Abdu'l-Baha and Ezra Pound's Circle
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Elham Afnan, Abdu'l-Baha and Ezra Pound's Circle, bahai-library.com.
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‘Abdu’l-Bahà and Ezra Pound’s Circle
Elham Afnan

Abstract
The beginning of the twentieth century saw the emergence in the West of new and
revolutionary movements in both literature and religion. Viewing themselves as the
harbingers of a new age, these movements frequently found expression in terms of a
radical break with the past as well as a resurgence of dormant powers and traditions.
Their paths frequently intersected: sometimes in well-publicized confrontations or much-
discussed collaborations, just as often through fleeting personal contacts that were little
noted by most of the world. This paper examines an example of the latter type of contact,
albeit one that has extensive and fascinating ramifications. The event in question is the
meeting between Ezra Pound, the famous American modernist poet, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahd.
Investigation of the contact ‘Abdu'1-Bahá had with Pound reveals links between the
Baha’i Faith and a number of important avant-garde circles in the West, and thereby
sheds light on hitherto unexplored areas of religious and literary history.

Résumé
Le début du XXe siècle a vu naître en Occident des mouvements nouveaux et
v révolutionnaires, tant dans le domaine des belles-lettres que dans celui de la religion.
Ces mouvements, qui se voyaient comme les précurseurs d’un âge nouveau, se
manifestaient souvent par une rupture radicale du passé ainsi que par la réémergence de
pouvoirs et de traditions alors tenues en veilleuse. Leurs chemins bien souvent se
croisaient cela se manifestait dans certains cas par des confrontations ou des
collaborations notoires, mais cela pouvait aussi prendre la forme de brefs contacts
personnels qui demeuraient peu connus de la plupart du monde. L’auteur se penche sur
l’un de ces contacts personnels qui, bien que passé inaperçu, a néanmoins eu des
répercussions à la fois étendues et fascinantes. Il s’agit, en T occurrence, d’une
rencontre qui eut lieu entre Ezra Pound, le célèbre poète américain moderniste, et
‘Abdu l-Bahá. Un examen approfondi de la rencontre de ces deux êtres fait découvrir
des liens entre la foi bahd’ie et un certain nombre de cercles avant-gardistes
ď envergure en Occident, et met en lumière des parties de l’histoire religieuse et
littéraire jusque là inexplorées.

Resumen
El comienzo del siglo veinte se caracterizô por el surgimiento de movimientos nuevos y
revolucionarios tanto en la literatura como en la religion. Considerândose ellos mismos
como precursores de una nueva época, estos movimientos con frecuencia conse'guian
desarrollar sus propôsitos al margen de un rompimiento drâstico con lo del pasado o
mediante el resurgimiento de podereš y tradiciones anteriormehte en desuso.
Ocasionalmente sus caminos se cruzaban, a veces en altercados ampliamente difundidos
o en muy discutidas colaboraciones, o por Ultimas valiéndose de contactos personates
THE J O U R N A L OF B A H Á Í S T U D I E S                 6.2.1994

considerados de poca importancia por el resto del murtdo. Esta disertación estudia un
ejemplo de este ultimo tipo de encuentro cuyos resultados fueron extensos e
interesantisimos. El acontecimiento referido es el encuentro del famoso poeta
modernista norteamerican Ezra Pound con ‘Abdu l-Bahá. La investigación de la
reunion que sostuvo ‘Abdu’l-Bahá con Pound trae a luz los vinculos entre la Fe Bahà’iy
otras esferas de vanguardia importantes, iluminando sectores anteriormente no
explorados de la historia religiosa y literaria.

