What if you were to find out that a famous, much-loved poem was not a singleton, but that it was instead part of a pair? “The River Merchant’s Wife, A Letter” is perhaps the most famous Chinese poem in English, and it’s been widely anthologized since Ezra Pound published it in his 1915 collection of … Continue reading The River Merchant’s Wife, Another Letter
Here’s one more piece from Ezra Pound’s 1915 breakthrough collection “Cathay,” a war story he called “South Folk in Cold Country.” At the time Pound was working from Ernest Fenollosa’s, and Fenollosa’s Japanese teachers,’ notes to translate classic Chinese poetry, World War I had broken out, and England, where Pound was living, had mobilized to … Continue reading South Folk in Cold Country
“The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” has a very complicated history. I can’t even say “Ezra Pound’s ‘The River Merchant’s Wife”— though he’s often listed as the author. Let’s begin, as a river or a journey might, at the beginning. Back in the 9th Century in China there were two great poets. One of them … Continue reading The River Merchants Wife
Frank Hudson 