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HE CAN

ELECED CAN

CLLECED HRER PEM

CLLECED EARLY PEM

Edited Michae Jhn KingELECED PEM 1908-59

HE RANLAN F EZRA PUND

Induced Hugh KennePHCLE'ELERA

vesin Eza PundLERARY EAY F EZRA PUND

Edited S. EitELECED PRE 190965

Edited Wiiam CknELECED LEER F EZRA PUND 90741

Edited D D Paige

'

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A B C of Reading

by

ZRA OUND

fbfbLONDON BOSTON

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Fst pubshed n 1934by George Rouedge Lmted

New edon pubshed n 1951by Faber and Faber Lmted

3 Queen Square London WClN 3AU paperback edon rst pubsed n 1961

Ressue 1991

Pnted n Great Bn by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Readng Berkshre

lrgh reseed

Copyrgt the Ezr Pound Lte PropeyT 1934 1951

ok so suea t the ntion tht it sh not, w ofto othee b t, ro hired out

othee crted without the publh' pr nst in n of binding or oth thn tht in whh it is

publh nd wthout simir ton inung th

tn ng ios on the suut pus

ACIP rcord for ths bk is aviabe from the Brish braISBN 0 57 05892 2

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Contents

ABC

OW TO STUDY OTRY

WARNING

1CHAPTR ON

Laboratory ConditionsIdeogrammic Method

CHAPTR TWO

What is Literature?hat i the Ue of Laguage?

CHAPTR THR

CHAPTR FOUR

PtB 911

13

17

23

26

28

28

29

32

36

Compass, Sextant, or Lanmark41

CHAPTR FIV 50

CHAPTR SIX 58

CHAPTR SVN 62

CHAPTR IHT 63

Test nd Composition Exerie 6Second Set 66Further Tests 68Bis 71Liberty 77Exercie 77XIXth Century 78Study 79Perception 81

The Insuctor83

Taste 86

DISSOCIAT

DICT= CONDSA 92

7

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bitFo PioxStyle of a Pod Table of DatOtr DatTo RcpitulatWt

TB.TIS OK T

8

J 9532

353892

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AB

Or gus ssum, fr thos whmght k t . h bk ntadrss to tos wh hv rrv t fnowlg of th subjct wtout knwingte fact

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H Sudy PyTHE present book is intended to meet the need for fuller

and simpler explanation of the method outlined in How toRed. Ho o Rd may be considered as a controverspamphlet summarizing the moe actie or spiky parts of

te autor's ealier citial skmising, and taking countof an enemy. Te pesent pages should be ipersona

enoug to sere as a text-book The author hopes to

follow te tadition of Gaston Pais and S. Reinah tat isto produce a text-oo tat can also be read for pleasu

as well as po y tose no longer in school; by those who

hae not been to shool or by those who in their collegedays suered those tigs wih most of my own enera

tion suered

A private word to teachers and professors will be found

toward the end of the volume. I am not idly sowing torns

in teir path. I sould like to make even their lot and ife

more exhilaating and to save een them from necessaboredom in class-room

1

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Warning1 T longish dull stetch shortly fte the gn f th ook. Th studnt wi hv to endu it I m tt plc trying by l mns to void mbiguity, in

p of sving th studnt's time lter

Glo d solemnity e enely out of plce in v mst igoous study of n t orginaly intnded to ld th hert of mn

Gvity, mystius crig of t

body t concl th defects of the mndLAURENCE STRN

3 T hsh tetmnt e ccorded nume ftoio wits is not imlss, ut proceeds om :ncovictin tht the ony wy to keep th est writng

c, o t mk t st poety popu', ytic seprtion f th st o gret mss of witintt s n long considd f vlu, tht hs vightd cicul, nd tt to b lmd fo t veco cnt id t ood k must ofcssity dull on

c csic us it cfoms t ct1l uls, r ts r denitons (of whic it

3

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autho ha qte poaly nee ead) It s classc e

ause o a cetan etenal and epessle eshss

Italan state examne jolte y my eton oCaalcant, expessed admaton at the almost ulta

oenty o Gudos language

gnant men o genus ae contntly dsoeng

laws o at wc t acadmcs a slad o dden

he autos concton on ts day o Ne Ye s tat

usc gs to atophy wen t epats too a om th

ance that poety egns to atopy en t gets too a

om mus ut ts must not e taen as mplyn that

algoo musc s dance musc o all poety lyc Bach and

Moat a nee too a om physcal oeent

unc est endum

Nunc pede leo

Pulsana tells

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EIN E

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Chapter One

We live an age of science and of abudance caand eveence fo hooks as suc, pope to an age wen ook as duplicated unil someone took te pains to copyit out b and, obiousl no longe suied to 'e nof society o to te consevaton of leing Te weedeis supemel needed te Gden of e Muse to peias a gaden

