In a letter dated 22 January 1934 to his protégé James Laughlin, Pound makes passing reference to R.P. Blackmur, who had written a long unflattering essay, 'Masks of Ezra Pound', in an issue of the periodical Hound and Horn (which Pound renamed Bitch - Bugle). Next day he refers to it again - '24 depressing pages'. A year later there is an angry letter to Blackmur on the subject, sent, however, to Laughlin, perhaps to be sent on. Blackmur is accused of 'placid and conceited ignorance': 'you pups who are born omniscient ... and utterly indifferent to FACT never never never will understand the need for data before assumption.' Three years later there is a reference to Blackamoor; and in 1949 the article was still not forgotten.

LRB 26 January 1995 | PDF Download