At 01:48 PM 10/22/2004 -0400, you wrote:
> And how, most of all, could
such a unity be 'constructed' by
> excision?
Sun, moon, puppy, stars, candle
???
That's the problem for the "Pound did it" camp. His suggestions
were not, as above, in relation to some otherwise unconnected
words. To say it would not have been the same poem had E not taken (some
of) P's suggestions is not the same thing as to say that without Pound's
suggestions the poem has no unity (a particularly poignant claim from
those who are not sure anyhow that it has unity). Eliot somewhere says
that Pound's strength as an editor was his ability to see what the other
person was trying to accomplish and to make his suggestions in accord
with that goal, not to layer his own preferences, etc., on top. That is
an admirable trait (always in too short supply!), but note that it does
not counter a deficiency; rather, it builds on a positive (an already
recognizable goal).
Ken A.