The Bahà’i Teachings and the Intellectual Milieu of Modernism
Perhaps the most influential movement in literature and art in the first half of
the twentieth century was that of modernism. Drawing on such intellectual
precursors as Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud, the modernists questioned many of
the traditional modes of social organization, religion, and morality, as well as
conceptions of the human self that were at the basis of Western culture. They
experimented with new forms and styles of writing that would “render
contemporary disorder, often contrasting it to a lost order that had been based
on the religion and myths of the cultural past” (Abrams, Glossary 109).
Although modernism was at its height following the First World War, its
foundations were being laid from the early part of the century by avant-garde
artists and authors who were undertaking, in Ezra Pound’s phrase, “to make it
new’’ (quoted in Abrams, Glossary 109).
Certainly the most influential religious movement to come to the West
during this early period in the rise of modernism was the Bahà’i Faith. From its
early days, the Bahà’i Faith had attracted the attention of Westerners. As early
as 1865, orientalists such as Comte de Gobineau, Lord Curzon, A.-L.-M.
Nicolas and Edward Granville Browne began taking great interest in the
development of the Bábi and later the Bahà’i Faith. In 1894, Ibrahim Kheiralla,
a Syrian Bahà’i, settled in Chicago and began systematically to teach the cause
he had espoused, achieving remarkable success. Although later he defected
from the religion, many of those he first introduced to Bahà’i teachings came to
be among the most devoted followers of Bahà’u’ilàh and further spread the
Bahà’i Faith to England and Canada.
By 1911, there were a number of BaháT communities in centers through
much of Europe and across most of North America. However, it was ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá who was instrumental in establishing the new religion in the West.
‘AbduT-Bahá, recently released from prison, was finally able to respond to the
Western Bahà’is’ repeated appeals and embarked, despite his advanced age and
broken health, on a three-year journey to Egypt, Europe, and North America.
He first arrived in London on 4 September 1911. After a stay of about a month,
he went to Paris, where he stayed for nine weeks. He sailed to New York the
following March and travelled from coast to coast during an eight-month tour.
He arrived back in England in December, 1912, and proceeded to travel in
Europe before returning home to Haifa on 5 December 1913.
‘A h du' l - Buhú a n d Ez r a Pound' s Ci r c l e                   3

During his extensive travels, ‘AbduT-Bahá met a great many socially
prominent people. One of the most interesting and significant of these meetings,
however, has until now gone without notice or comment. This is 'AbduT-
Bahii’s meeting with American poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) in London, on 28
September 1911. As one of the founders of the Imagist school of poetry, a
champion of the modernist movement, and a patron of many important literary
figures, Pound is recognized as one of the central figures in the twentieth-
century revolution in poetry. The lack of comment on his meeting with ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá is perhaps due to the fact that the meeting was an isolated incident which
appeared to have little influence on subsequent events in the lives of either
‘AbduT-Bahá or Pound. However, Pound not only referred to the meeting,
although briefly, in several letters, he also incorporated it into his major poetic
work. The Cantos.
Ezra Pound met ‘AbduT-Bahá on the latter’s first trip to England. This fact
by itself would perhaps not be particularly significant were it not for a certain
common ground between ‘AbduT-Bahà’s message and some of Pound’s ideas.
As a world religion, the Bahà’i Faith “upholds the unity of God, recognizes the
unity of His Prophets, and inculcates the principle of the oneness and wholeness
of the human race” (Shoghi Effendi, Faith 8), a principle it seeks to realize
through laws and teachings for the individual as well as an administrative order
for society as a whole. However, like all religions, it also has strong mystic
elements that deal with humanity’s spiritual life and the operations of divine
revelation in the world. This latter concern with spiritual matters is shared to
some extent by various occult movements, especially many that flourished at
the turn of the century.

The Bahà’i Faith and Occult Movements at the Turn of the
Century
Pound was deeply interested in the occult and became more intimately associated
with it when he emigrated from the United States to England. Both his poetry
and prose express, often in esoteric terms, his mystical views. This aspect of his
thought has not been widely recognized and has received scholarly attention only
recently. Many of the people and publications with which both Pound and
‘AbduT-Bahá had some contact are, to varying degrees, related to occult circles.
One of the central concepts of the BaháT Faith, affirming the oneness of
divine truth, is that of progressive revelation. In the words of ‘AbduT-Bahá,
“The religion of God is one religion, but it must ever be renewed” (Selections
52). The prophets of God are all mediators between God and humanity, and
they have all taught the same essential truths. Through the passage of time,
however, religions “change from their original foundation, the truth of the
Religion of God entirely departs, and the spirit of it does not stay; heresies
appear, and it becomes a body without a soul. That is why it is renewed”
4          TH E J O U R N A L OF B A H Á ’ I S T U D I E S           6.2.1994

