The name Ezra Pound brings to my mind mixed feelings of a character both brilliant and unsavory, but I really knew very little about him. I have vague memories of reading a bit of the Cantos as an undergraduate, but not a great reader of poetry, I haven’t attempted it again since. In fact, the only thing by Pound I can recall reading is a slim volume called The ABC of Reading, which I found difficult, tiresome and pedantic. But knowing that he’s regarded as one of the great literary figures of the 20^th century, hailed by most of the literary world, from Eliot to Hemingway, I felt I should learn more about him and try to appreciate his work. I was drawn to Swift’s book because I thought it could provide a key to understanding Pound.

I can’t say that my feelings about Pound have been disambiguated, but I certainly learned a lot about him from this interesting book focused on the years of Pound’s internment. Imprisoned by the US in Italy at the end of WWII for treason and kept in inhumane conditions until he was transferred to an insane asylum in Washington DC, Pound escaped execution only through a defense of insanity. The book is largely based on impressions of Pound’s by visitors to the asylum, which Pound called the bughouse, including T S Eliot, William Carlos Williams, John Berryman and Robert Lowell, as well as others who had access to him during that period.

The connection between Pound’s real or exculpatory madness, his socio-political beliefs and his literary output is the theme of the book and one which is particularly timely in the age of Trump. There is no doubt of Pound’s antisemitism, support for Mussolini and Hitler, and loathing of Roosevelt and Churchill. His pro-fascist radio broadcasts during the war were the basis of the charges against him. What I hadn’t known earlier is that Pound himself, and his writings, were and are idolized by pro-fascist, white supremacist followers in the US and abroad. Swift finds instances of Pound’s jaundiced world view in his writing, but presents information in a neutral, even-handed way that doesn’t press the case for or against the poet.

Separating artists’ works from their beliefs and behavior is a knotty problem. As a Jew, I find it particularly hard to overlook virulent antisemitism because someone is a great artist. After all, what they’re advocating my annihilation, saying I don’t deserve the right to exist, and promoting genocide as a perfectly acceptable measure. The enigma of Pound (and others such as Celine, another ardent and unapologetic Anti-Semite) is the blending of a fine aesthetic sensibility with sensational moral failure.

I might have felt more generous towards Pound in the past, in the spirit of the liberal-intellectual campaign that campaigned for his his release in the late 1950’s, and viewed him as a frail and genteel old poet, a little crazy, but grossly mistreated and deserving of a pardon both from the bughouse the charges of treason. But there’s another image, of a man, driven by megalomania and egoism, who promotes of fascism and bigotry of the very kind that is on the rise in this country and throughout the world today. I feel less inclined to give a pass to artists, including Pound, Celine and Kanye West, who champion what is unacceptable, just on account of their talent. If an outstanding athlete commits a crime we wouldn’t exonerate him because of his skills. We may want to be more lenient with artists because they nourish our souls, but we should be wary when there is poison in that nourishment.

This review may seem to have strayed from Swift’s book, but I think it’s an important book precisely because it brings up issues beyond Pound as an individual, that are immensely relevant today. It is well worth reading and thinking about.