Author Description

"Ezra Pound and Hilda Doolittle, who used the pseudonym H.D., are among the most important American modernist poets. In this comparative study, Jacob Korg examines their intertwined lives, from an early romantic relationship and brief engagement when both writers were in their early twenties, through an ongoing friendship, rivalry, and artistic dialogue that helped shape their work. Drawing on unpublished letters and manuscripts as well as published works, Korg offers a fresh view of two American artists and a wholly unexpected portrait of Pound - examined here, for the first time, through the context of a female modernist." "Korg discusses the partnership of Pound and H.D. in founding Imagism, a poetic style that strongly influenced twentieth-century poetry. He compares the poems they wrote on such similar themes as love, war, the occult, and the tumultuous events of their time and examines the subtle stylistic influences they exchanged, showing how each used the other as a figure in poems, novels, or memoirs. Winter Love, the title of a poem H.D. wrote toward the end of her life, expresses the intensely conflicting emotions Pound still aroused in her. Korg delves revealingly into the conflicts between the two poets throughout their years as lovers, friends, and literary collaborators and rivals."--Jacket.