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EZRA POUND 75
Ellerman offered him fifty pounds as a contribution to the arts.
Aldington mentions in this connection that when Sir John died a
few years later, he left forty million pounds. Aldington refused the
gift, but said that he would like to get some sort of post in the
writing field that paid a salary. Ellerman gave him letters of
introduction to take to the editors of two newspapers, the Times,
and the Sphere. Since Ellerman owned a large share of both newspapers,
the editors were willing to hire Aldington. He wrote for
these papers regularly for some years.
In 1912, when Pound, H.D., and Aldington were formulating
the principles of Imagism, Aldington recorded the process. In
his autobiography, Life For Life's Sake, he wrote,
"Like other American expatriates, Ezra and H.D. developed
an almost insane relish for afternoon tea, a meal with which I
can most willingly dispense. Moreover, they insisted on going to
the most fashionable and expensive tea-shops (which I thought a
sad waste of money) not only in London but in Paris. Thus it
came about that most of our meetings took place in the rather
prissy milieu of some infernal bun-shop full of English spinsters.
However, an extremely good time was had by all, and we laughed
until we ached—what at, I haven't the slightest recollection. No
doubt we all got off some splendid cracks, but for the life of me
I can't remember one of them. I suspect that the cream of the
wit lay in the fact that we were young, entirely carefree, and
having a glorious time just being alive. Naturally, then, the Imagist
mouvemong [perhaps a slur on Ezra's French accent] was born
in a tea-shop—in the Royal Borough of Kensington. For some
time Ezra had been butting in on our studies and poetical productions,
with alternate encouragement, and the reverse, according
to his mood. H.D. produced some poems, which I thought
excellent, and she either handed them or mailed them to Ezra.
Presently each of us received a ukase to attend the Kensington
bun-shop. Ezra was so worked up by these poems of H.D.'s that
he removed his pince-nez and informed us that we were Imagists.
Was that the first time I had heard that Pickwickian word? I
don't remember. According to the record, Ezra swiped the word
from the English philosopher T. E. Hulme: and anyone who can