PAINTING AND POETRY: EZRA POUND’S “SEVEN LAKES CANTO” AND EIGHT VIEWS OF XIAO XIANG

Hongxin Jiang

doi:10.1590/2596-304x20202241jh

Abstract

Abstract: In the history of cultural exchange between China and the West, it’s a deed praised far and wide that the Chinese paintings Eight Views of Xiao Xiang had exerted great influence on Ezra Pound’s poetic work “Seven Lakes Canto” or “Canto 49.” By exploring the details of the paintings and tracing the influence of the paintings on the creation of the poem, this paper reveals that the etymological and compositional use of Chinese ideograms had an enormous impact on Pound’s thinking about poetry and cultural matters, and on the writing of The Cantos. Pound, by adopting the images of China in Eight Views of Xiao Xiang, finds another paradise, so the Chinese cultural elements enabled him to create a new entity in its own right: the Poundian poem. Discussion of Pound’s “Seven Lakes Canto” from his poetic and translation theories certifies that the poem can actually be perceived as a unique way of interpreting and displaying China.

Highlights

The Cantos is the logbook of Ezra Pound (1885-1972) who made a poetic voyage through ancient cultures and the history of the world, through Greek mythology, ancient China and Egypt, Byzantium, Renaissance Italy, and many other periods and subjects, which are poetically reorganized in the nooks and crannies of his own memory and experience
By exploring the details of the paintings and tracing the influence of the paintings on the creation of the poem, this paper reveals that the etymological and compositional use of Chinese ideograms had an enormous impact on Pound’s thinking about poetry and cultural matters, and on the writing of The Cantos
By adopting the images of China in Eight Views of Xiao Xiang, finds another paradise, so the Chinese cultural elements enabled him to create a new entity in its own right: the Poundian poem

Summary

Introduction

The Cantos is the logbook of Ezra Pound (1885-1972) who made a poetic voyage through ancient cultures and the history of the world, through Greek mythology, ancient China and Egypt, Byzantium, Renaissance Italy, and many other periods and subjects, which are poetically reorganized in the nooks and crannies of his own memory and experience. The fourth, the dimension of stillness And the power over wild beasts (The Cantos 245) This poem is a collage consisting of the following sources: 1) The first 32 lines are based on sixteen poems (eight Japanese and eight Chinese) with accompanying paintings, which describe eight famous views (Eight Views of Xiao Xiang) in Hunan, Central China; 2) Lines [33-36] record Pound’s own voice; 3) Lines [37-40] are inspired by a famous Chinese song “The Song to the Auspicious Cloud” which is credited to the Emperor Shun (2255 B.C.-2205 B.C.). The contents of these poems faithfully correspond to Zeng and Pound’s collaborated translation In discussing this subject, Hugh Kenner did not identify this source in his relevant essay “More on the ‘Seven Lakes Canto.’” Wai-lim Yip in his book Pound and the Eight Views of Xiao Xiang discovered this clue. Fisherman’s flute disregards nostalgia Blows cold music over cotton bullrush

Monastery evening bell

Conclusion