(‘Abdu’l-Bahà, Some Answered Questions 166). The Bahà’i Faith teaches that
knowledge of God is available to all those who accept and obey the words of
God as revealed through the divine religion for each age.
There are obvious parallels to this idea among occultists. One group which
voiced a belief in a single truth that unites all cultures was the Quest Society.
G. R. S. Mead, initially secretary to Madame Blavatsky, the founder of the
Theosophical Society, split with Annie Besant, Blavatsky’s successor, and
formed the Quest Society in 1910. He published many articles in The Quest, for
instance those of Jessie Weston, which argued for the persistence of ancient
traditions that had once been the expressions of divine revelation. Expressed in
ancient times through ritual, but later suppressed and driven underground, these
traditions still survive in secret, unknown to all but the initiate. Pound’s
“Psychology and Troubadours,” first published in The Quest in 1912, articulates
a similar position by maintaining that Provençal troubadours developed their
own unofficial mysticism and safeguarded it against the oppressive rule of the
Church by cultivating an esoteric tradition kept secret from all but a select few.
The emphasis here is on the ecstatic experiences of individuals who are initiated
into the inner mysteries of the occult. This is very different from the Bahá’1
approach, which has no rituals and no initiation rites, secret or otherwise. Still
the belief in a truth that survives or is renewed throughout history is certainly a
point of agreement between the two groups.
The Quest welcomed “contributions which exemplify the investigation and
comparative study of religion, philosophy and science as complementary to one
another in aiding the search for that reality which alone can give complete
satisfaction” (Mead, “The Quest” 290). Strangely, it made no mention of
‘Abdu'1-Bahá during his stay in London, although harmony between science
and religion and the investigation of truth were themes upon which he
expounded frequently in his talks. There are, however, two interesting articles
that appeared in The Quest just before ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s arrival. One is an essay
by Wellesley Tudor-Pole, entitled “The Passing of Major P.,” which discusses
spiritual life, the ethereal body, and related mystical topics. What is of interest
is that in September that year, Tudor-Pole was present at the. City Temple,
Holbom, where ‘Abdu’l-Bahà gave his first public address. He spoke in Persian
and “the translation was afterwards read by Mr. W. Tudor-Pole” (Christian
Commonwealth). Tudor-Pole had previously met ‘Abdu’l-Bahà in Egypt in
1910 and was later his host in Bristol. A devoted admirer, he later exerted every
effort in his capacity as a major in the British army stationed in Palestine to
ensure ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s safety during World War I.
Another article that appeared in The Quest in July 1911 was the record of a
general meeting of the Quest Society held on 23 March 1911. The topic of the
meeting had been “Can any great religion admit spiritual equality with other
great religions?” The proceedings are fully recorded and show that spokesmen
for the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim viewpoints were Claude G. Montefiore,
‘A b d u ’ l - B a h á a n d E z r a P o u n d ’s C i r c l e                  5

Rev. Roland Corbet, and Syed Ameer Ali, respectively. All were progressive
and open-minded exponents of their religious traditions and well known and
respected in their fields.
Montefiore was among the speakers when nearly 500 people gathered at
Passmore Edwards’ Settlement, Tavistock Place, on 29 September to hear
‘Abdu’l-Bahá speak of Bahà’uTlàh’s teachings:

He brought the light o f guidance to the world. . . . He sought to destroy the
foundations o f religious and racial prejudice and o f political rivalry. He likened the
world of humanity to a tree, and all the nations to its branches and the people to its
leaves, buds and fruits. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London 37)

Afterwards, “Mr. Claude Montefiore . . . rejoiced in the growth of the spirit of
unity, and regarded that meeting as prophetic of the better time to come. . . ”
( ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London 35). Ameer Ali met ‘AbduT-Bahá during ‘Abdu’l-
Bahà’s second visit to England when he spoke at the Woking mosque in Surrey
on 18 January 1913. He was followed by Ali, “member of the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council, who paid Him high tribute” (Balyuzi, ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá 370-71). Corbet was also among those who called on ‘AbduT-Bahá in
London (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 285).
New Age was another literary magazine whose editor, A. R. Orage, had
occult interests. He first started his magazine with financing from George
Bernard Shaw and Lewis Wallace, both of whom had theosophical leanings.
Pound, whose “Patria M ia” first appeared in N ew Age, was a regular
contributor; the magazine was in fact his “principal source of financial support
since 1911” (Surette, A Light 80). “Notes of the Week,” a regular column
written by Orage himself, includes the following entry for 21 September 1911 :

Seeds of strange religions are wafted from time to time on our shores. But fortunately
or unfortunately, they do not find the soil in us in which to flourish. . . . The latest to
land in public is Bahaism, of which, indeed many o f us have heard in private these
many years. (484)

The comments coincide with ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s arrival in London. It is clear that
Orage had had some previous contact with the BaháT Faith although he makes no
other mention of it in his column during the remainder of ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s stay.
Beneath the sardonic tone of the comment is an undercurrent of respect as
Orage continues to quote a BaháT' teaching:

We are told       . A Bahai must take part in some work for the benefit o f the
community.” From this we forecast less success in England for Bahaism than for
Christian Science, let us say, that makes no such demands on the idle rich. (Orage,
“Notes" 484)                                         •
6           TH E J O U R N A L OF B A H A ’I S T U D I E S                  6.2.1994

The concluding prognostication, which perhaps explains the lack of further
attention to BaháT ideas on Orage’s part, is interesting for its inaccuracy.
' Abdu’I-Bahà was in fact enthusiastically welcomed by large numbers of people
in England, and many publications noted his presence and quoted from the
principles he enunciated.
The Times of London, for instance, printed an announcement of ‘Abdu’l-
Bahà’s arrival on 6 September 1911, two days after his arrival. The New York
Times had already published several articles about his impending journey to
England, including a full-page report on Bahà’i history on 2 July and a
description of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá together with his photograph on 24 September. In
the following months, and again during ‘AbduT-Bahà’s second visit in early
1913, two English reviews carried at least four lengthy accounts of various
features of BaháT history and teachings.

