Besides having one of the most terrifyingly brutal pun-ready names in the English language, Pound was one of the 20th century's great American poets. This dude was important for single-handedly crafting the tradition of Modernist poetry and quite literally shaping the work of other players of the period, such as T.S. Eliot and H.D.

Pound's Imagism, which morphed into Vorticism after 1913, gave poetry in English its focus on simple, concrete diction and spare syntax, as well as its emphasis on strong visual imagery, which continues to this day. Pound it.

Cathay

As well as being one of the century's most important poets, Pound was also a scholar. Way to overachieve, Pound. In Cathay, his re-working of Chinese poetry, he remakes an entire tradition new to English speakers. See "Make It New" for more awesomeness.

Hugh Selwyn Mauberly

This is Pound's response to WWI from the perspective of a Prufrock-esque narrator. Like Eliot's poem "The Lovesong Of J. Alfred Prufrock," Hugh Selwyn demands patience and effort from readers, but it offers bigtime rewards. Also like Eliot's work, this poem brings ancient ideas and texts into the present.

"In a Station of the Metro"

Pound's quintessentially Imagist work. Short and sweet. We'll discuss it more in our analysis section—mosey on over and check it out.

Chew on This:

Poetry probably began as prayers or magical chants intended to work changes in the world. Pound can be read as going back to the really ancient roots of the poetic tradition, making it clear that he found the modern world as full of magic as it ever was.

Pound can also be read as expressing that the modern world was so messed-up that it was in dire need of a little magic.