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One hundred and eighteen letters and other communications from and to Ezra Pound make up an important part of the Charles Guenther Manuscript Collection in Archives & Manuscripts. Guenther (1920–2008), a native St. Louis poet, translator, and reviewer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, corresponded with many prominent poets and writers. His own aspirations as poet and translator were both tested and praised by Ezra Pound, who became a mentor to Guenther in the art of translation.
One of Pound’s lifelong fascinations was the capacity in every language for subtle nuances in meaning and effect, which could be rendered in translation only with the greatest difficulty, or not at all. In correspondence in 1954 he urged Guenther to plumb the depths of “the bloody MEANING” while heeding “the usage of the murkn [American] langwidg.”
A master of free verse, Pound was apparently in the habit also of casting his letters in this mold. All his writing to Guenther share this idiosyncrasy. Perhaps Pound’s artistry and originality in the use of this technique mitigated the doubtless discouraging effect of his terse response to one of Guenther’s translation efforts — a giant, energetically scrawled, eminently Poundian “NOPE” alongside the text.
But Pound’s jubilation over Guenther’s final triumph — “BanZai, whoopetubu | ThanKGAWWWWD, AT last yu GOT it” — is almost palpable, and must have matched Guenther’s own. As generous as he was with his time in helping Guenther find his way to the best translation that was in him, Pound was equally generous in his admiration of others’ endeavors in this direction — “Neame’s Cocteau Leonne, magnif in No. 6,” he informs Guenther, referring to French poet Jean Cocteau’s poem Leone translated by Alan Neame in an issue of Noel Stock’s literary review Edge.
If you have questions about the Charles Guenther Manuscript Collection or would like to see the Pound material, please contact Christine Harper or another member of the Archives staff at 977-3091.
