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copy of poem by Ezra Pound which reminds John Cornford of EPS's book

British Museum, W. C. - Neither Mrs [Marie] Stopes nor [Ezra] Pound know Japanese, so he 'refuse[s] to be put in the same category'. Mrs Stopes 'talks a little colloquial' but there is 'abundant evidence' that the translations in her work were 'done by her Japanese collaborator [Jōji Sakurai]'. Has not met her, but 'you can tell exactly what she is like from reading her book'; Pound 'knows and dislikes her, which is on the whole in her favour'. Nothing happening about the publication of his poems: Squire has not yet 'moved' about putting some in the "New Statesman". Sent a copy of the '"reprint"' to Ka Cox suggesting it might give Constable [& Co, publishers] a 'less tedious impression than typescript', but has not heard from her. Sent a copy to [Bertrand?] Russell, who was 'very kind about it', as were 'Leonard [Woolf] and his wife, who want to print some, & shall - failing everything else'. Is keenest that people should be led to share his conviction that Po Chu-I is 'one of the great poets of the world', but 'perhaps one cannot prove it by 38 translations'. Believes that the 'Opposition consists... of the Stracheys & Alix [Sargant-Florence?], who will not read them till I do them in Popian couplets, with long 's's, bound in calf'. Does agree with them that 'Pope is the only readable translator of Homer'. Also sent his book to [Gordon] Bottomley.

13, Hanover Terrance, Ladbroke Grove, W. - Apologises for not writing sooner; has heard 'a good deal' about Trevelyan from Francis [Birrell?], [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson and [Harry] Norton. Is working on Li Po 'in deference to the wishes of the public', translating, amongst others 'about 15 that have been done before' by Giles, St-Denys, Pound and so on; when it is printed, it may 'amuse' Trevelyan to compare the versions. Has not changed his own opinion of Li Po at all, but is 'taking a lot of trouble with him', he thinks he may be 'making him seem better than he is'. Impossible to get across in translation that Li Po is 'so largely a patchwork': for instance, the reference in the "River Merchant's Wife" to Wei who appears in 'the "Robber Che [Chih]" (chapter 29 of "Chuang Tzu" [Zhuangzi])", or that in another poem to the sailor with whom seagulls played in "Lieh Tzu [Liezi]"; St-Denys had obviously never read Lieh Tzu. The Oxford [University] Press has accepted his "Japanese Poetry: the Uta", which will come out in the spring. Heard a story about Alix [Sargant Florence] in Cornwall: she wanted to try the cream, but was told it 'would only be sold in compliance with a doctor's certificate', so she wrote to James [Strachey] to get one from Noel [Olivier] who refused; supposes this was when she and Norton were in Cornwall. Now she is there with James, who has flu. Lytton is also ill, with shingles. Rather likes Fredegond [Shove]'s poems ["Dreams and Journeys"?] except for 'the sonnets & the mysticism; Norton 'complained they reminded him of country holidays'. Has talked to Adrian Stephen a few times at the [1917?] Club, and likes him 'better than Norton, or Clive [Bell], or James'. Asks if Trevelyan has seen W. H. Davies's new book; has not read it properly himself, but there are some 'good things in it'. Davies was recently annoyed that the newspapers had described his clothes at a poetry reading as 'homely', when his 'buttons alone cost more than anything Yeats had on'. Has had a 'very kind and generous letter from Cranmer-Byng, a quite unsollicited [sic] "peccavi"'.

The Gallows, Ryton, Dymock. - Very glad to hear that Bob may be at Silverdale while he and his family are at Grange [over Sands]:will be 'extremely nice' to see him, and the 'smaller points of the "Annual [of New Poetry"' will be easier to discuss in person than writing. Agrees with Bob about [Thomas Sturge] Moore's suggestions so much [see 20/51] that it is 'scarcely necessary to discuss them further': an annual embracing the 'whole of English current poetry might be a laudable project', but one 'totally different from the one proposed', and he personally would feel no interest in it. An annual including Kipling and Ezra Pound would 'command only a very faint and academic interest' in him and he expects also in Bob, Wilfrid [Gibson] and Gordon [Bottomley]; let people call them a 'clique' if they like. Including such contributors would increase the circulation, but also result in a 'more drastic division of profits'; they might possibly if the whole 'board' agreed invite 'some special celebrity to contribute to some particular number', but this should not 'threaten [their] close corporation'. If this is done, is sure it is 'unfair & unpoetic to pay by the page'; they should discuss this, but as an example he insisted that the profits for "New Numbers" should be divided equally, despite some resistance, and it was 'Rupert [Brooke]'s six pages of sonnets' that led to it selling out, not his own or Wilfrid's 'voluminosities'. Since Bob 'partly agree[s]' with him, he will discusss this more when they meet.

British Museum, W.C. - Lucky that he did not come [to visit Bob, see 17/4], as he developed flu; is alright now, and asks if the weekend of 17 May would work instead. Hopes the Shoves came; has not seen them; sure Francis [Birrell?] arrived. Has been 'deluged' with proofs for "Jap[anese] Poetry", "The Story of Ts'ui Ying-ying ", and "More Translations from Chinese", though the last is not due to be published until September so he need not rush. Asks if Bob would be kind enough to look it over after Miss [Beryl] de Zoete, who is 'fairly good at spotting howlers'. The sum he mentioned as a possible fee from the Art Theatre '[for Bob translating Aeschylus' "Prometheus", see 17/2?] was too large; believes it would be about twenty-five pounds, but this is unofficial. Enjoyed James [Strachey]'s piece about Claudel's "L'Otage" in the "Athenaeum", as well as Lytton [Strachey]'s essay on Lady Hester Stanhope [in the issues of 4 and 11 April]; it 'ought to be rather an entertaining periodical under its new management'.

Received a cheque for a hundred and forty five pounds from Constable; this seemed very little, but it turned out to be for his cousin Adolf Waley for "The Re-making of China". He himself had sold about 1300 copies [of "A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems"] by 31 December. Asks Bob whether he agreed terms with Constable for his [translation of Sophocles'] "Ajax"; heard that he could not do so with Unwin. Yoshio Markino visited him yesterday and 'got very excited trying to write down his favourite Chinese poems'; however, he could not remember the characters and 'sat holding his head in his hands & groaning'; he learned them in Japan as a child, nearly fifty years ago. Heard from [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson 'discovering a "Chinese passage" in Shakespeare'; has 'not quite succeeded in deciphering his letter'. Dickinson also told him that Thomas Hardy prefers Cranmer-Byng to him which is 'hardly surprising'; he was 'astonished' to hear Hardy liked his own versions at all. Ezra Pound is going to settle at Toulouse, where he will 'wake up the sleepy Meridionals'. Wonders if [John] Rodker's [Ovid] Press has begun to print yet; feels he should order some books from it, but knows he would 'hate them so when they came'. Has got a gramophone and 'catalogues of all the exotic music of the Globe' but does not know how to choose. Has lots of 'India, Chinese, Lithuanian, Russian, Arabian, Serbian, Hungarian and Spanish records [to choose from?]'; has only got Mozart and rag-time at present.