This exhibit will explore Imagism and Ezra Pound’s influence on Modernism.  The presentation will begin by providing key background information about Ezra Pound and establishing his primary definitions of Imagism. Then it will display a timeline of relevant events that had an impact on the modernist movement. Lastly, the gallery exhibit will investigate Pound’s effect by explicating the poems: “Oread,” and “In a Station of the Metro," and “Autumn.” 

Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho on October 30, 1885. He primarily spent his upbringing near Philadelphia and the east coast, where he would receive his Bachelor’s Degree in philosophy in 1905.

Pound  established himself as one the pillars of literary modernism as he was one of the founders of Imagism and vorticism. He was influenced by Japanese poetic form, precision and techniques that he utilized in his free-verse poetry. Pound was most inspired by the works of Ernest Fenellosa, who he credited as the visionary of his writing, with Pound labeling himself as the mere literary executor. 

Pound was known for his aesthetics based style of writing and worked for notable publications such as the Little Review, Blast, and Poetry Magazine.

He would spend his life living back and forth from the US to Europe, his first book, “A Lume Spento,” was published in Venice in 1908. Pound would take a voluntary exile to Europe where he developed Fascist beliefs. He would eventually return from Italy in 1939, but was arrested for treason for making several hundred radio broadcasts about the American war effort. Pound however, was never convicted, as the poet was pronounced insane and unfit for trial by a panel of doctors. The poet would spend the next 12 years in a hospital for the clinically insane where he would continue to write.

                                                                                                   File:Ezra Pound by Alvin Langdon Coburn, 1913, collotype photograph, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 78 14Pound-000001.jpg                                                    File:Ezra Pound 1963b.jpg

                                                                                                        Ezra Pound, Age 28, 1913                                              Pound, Age 73, 1958. Five years after his return to Venice, Italy

 References: 

Stock, Noel. "Ezra Pound". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ezra-Pound. 

Want to test your knowledge? Check out this quick quiz after going through the exhibit.