Ezra Pound, Personae

Jon Elek (Queen Mary, University of London)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Pound’s third volume – his first commercially successful one – was published by Elkin Matthews, the proprietor of a prominent London bookshop just off Piccadilly Circus. It should not be confused with a 1926 book of the same name, which gathers most of Pound’s poetry outside his

Cantos

. Both volumes are in effect collections, although the 1909

Personae

includes seventeen poems published for the first time. These represent a key phase in Pound’s poetic development, and are the subject of this entry.

The concept of the “persona” (or its plural, “personae”) occupies a central position in Pound’s poetic process. It translates into English as “mask” but Pound’s fidelity to the Latin reflects a particular literary parentage, namely that of Robert Browning. Browning’s

1052 words

Citation: Elek, Jon. "Personae". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 April 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2841, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2841 Personae 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.