A Companion to the Cantos of Ezra Pound

Rating:
Summary: The Cantos
Review: A COMPANION TO THE CANTOS OF EZRA POUND. By Carroll F. Terrell. 791 pp. (Published in Cooperation with The National Poetry Foundation, University of Maine at Orono, Maine). Berkeley : University of California Press, First Paperback Printing 1993 (1980). ISBN 0-520-08287-7

In his Preface, Terrell tells us that "the Companion was conceived to be the logical step" between 'The Annotated Index to the Cantos of Ezra Pound' by John Hamilton Edwards and William W. Vasse (1957) "and the definitive variorum edition of 'The Cantos' which would be the function of the future" (p.x). Originally published in two volumes, with 4,722 numbered glosses in Volume I and 5,649 glosses in Volume II, the 10,421 glosses have been conveniently brought together in the present 1-volume paperback edition. These glosses include translations from eight languages, identification of all proper names and works, Pound's literary and historical allusions, and so on. The text is based on the 1975 edition of 'The Cantos' published by New Directions and Faber.

Terrell also points out that, since 'The Cantos' is such a difficult poem, there is a very real need for it to "be made more easily comprehensible to a sizable audience of students and professors as well as critics" (p.ix). Hence the Companion "is not ... for Pound scholars who do not need it. It is ... a handbook for new students of 'The Cantos' who need it badly. Therefore it is not designed as a complete compendium of present knowledge about 'The Cantos,' with exegeses and analyses of the text; such a 10-volume work must be left to the future....The book is designed for the beginner so as to (1) answer his first and most immediate questions; (2) tell him where to go next for exegesis and comment; (3) tell him where to go to find the sources EP used" (p.x).

The Companion contains glosses on Cantos 1-16, Cantos 17-30, XI New Cantos, Leopoldine Cantos, The China Cantos, The Adams Cantos, The Pisan Cantos, Rock-Drill Cantos, Thrones, The Coke Cantos, Drafts and Fragments. The glosses range in length from a single line to several paragraphs, and many of them are very full. Each section is preceded with a short list covering Sources, Background, and Exegeses.

Terrell's own view of the poem, as he admits, has to a certain extent influenced his glosses. He tells us that, for him : "'The Cantos' is a great religious poem .... an account of man's progress from the darkness of hell to the light of paradise. Thus it is a revelation of how divinity is manifested in the universe..." (p.viii).

But although the major import of the poem can be stated simply, the fact of Pound having "opted for a musical thematic structure rather than the more traditional historical or narrative structure ... and the extreme concentration of his piths and gists [has made] the text difficult to adjust to " (p.viii). Hence the need of the reader for extensive glosses.

In a book of this nature, it would of course be impossible to satisfy everyone. Some readers will probably wish that certain glosses had been fuller, others less extensive, and yet others will probably go hunting for glosses which aren't there. Terrell has tried to strike a balance between what he felt might and might not be of use to the kind of reader the book is aimed at, and on the whole seems to have done an excellent job.

Besides the glosses on Cantos 1-117, the book also contains three Indexes : 1. an alphabetized Index to The Cantos; 2. an Index to Foreign Words and Phrases in Roman Alphabet; 3. an Index to Words and Phrases in Greek; 4. an Index to Chinese Characters. It appears that Pound used only about 300 different Chinese Characters in 'The Cantos,' not too large a number for the keen student to learn.

In Terrell's Index the Chinese Characters are printed, unfortunately, in a rather small font, and also (at least in my copy) are very poorly printed. This is the only part of the book which might have been much better, since beginners need to see large bold printed forms in which the structure of complex characters can be easily discerned, and not tiny weak faint smudges in which some of the strokes don't show up at all.

Happily, Terrell has thoughtfully provided Mathews numbers for all of the Characters, and readers with access to the easily available (and excellent) 'Mathews Chinese-English Dictionary' will quickly be able to locate clearly printed forms along with their definitions.

This book is a heavy volume, well-printed (except for the Chinese) in a small clear font in double columns on strong high-quality paper, and is bound in a sturdy wrapper. Although not stitched, it has one of those flexible glued spines that don't crack on opening, and seems designed to stand up to the heavy use a reference work of this kind can get.

Some of its readers will no doubt have quibbles, others will fail to realize the staggering amount of work that goes into writing a book of this kind, but all students of 'The Cantos' owe a huge debt of gratitude to Terrell for having provided them with an indispensable key to unlocking some of the many mysteries this beautiful but obscure poem holds.

Rating:
Summary: An indispensable key to unlocking many mysteries.
Review: A COMPANION TO THE CANTOS OF EZRA POUND. By Carroll F. Terrell. 791 pp. (Published in Cooperation with The National Poetry Foundation, University of Maine at Orono, Maine). Berkeley : University of California Press, First Paperback Printing 1993 (1980). ISBN 0-520-08287-7

In his Preface, Terrell tells us that "the Companion was conceived to be the logical step" between 'The Annotated Index to the Cantos of Ezra Pound' by John Hamilton Edwards and William W. Vasse (1957) "and the definitive variorum edition of 'The Cantos' which would be the function of the future" (p.x). Originally published in two volumes, with 4,722 numbered glosses in Volume I and 5,649 glosses in Volume II, the 10,421 glosses have been conveniently brought together in the present 1-volume paperback edition. These glosses include translations from eight languages, identification of all proper names and works, Pound's literary and historical allusions, and so on. The text is based on the 1975 edition of 'The Cantos' published by New Directions and Faber.

