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EZRA POUND 87
The poem was taken seriously, and the irrepressible Pound included
it in his collected works. Because the critics of what he
terms "littachoor" know so little of his work, it was inevitable that
they should attack "Papyrus" as evidence of his poetic weaknesses.
Howling with the pack, as usual, is Robert Graves, who complains
in his collection of essays, The Common Asphodel, that this poem
is typical of Pound's obscurantism. 28
In the final analysis, the conflict between Pound and Miss Lowell
was a conflict of standards. He had set up definite boundaries of
excellence for his little group, and he refused to publish anything
that did not measure up. He also refused to put his name to any
Imagist anthology unless he had the last word on what was to be
included, for rightly or wrongly, he believed that his judgment was
the most valid of the group. Time proved him right, for under
Amy's leadership, poetry was published as "Imagist" that was even
worse than her own.