant on whose shoulders such giants as TSE, H.D., and even Yeats (1 of tomorrow’s 2 poets in my series) stand. #Poetry

sanjeevn: Championing imagism, he is most famous for his encyclopedic Cantos – his “tale of the tribe” #Poetry

sanjeevn: Something shorter to enjoy here: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough.” #Poetry

In this piece, A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste, Ezra Pound writes:

An “Image” is that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time. I use the term “complex” rather in the technical sense employed by the newer psychologists, such as Hart, though we might not agree absolutely in our application.

It is the presentation of such a “complex” instantaneously which gives that sense of sudden liberation; that sense of freedom from time limits and space limits; that sense of sudden growth, which we experience in the presence of the greatest works of art.

It is better to present one Image in a lifetime than to produce voluminous works.

Thus we have Sanjeev tweeting “Championing imagism“. He also says, EP is most famous for his encyclopedic Cantos. Let’s see what it is about. Spanning fifty years, The Cantos started with Cantos I in 1925 and finally ended with the complete set in 1972 (the year he died). There was a period in 1939 during the World War 2 when he was held by Italian partisans and then transferred to the Americans. He had written on his anti-Semite opinions and had advocated that America stay out of the war in Europe. The Pisan Cantos as they are called got him the Bollingen Award though he was deemed a traitor by his country, America and had been diagnosed with mental illness (hence a madman).

I found this two liner poem “In a Station of the Metro” which contrasts with the fifty year long The Cantos. Here it is:

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

Tomorrow, we will take up the giant, T S Eliot.

Australia – The Movie and some history

Baz Lurhman’s Australia was a long film. Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge had us all tuned into some really good entertaining treatment of two love stories. Here in Australia, the length of the film gets multiplied by the sheer lack of entertaining features (as I was wont to expect from a Baz Luhrman film). Instead, it was a three hour long saga that had various plot elements that seemed to be a recreation of Gone With The Wind. It was all there - 

1. Large property in the outback
2. Lady of the house comes into ownership due to sudden events (death of her husband)
3. Racism
4. War
5. Love between two strangers
6. Brave rescues
7. Redemption
8. Reunion (This wasn’t there in Gone With The Wind)

There were a few things about the film that seemed to be truly good – the Aborigine kid actor Brandon Walters who acts as Nullah; the cinematography by Australian Mandy Walker and a couple of neat scenes. 

As a history buff, there were two points of interest in this film – The Stolen Generation and The Japanese Raids on Darwin during the Second World War.

The Stolen Generation

The Stolen Generation has been a cause of much repentence amongst most Australians over the last many years. Between 1869 and 1969, Aboriginal (or Indigenous Australians or Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Island Peoples) children were forcibly taken away from their parents and raised in missionaries or charities or as foster-children in white families. They were kept here till the age of 18 after which they were returned to their original families. There was three main rationale behind these programmes (mandated by laws passed by the Australian Federal and State parliaments)

1. Child Protection – it was believed that children would be best taken care off by the state in order to protect them from disease
2. Preventing extinction of the race – with population of the indigenous Australians declining, it was felt that by raising the children by the state, they would be more healthy and hence more capable of development
3. Protecting white race purity – this was a third view point which had a minority support group.

Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic torch at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Cathy, an Aboriginal Australian, was the grandchild of one such Stolen child. Midnight Oil, the cult Aussie band, demonstrated the national regret when they performed at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games wearing black sweatshirts with the word “Sorry”. 

There was of course a national apology by the Australian PM Kevin Rudd and an unanimous resolution by the Federal Parliament.

Japanese raids on Darwin

The next big point of interest is the advent of Second World War in Australia. This was the raid on Darwin by Japanese bombers on February 19, 1942. Called the Pearl Harbour of Australia, this raid in two waves attacked Australia at its weakest and most vulnerable point – completely underprepared and underequipped.

It remains the biggest attack on Australian soil though Japan never really occupied any Australian territory (in the main continent). The raids were executed by a combination of the Kate torpedo bombers and the Val dive bombers escorted by Zero fighters. The second wave was executed by Nell and Betty land-based bombers.

Naval commander Mitsui Fuchida who led the first wave later in his memoirs writes that it was a significant waste of time as there was nothing of any value at Darwin – a small port installation, an even smaller airfield with minimal facilities. 

Closing up on the movie – well, a movie buff is a movie buff – so one can watch it. And the movie will definitely do well in the awards marquees across the world. The only issue – its a big too heavy on the sugar and teary stuff.

Pearl Harbor – no more conspiracy theory

December 7 marks 67 years of the Pearl Harbor (am using the American spellings, after all, it is a proper name). While the number of survivors are dwindling with age, one of the oldest ongoing conspiracy theories seems to have been finally put to rest.

The Hindu reports that historians have concluded that US did not have advance information about the attacks. The conspiracy theory was that US (and FDR as president) were aware of the impending attacks but chose to keep it down so that they could then get the nation to support them in the war efforts on the side of the Aliies.

However, in what seems to be another indictment of intelligence failure, the report lists out the bureaucratic intelligence system in the country for not being able to make any call on the Pearl Harbor attack.

The news article says,

“The problem with the conspiracy theory is it diverted attention from the real substantive problems, the major issue being the intelligence system was so bureaucratised,”

Lidice, 10th June 1942

The children of Lidice – 82 of them who were exterminated in Chelmno – recreated in this memorial at the old village.

Bridge on the River Kwai

Just two and half hours bus ride from Bangkok in Kanchanaburi municipality, the famous Bridge on the River Kwai is a monument to the Second World War. For those who are WW2 buffs, this town is a must for a complete low down on the South East Asian war sector starting with the fall of Singapore right upto the Japanese advance into the North-eastern hills of India. (Remember Imphal).

The Kanchanaburi War Cemetery is the final resting place for many of the Allied soldiers who were engaged in the War in this sector including a plaque for 11 Indians.

There is a museum next to the War Cemetery called the Death Rail Museum giving the history and facts about the Siam-Burma Railway built by the Japanese.

If you have loads of time, you can stay over at Kanchanaburi and explore the place. If you trek and follow the railway line towards Burma, you will come across more sites of interest. We did a morning-in-evening-back trip as we didn’t have much time