Terrell also points out that, since 'The Cantos' is such a difficult poem, there is a very real need for it to "be made more easily comprehensible to a sizable audience of students and professors as well as critics" (p.ix). Hence the Companion "is not ... for Pound scholars who do not need it. It is ... a handbook for new students of 'The Cantos' who need it badly. Therefore it is not designed as a complete compendium of present knowledge about 'The Cantos,' with exegeses and analyses of the text; such a 10-volume work must be left to the future....The book is designed for the beginner so as to (1) answer his first and most immediate questions; (2) tell him where to go next for exegesis and comment; (3) tell him where to go to find the sources EP used" (p.x).

The Companion contains glosses on Cantos 1-16, Cantos 17-30, XI New Cantos, Leopoldine Cantos, The China Cantos, The Adams Cantos, The Pisan Cantos, Rock-Drill Cantos, Thrones, The Coke Cantos, Drafts and Fragments. The glosses range in length from a single line to several paragraphs, and many of them are very full. Each section is preceded with a short list covering Sources, Background, and Exegeses.

Terrell's own view of the poem, as he admits, has to a certain extent influenced his glosses. He tells us that, for him : "'The Cantos' is a great religious poem .... an account of man's progress from the darkness of hell to the light of paradise. Thus it is a revelation of how divinity is manifested in the universe..." (p.viii).

But although the major import of the poem can be stated simply, the fact of Pound having "opted for a musical thematic structure rather than the more traditional historical or narrative structure ... and the extreme concentration of his piths and gists [has made] the text difficult to adjust to " (p.viii). Hence the need of the reader for extensive glosses.

In a book of this nature, it would of course be impossible to satisfy everyone. Some readers will probably wish that certain glosses had been fuller, others less extensive, and yet others will probably go hunting for glosses which aren't there. Terrell has tried to strike a balance between what he felt might and might not be of use to the kind of reader the book is aimed at, and on the whole seems to have done an excellent job.

Besides the glosses on Cantos 1-117, the book also contains three Indexes : 1. an alphabetized Index to The Cantos; 2. an Index to Foreign Words and Phrases in Roman Alphabet; 3. an Index to Words and Phrases in Greek; 4. an Index to Chinese Characters. It appears that Pound used only about 300 different Chinese Characters in 'The Cantos,' not too large a number for the keen student to learn.

In Terrell's Index the Chinese Characters are printed, unfortunately, in a rather small font, and also (at least in my copy) are very poorly printed. This is the only part of the book which might have been much better, since beginners need to see large bold printed forms in which the structure of complex characters can be easily discerned, and not tiny weak faint smudges in which some of the strokes don't show up at all.

Happily, Terrell has thoughtfully provided Mathews numbers for all of the Characters, and readers with access to the easily available (and excellent) 'Mathews Chinese-English Dictionary' will quickly be able to locate clearly printed forms along with their definitions.

This book is a heavy volume, well-printed (except for the Chinese) in a small clear font in double columns on strong high-quality paper, and is bound in a sturdy wrapper. Although not stitched, it has one of those flexible glued spines that don't crack on opening, and seems designed to stand up to the heavy use a reference work of this kind can get.

Some of its readers will no doubt have quibbles, others will fail to realize the staggering amount of work that goes into writing a book of this kind, but all students of 'The Cantos' owe a huge debt of gratitude to Terrell for having provided them with an indispensable key to unlocking some of the many mysteries this beautiful but obscure poem holds.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent and useful reference work
Review: Carroll Terrell's scholarship is a great help in deciphering the majestic complexities of the Cantos. To gain equivalent insight into the poems would require a life-time's reading and it allows for a more immediate experience of this important work than would otherwise be possible. It would be helpful if the book was even more inclusive and the entries even more extensive, but it seems presumptious to query this extremely helpful companion, especially since it is a single affordable volume. If the Cantos are one of the most essential books of C20th poetry (and I believe they are), then this book deserves to sell equally well.

Rating:
Summary: Fine, but incomplete.
Review: It is a truly useful book. But there are no references to the Italian Cantos ('These damned Eyetalians') nor the fragment at the end ('That her acts of beauty be remembered'). Maybe it is time for a new edition to come (?).

Rating:
Summary: Indispensable
Review: Professor Terrell was my neighbor in Orono, Maine, where I completed my M.A. in English. I spoke with him at his home about this book; he said he spent about six years on it with the assistance of graduate students, collecting and collating his notes and researching unclear references. It's still an amazing work and a cornerstone of every Poundian library. Professor Terrell provides the reader an annotation for each potentially unclear reference.

Like "Finnegans Wake," the Cantos are abstruse - nearly unintelligible without a companion reference. For serious study, this text is an excellent investment; it is hard to imagine being able to penetrate the Cantos without it.

(Another fine, but much briefer, reference is William Cookson's "A Guide to the Cantos of Ezra Pound." Unlike Terrell, Cookson concentrates less on the vocabulary and more on the broad historical sweep contained within the Cantos. The two authors, taken together, provide an excellent key for unlocking the Cantos.)

Rating:
Summary: Indispensable
Review: Professor Terrell was my neighbor in Orono, Maine, where I completed my M.A. in English. I spoke with him at his home about this book; he said he spent about six years on it with the assistance of graduate students, collecting and collating his notes and researching unclear references. It's still an amazing work and a cornerstone of every Poundian library. Professor Terrell provides the reader an annotation for each potentially unclear reference.

Like "Finnegans Wake," the Cantos are abstruse - nearly unintelligible without a companion reference. For serious study, this text is an excellent investment; it is hard to imagine being able to penetrate the Cantos without it.

(Another fine, but much briefer, reference is William Cookson's "A Guide to the Cantos of Ezra Pound." Unlike Terrell, Cookson concentrates less on the vocabulary and more on the broad historical sweep contained within the Cantos. The two authors, taken together, provide an excellent key for unlocking the Cantos.)