Ezra Pound and Mysteries of Takasago: Alongside the Japanese Medieval Poetics

Abstract

On his first submission of cantos — Three Cantos — in 1917, Ezra Pound (1885-1972) wrote a letter, telling: “The theme is roughly the theme of ‘Takasago’”, that is to say, of a shūgen, congratulatory piece written by Zeami. Then, what exactly did he mean by “the theme of ‘Takasago’”? What would come of it in the long epic poem that took him half a century to elaborate? This article — a revised English version of the author’s essay, Ezra Pound e i misteri di Takasago — explores a new Pound’s interpretation of the shūgen alongside the Japanese medieval poetics.