4pQonT

132 THIS DIFFICULT INDIVIDUAL
"I DO advise keeping Phlebas. In fact I more'n advise.
Phlebas is an integral part of the poem; the card pack introduces
him, the drowned phoen. sailor. And he is needed ABSolootly
where he is. Must stay in.
"Do as you like about my obstetric effort.
"Ditto re Conrad; who am I to grudge him his laurel crown?
"Aeschylus not so good as I had hoped, but haven't time to
improve him, yet.
"I dare say the sweats with tears will wait
"You can forward the 'Bolo' to Joyce if you think it won't unhinge
his somewhat Sabbatarian mind. On the hole he might be
saved the shock, shaved the sock." 7
When The Waste Land appeared, Eliot dedicated it to "Ezra
Pound, il miglior fabbro", the master worker, the term which
Dante had used in veneration of his own master, the Provençal
poet, Arnaut Daniel.
In subsequent years, Eliot had a more direct influence on
American poetry than did Pound. That is, he had more disciples.
The Waste Land inspired many imitators. Hart Crane was one
of those who found it expedient to switch from Pound to Eliot.
These two poets have continued their friendship, despite Pound's
political involvements. Although great pressure was brought to
bear upon Eliot, he never repudiated Pound.
He did reverse himself concerning one of Pound's favorite dislikes,
John Milton. In 1936, Eliot said, "He (Milton) may still be
considered as having done damage to the English language from
which it has not yet fully recovered." 8
But in 1947, Eliot characterized
Milton as "the greatest master of free verse in our language."
9
At the same time that he was editing The Waste Land, Pound was
button-holing people in Paris and demanding that they read some
stories written by a talented young newspaperman, Ernest Hemingway.
John Peale Bishop recalls that in 1922, when he was in Paris,
Pound told him of a journalist who was trying to do serious work.
Soon afterwards, he brought Hemingway around for an introduction.
10