Newspaper Coverage of ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s Visit
Contemporary Review begins its article, titled “Bahaism: The Birth of a World
Religion,” with a quotation from ‘AbduT-Bahá: “There is one God; Mankind is
one, and the foundations of religion are one” (Johnson, Bahaism 391). The writer
proceeds to give a detailed, and for the most part accurate, history of the religion
of the Báb and Bahà’u’Hàh, and then goes on to summarize its teachings with
special emphasis on its ultimate aim, the spiritual unification of humanity.
Another journal which gave prominent coverage to ‘AbduT-Bahà’s message
was Fortnightly Review, to which Pound, as well as other literary figures such as
Roger Fry, Hilaire Belloc, Thomas Hardy, and Ford Maddox Ford, were
contributing in the same period. The earliest article, “Abbas Effendi: His
Personality, Work and Followers” (June, 1911) by E. S. Stevens, is based partly on
the author’s personal experiences during a visit to ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s household in
Palestine at the turn of the century. In the same year, Stevens also published The
Mountain o f God, a novel “which revolved around the lives of the BaháT
community in the Haifa-*Akká area.. . . ‘AbduT-Bahá himself, although appearing
only once in the book in person, pervades the whole book by the influence that he
exerts on the characters” (Momen, Bábi and Bahďí Religions 50).
A second article, appearing in April, 1912, in the same volume as Pound’s
“Canzone: of Angels,” is Constance E. Maud’s impressions of ‘AbduT-Bahá.
In the house where he and his entourage were staying,

came a constant stream of all sorts and conditions of men and women. Christians of
every denomination, Buddhists o f every nationality, Theosophists, Zoroastrians and
Mahometans, Agnostics and Gnostics. To all he spoke some individual message, and
to their varied questions he gave a simple, direct, and quite spontaneous answer. . . .
Abdul Baha possesses an amazing power of going straight to the core o f men and
things. (Maud, “Abdul-Baha” 708-9)
‘   A b d u ’ l-Bahá and Ezra Hound’s Circl e                                7

The last article, also by Maud, concerns Táhirih, “The First Persian
Feminist,” one of the Bâb’s earliest disciples and a poet “gifted not only with
exceptional beauty, but with intellectual gills" (Maud, “First Persian Feminist”
1176). An eloquent and fearless expounder of the Bâb’s teachings, Táhirih
proclaimed his inauguration of a new religious dispensation by appearing
unveiled before a company of the Bab’s followers. Before her martyrdom in the
midst of the wave of persecution that engulfed the Bábi community, she is
reported to have declared, “You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot
stop the emancipation of women” (quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By
75). She thus became an emblem of the BaháT principle of the equality of the
sexes, a principle to which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá frequently referred in his talks.
Another publication that paid great attention to ‘AbduT-Bahá was the
Christian Commonwealth, edited by Albert Dawson. The unofficial organ of the
City Temple, it reported in full ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s address at that church. R. J.
Campbell, the Congregationalist pastor of the City Temple from 1902 to 1915,
“placed the distinguished visitor in his own chair” and, addressing the large
congregation, said, “We have a visitor in the pulpit whose presence is somewhat
significant of the spiritual drawing together of East and West.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
then stepped forward and “with considerable animation, his voice rising and
falling as in a rhythmic chant,” spoke:

Today the light of truth is shining upon the world in its abundance. . . . The banner of
the Holy Spirit is uplifted, and men see it, and are assured with the knowledge that
this is a new da y . . . . This is a new cycle of human power. (Christian 13 Sept. 1911)

A week later, the Christian Commonwealth once again gave full details, on
its front page, of ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s address at St. John’s, Westminster, at the
invitation of Archdeacon Wilberforce. “Man all over the world is seeking for
God,” said ‘AbduT-Bahá, “but the Reality of Divinity is holy above all
understanding.” Expounding on the BaháT belief in God as an
incom prehensible Essence who can only be known through divine
Manifestations, he continued:

