canto XLVII - Sources

De Gourmont, Remy. The Natural Philosophy of Love. Translated with a postcript by Ezra Pound. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1922. Hathi Trust.

Frazer, James, George. “The Myth of Adonis.” In The Golden Bough. Abridged 3rd. edition: London: Macmillan, 1922. 324-7. Wikisource.

Note: Mary de Rachewiltz indicated that Pound owned an edition of 1925 of J. G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough. Though I could not locate this particular year, Pound may have owned a reprint of the one-volume third edition, published in 1922. This edition considerably amplified the material on Adonis compared to the first edition of 1890.

Bione Smirneo. “Canto Funebre d’Adone.” Tradotto da Giuseppe Pagnini. In Teocrito, Mosco, Bione, Anacreonte, Saffo, Tirteo. Venezia: Antonio Zatta e figli, 1795. 188-92. [Pound owned: Bione. Mosco. Teocrito. Venezia: Giovanni Gatti, 1781 (Redman 216)].

ΒΙΩΝΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΜΥΡΝΑΙΟΥ. ΣΠΙΤΑΦΙΟΣ ΑΔΩΝΙΔΟΣ. [Bionos Tou Smyrnaiou. Epitaphios Adonidos]. In Poetae Minores Graeci 4 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1816. II: 237-44. Hathi Trust. 

Drafts held at the Beinecke Library:

73/3291 - probably first version of 47. Carbon, heavily corrected. This version does not resemble the finished poem.

73/3292 - carbon of 47, almost entire, but bearing the number 42. The archive placement, as well as Pound’s XLII in red pencil suggest that 47 is earliest of the volume, drafted before 46 and 45.

73/3293 - clean carbon of 47.

73/3294 - top carbon with plenty of corrections in ink. Sheet marked 42 (typewritten) shows Pound initially intended to start the decad with the Pleiades and plowing.

Note on Sources