To+Whistler,+American

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In the poem //"//To Whistler, American" by Ezra Pound, it at first seems to be a positive uplifting poem but, a deeper look at it and readers can see it is really Pound making of fun American writers. He calls Americans “a mass of dolts” but, through the poem he is also giving the poet Walt Whitman many compliments for not giving up and coming through even though all of America looks at him to make them proud (Pound). This has characteristics of modernism such as a loss of hope for American writers and also the destruction of the family unit. Pound’s life influenced this poem because, at this point of his life he was very discontent with America at the time and was living at the artistic empire known as Paris (Lathbury). This like another modernism work, "To Whistler, American", deals with the loss of hope which seems to be a major theme in modernism era literary works. With its deep meaning this poem can be very deceiving, and readers need to look deep into this meaning to get the true meaning that Pound wanted readers to get whenever they read his poem.

When reading this poem, there are two main characteristics of modernism writing that really stands out and they are the loss of hope of the destruction of the family unit (Byrne). The loss of hope in this poem is due the fact that Pound criticizes America for the lack of writers that they posses (Pound). He also shows much lose of hope by saying how difficult it is bear the brunt of America and to deal with the media, with not many people being able to deal with these things (Pound). With those things being said, the loss of hope can be closely associated to the destruction of the family unit, another modernism characteristic, because, the family is America and it is broken down so that it does not have as many good writers as it should. With Pound saying all negativity, he does give compliments to Walt Whitman for prevailing through everything, and also being a great writer who won through it all (Pound). This not an uplifting poem like it seems to be, but it is a very negative poem towards American writers and also what Americans make these writers go through to be successful.

Pound was at first a teacher, but he was dismissed from the job, so he was convinced that his career would best be suited to be a poet (Lathbury). He moved to Europe where he started writing poetry and translating it. He found his inter poet in Europe and while there had an increasingly discontent for Western culture and how they handled writers (Lathbury). This discontent led to him writing "To Whistler, American" which criticized western culture and their writers. With him finding much happiness in Europe, perhaps he did not truly understand the American culture and what it stood for, which could just mean that Pound was much better suited for a culture like Europe instead of the American culture. The better situation for Pound and his writing led to him being a very good poet, so it is probably a good thing he left America, with his unhappiness with it clearly seen in this poem.

This was not the only Pound work to have a loss of hope and also show a discontent with Western culture. Many of Pound’s other work including “Homage to Sextus Properties” also show these two principles of his work (Lathbury). Compared to other works of modernism, such as "Gerontion" by T. S. Eliot, they are very similar because, both poems are very negative and lose hope but, this poem by Pound is different because, it has an underlying positive side to it dealing with the greatness of the American poet Walt Whitman (Pound). This is very interesting to see how two very famous modernism works can explore the same major theme but have underlying themes in them.

In conclusion, "To Whistler, American" Ezra Pound shows some major modernism characteristics and also shows how his life experience can impact his writing. The poem has modernism characteristics such as loss and the destruction of a family unit. His life in Europe compared to his life in America impacted this poem greatly, partly due to towards their contrasting cultures. This poem shares some things with his other poems as well as other modernism works, but it also has some differences such as it underlying positive attitude towards Whitman. This is very interesting poem to look at, with its very complex meanings and also deep meanings that it includes towards American culture. Works Cited Byrne, C. J. "Understanding Modernism & Postmodernism." //Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction Writing, Poetry Contests, Writing Contests//. 2005. Web. 03 May 2010. .

Lathbury, Roger. "Ezra Pound." //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File, 2008. Web. 3 May 2010. .

Pound, Ezra. "To Whistler, American." //The Poetry Foundation : Find Poems and Poets. Discover Poetry.// Web. 03 May 2010. .

media type="custom" key="6191653" Abby Buchman

“To Whistler, American” is a poem by Ezra Pound. This is a product of the modernism time period and displays many characteristics of modernism. The poem “Chicago “by Carl Sandburg is very different in many ways from this poem. “To Whistler, American” a seemly simple poem by Pound is a good representation of modernism, however; Pound’s writing differed from other writers like Sandburg. One characteristic of modernism that is used in this poem is the use of first person. There was “ More use of the first person narrative, reflecting the lack of universal truth” (Bryne). He uses first person to describe his ownership of artwork. “ ‘In the Studio’ and these two portraits, if I had my choice I/ And then these sketches in the mood of Greece? “(Pound). Another characteristic of modernism is maybe having no or little description of setting in a poem. “To Whistler, American” does not appear to have a setting, however; in a deeper look it appears that it may take place at the Tate Gallery (Pound).

Ezra Pound was an editor for many writers like T.S. Elliot. Pound was responsible for trimming the fat or getting rid out of unnecessary lines and passages in the longer poems (Pinkerton). This probably affected his writing because of the simplicity and to the point writing style. He realized, maybe through editing, that it is not the amount of the words but the quality. So, his writing uses strong but few words to convey a complete image.

While Pound and Sandburg have very different writing styles, one way that they are similar is in their use of first person. This was common among modernism writers to use first person, and both of these poets used first person in their poems to display ownership. One way that they are different is the way that Sandburg uses two types of free verse to develop his poem, but Ezra uses one free verse type. Sandburg uses long lines and short lines, lines made up of only nouns and adjectives, whereas Ezra uses only long lines. Another way that the poets are different is that Ezra has an implied simple setting, but Sandburg’s setting is the main focus of the poem.

So while most modernism writers have some characteristics in common, they each have their own characteristics that are there own. “To Whistler, American” displays many characteristics of modernism including the use of first person and simple, almost no, setting. Ezra Pound’s time as an editor probably affected his writing style. Overall this poem shows several characteristics of modernism and is a good example of modernism writing.

Works Cited Bryne, CJ. "Writing.Com: Understanding Modernism & Postmodernism." //Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction Writing, Poetry Contests, Writing Contests//. 2005. Web. 04 May 2010. .

Pinkerton, Jan, and Randolph Hudson. "Pound, Ezra." //Bloom's Literary Database//. Facts on File, 2004. Web. 3 May 2010.

Pound, Ezra. "To Whistler, American." //The Poetry Foundation : Find Poems and Poets. Discover Poetry.// Web. 04 May 2010. .