Pietro Comba guided the group through a lively discussion on Plotinus’ version of Neoplatonism, the impact this had on Pound, and how it helps us interpret the poem “Plotinus” from A Lume Spento, as well as Canto 15.

The meeting started with a brief discussion of the MacKenna vs Taylor translations of The Enneads. Pietro discussed how Pound owned a copy of Mead’s re-issue of Taylor’s translation, and that as a result Pietro had used that text as a foundation for today’s presentation.

From there Pietro led us through some of the background to Pound’s introduction to occultism and theosophy, starting quite early in his life through his contact with Katherine R. Heyman. We spoke of the “mystical zeitgeist” at play in larger society, the influences played by the Theosophical Society, the Quest Society, and later Pound’s personal contact with G.R.S. Mead.

From there we were led into one of the first readings of today’s session: Mead’s introduction to Taylor’s Select Works of Plotinus. We discussed the Hindu conceptual underlayer to [or parallels with] Neoplatonism (at least as perceived by Mead), with discussions of metempsychosis, the Neoplatonic concept of “the One”, and Neoplatonic parallels with samsara and nirvana.

From there Pietro led the group through a discussion of Pound’s “Plotinus”, explaining how Ennead 6.9 directly informs the wording in the poem, providing a number of examples, starting right with the very first words of, “As ONE…” and recounting how a key concept is the memory of the divine which is unable to be explicated in human language. Discussion of “Anima Sola” also from A Lume Spento followed.

We spoke of Pound’s emphasis upon the condition of LONELINESS, including elements found in the San Trovaso Notebook, and how there appear in these pieces a search for a method of depersonalization, related to the use of masks as a method of objectification, aiding in the search for oneself.

Pietro gave us an excellent reading of Canto XV, and the discussion continued, fueled by this new text.

The discussion revolved around the parallels between the narrative use of Virgil in Dante, versus Plotinus for Pound, and we saw how this use of Neoplatonism in Pound’s work was, in particular, a version of Neoplatonism tinged with Theosophical thinking. Related to this, John brought up the Upanishads and a recurring focus on “the East.”

This led into an engaging discussion with contributions from Jeff, John, Louis and Tyler about the “grab-bag of influences” Pound borrowed from in his writings, and moreover how this grab-bag evolved over time. Adding to this conversation Pietro brought up Pound’s confrontation, growing over time, with Egyptian culture. At this point Louis brings up Canto 81, discussions of “Intelligence” and how the use of silence & loneliness is more consistent in the early Cantos, and more consistent with this Plotinian influence. Pietro uses this point to argue that the young Pound was clearly struggling to separate his roles, or struggle with his roles, qua poet, in the role of prophet vs imposter.

At this point Pietro led a discussion of some of the elements of Plotinus which specifically would have appealed to Pound, including the intellectually-appealing aspects of a primarily negative theology, the generic religious sensibility (as opposed to dogma), and the distance it would have provided him from the Protestant sensibility of his youth in Philadelphia.

This discussion in turn led Ben to bring up the role of the poet, as perceived by Pound, as a beacon of individualism within an otherwise totalizing cultural system, and the concept that the Poet is part of a caste which is tasked with advising on the direction of society. Discussion bounced around from Rimbaud’s “Je est un autre” to the metaphorical meaning of the Medusa image, to poetry as “going internal” vs poetry engaged with external society. Ezra brough up the fascist conception of the state as corporation, linking this to Pound’s aestheticism, and the conception that it is the state’s role to allow the best art to be made.

Finally, the group ended with a discussion of the role of the body, and the material world more generally, within Neoplatonism, as a source of evil versus a source of ignorance, and Tyler brings up how later Neoplatonists, following Plotinus, also show up in Pound’s thought and Cantos.

It was an engaging and thought-provoking discussion of Neoplatonism, surely one of the key philosophical pillars in Pound’s writing, and everyone thanked Pietro for such an excellent session.