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EZRA POUND 341
senses 'the enormous tragedy of the dream in the peasant's bent
shoulders.' Seers—and explorers—these we must be if we are to
prevail."
In December, 1954, Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Nobel
Prize for literature. He was not the first of Pound's disciples to
receive this award, which was to have been given him in 1953;
political considerations dictated the choice in favor of Winston
Churchill. Awarding the Nobel Prize to Churchill for his pompous,
overblown and heavily-clichéd prose ("The din was incessant"),
and singling out for praise a style that was as plump, red-faced,
arrogant and false as its creator, really destroyed whatever literary
value the prize might have had. It was like giving Truman the
Nobel Peace Prize for starting the Korean War—a choice that was
seriously advanced! However, Pearl Buck, the creator of Chinese
soap opera for our time, had received the Nobel Prize for literature
in 1938, so things couldn't get much worse.
Hemingway accepted the prize money in 1954, saying, "I believe
this would be a good year to release poets." He went on to
denounce the continued imprisonment of Ezra Pound in a statement
that was quoted all over the world, and even in the American
press. His stand was the first streak of light to pierce Pound's long
night. He was quoted in Look Magazine, September 4, 1956:
"Some erudite midshipmen had been by in the early afternoon to
ask my views on Ezra Pound. These views are succinct, although
the subject is complicated. Ezra, I told them, should be released
from St. Elizabeths hospital and allowed to practice poetry without
let or hindrance."
It was odd that Hemingway never came to see Pound at the
hospital, for he frequently visited the States to collect his movie
royalties. He had advanced some money when Pound was brought,
penniless and in chains, to his nation's capital. Cummings also put
up one thousand dollars. It was a rather risky thing to do, for,
although it was de rigeur for State Department officials to contribute
to an Alger Hiss Defense Fund, it was quite another matter to contribute
to Pound's assistance. Ezra has explained Hemingway to me
as follows: "Hem tried to do all he could and still work within the
system."
Hemingway was quoted by Harvey Breit, in the New York