T pope METHOD fo uding poe and goolettes e eod of contempoa biologist, tat isael st-and examintion of te matte and continuCOMPARION of one 'slide o spcime wit anote

No man equipped fo moden g untl e aundestood te anecdote of Agassiz and te s:

A post-gaduate sudent equipped it onous and dilomas went o Agassiz o eceive te nal and isin

touces Te geat man oeed a small s nd tol to descibe it

Pos-Gaduae Student: 'Tats onl a sunsAgassiz: 'I know tat Wite a desciption of itAe a fe minues te suden euned wit t de

iption of te cus eliodiplodokus, o watev t

sed t conceal te common suns om vlg knledge, family of eicteinkus etc, as fod ttooks of te sbject

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here was goo deal o care for termnology and thegeneral exacttude n the ue of bstract term may hveeen (probaby was} hgher.

I mean a mediaeval theologian took care not to dee adog in terms that ould have applied just a well to a dogstooth or its hde, or the noise it makes when lappng water;

ut all your eacherswl tel you that science developedmore rpidly afte acon had suggested the drect eamnation of phenomena and after ileo and others had

topped dscussing things o much and had begun really toook at them and to nvt means (lke the telescope) ofseeing them better

he most useful livng member of the Huxley mlyhas emphasized the fact that the telescope wasn't merelyan idea, but that it was very dentely a techncal acievement.

By contrst to the method of abstractio or of denngthngs n more and stll more general terms Fenollosaemphasies the method of science, whch is the method ofpoetry ' as dstinct om that of phlosophc dscussio nd is the way the hnese go about it in ther ideographor abbrevated picture wing.

o go back to the begnng of story you robayko that there is spoken language and witten languageand tht there are two nds of writte language onesed o sound ad the other on sight

You sak to an amal wth a few sle oise ad20

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e Levy-Bruh ccou o rive a Aic rcord auae that e still ond u imc ad ete

e Etian ally used reiated ice orereet onds but the Chiese til e areied icre A ictures that i to say Chiee ideora doe ot to e the pictur of a od or o e a rite iecalin a sound but it is til the icture o a thig; o thin i a ive ositio or reato or of a comiatio ots It man the tng or he action or situao orqait erae o te severa ins that it ic

Gaudier Breska who wa accustoed to oo at here ae o thgs cold read a certai mot oChiesewtwitout ANY STUDY. e aid O coeyou can see its horse (or a wig or hatever)

I abes showing prmitive Chinese character n oecon and the preset coventioalied is i aotheryoe can see o the ideoram or n or ee or nrisedeveoped or wa ipied om or a reduced o teeetia o the t icte o t or urie

Tu

A

*e

a

tree

n

sun tangled n the tree raches as

at unrise eaning o he Et

Bu he the Cam aed o e icte 21

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something more complcad, or of a general idea, how did

h go abou i?

He is to dne red. How can h do it in pict that

is't paned n red pan?

He pus (or his ancestor put) togthr th abbreviatd

pictrs of

ROSE CHERRY

IRON RUST FLAMINGO

Tha, you se, is very much he kind of hing a bioloist

does (in a very much mor compicaed way) when he gets

togeher a few hunded or housand slides, and picks out

what is cessay for his genera saemen. Somethngthat ts the case, that appies in a of the cases.

h Chinese ord or ideogram for red is basd o

something everyone KNOWS.

If ideogram had devoped in Engand, th writrs

would possiby have subsituted the fro side of a robi,or something ess exoic han a amingo.)

Feoosa was tling how ad why a anguage writ i

ths way simpy HAD TO SAY POETIC; simpy coudt