Ezra Pound, Cathay

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Ernest Fenollosa, an American academic, formerly of Tokyo University and curator of Oriental Art at Boston University, died in London in 1908. Among his papers was a collection of Chinese poetry with notes and draft translations which Fenollosa had been working on under the guidance of two Japanese scholars. In 1913 his widow Mary, discerning a connection between Pound's emerging imagism and her late husband's theories about Chinese poetry, made Pound literary executor of Fenollosa's papers. In this way the material upon which

Cathay

was based came into Pound's hands.

Pound's made a selection, according to Cathay's subtitle note “For the most part from the Chinese of Rihaku, from the notes of the late Ernest Fenollosa, and the decipherings of the Professors Mori and Ariga”. Pound is

994 words

Citation: Wilson, Peter. "Cathay". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 December 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8993, accessed 19 March 2024.]

8993 Cathay 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.

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