How can the temporal and phenomenal comprehend the Lord o f Hosts? . . . The
perfect man, the Prophet, is one . . . who has the purity and clearness o f a perfect
mirror— one who reflects the Sun o f Truth. . . . Therefore men have always been
taught and led by the Prophets of God. The Prophets of God are the mediators o f
God. (Christian 20 Sept. 1911)

On 30 September 1911, ‘AbduT-Bahá also met with the Theosophical
Society at its new headquarters at the invitation of Annie Besant, its president.
After words of welcome by A. P. Sinnett, ‘AbduT-Bahá commended “the
eagerness of the Society in it:, scutch fut Truth" ('Ahdit'l Bahâ in London 26)
8           TH E J O U R N A L OF B A H À ’ Î S T U D I E S                    6.2.1994

and delivered an address on the distinctive features of the BaháT teachings. The
text of this talk is quoted at the end of the article by H. Johnson in
Contemporary Review, cited above, under the title “A short summary of the
teaching of Bahà’u’ilàh: specially contributed by ‘AbduT-Bahá.”

Pound’s Meeting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahà
Shortly before this, on 22 September 1911, Ezra Pound had written to Dorothy
Shakespear, his future wife, that “they tell me I’m likely to meet the Bahi
[‘AbduT-Bahá] next week in order to find out whether I know more about
heaven than he does. Whatever the decision, I bet I can give him points on
‘Helsewhere’ ” (Letters 63). A week later, he wrote Margaret Cravens, a friend
who lived in Paris, “I met the Bahi yesterday, he is a dear old man. I wonder
would you like to meet him, he goes to Paris next week. I’ll arrange for you
anyhow & you can go or not, as you like” (Ezra Pound and Margaret Cravens
90). On 6 October, he wrote Margaret again:

The Bahi— Abdul Baha, Abbas Effendi, or whatever you like to call him, is at the
Dreyfus Barney’s . . . and any one interested in the movement can write and see him
there by appointment. Its [sic] more important than Cezanne, & not in the least like what
you’d expect of an oriental religious now. At least, I went to conduct an inquisition &
came away feeling that questions would have been an impertinence. The whole point is
that they have done instead o f talking, and a persian movement for religious unity that
claims the feminine soul equal to the male, & puts Christ above Buddha, to the horror of
the Theosophists, is worth while. Even if a lot of silly people do get mixed up in it. (95)

The change in attitude is significant and representative of many responses to
‘Abdu'1-Bahà’s personality. Pound goes from arrogant prejudgment to respect
and admiration, seemingly in spite of himself. His tone remains slightly
dismissive, but the admission of genuine surprise at the progressive beliefs of an
“oriental religious” and of awe at ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s presence indicates the extent
of the influence ‘Abdu’l-Bahà exerted on even those bent on inquisition.
Pound’s understanding of ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s message, as he recounts it in this
letter, is more or less correct as far as it goes, although it is neither complete nor
profound as indeed it cannot be based on a single interview. It is instructive to
compare some of Pound’s assertions with ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s recorded remarks. For
instance. Pound mentions the fundamental purpose of achieving unity and refers
to the equality of the female and male souls, a topic ‘AbduT-Bahá addressed
repeatedly in his talks and letters: “... in the sight of Bahá, women are accounted
the same as men, and God hath created all humankind in His own image. . . .
men and women alike are the revealers of His names and attributes, and from the
spiritual viewpoint there is no difference between them” (Selections 79-80).
The next observation regarding Buddha, although doubtless appealing to
Pound as it entails the discomfiture of the Theosophists, whom he seems to
view as “silly people," is nevertheless inaccurate, in speaking of Buddhism,
‘A b d u ’ l - B a h á a n d E z r a P o u n d ’s C i r c l e        9

‘AbduT-Bahá expressed the Bahà’i belief that all religions come from the same
divine source. In this respect, “The real teaching of Buddha is the same as the
teaching of Jesus Christ.” However, he also explained that in the course of time
Buddhism, like other religions, has strayed away from its original teachings so
that “if you look at the present practice of the Buddhist religion, you will see
that there is little of the Reality left” ( ‘A b d u ’l-Bahá in London 63).
Characteristically, Pound mentions only the part of the comments that
corresponds to his own views.
It is interesting, however, to note that before meeting him, Pound seems to
have considered himself, in the letter to Dorothy, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s equal or
superior in knowledge of the other world. After the meeting, however, he
concedes ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s superiority. The admission, revealing in any case, is
all the more significant if we take Pound’s initial claim seriously.
Pound’s first response is in many ways typical of his approach to religion and
makes his later comments on ‘AbduT-Bahá perhaps more understandable.
Demetres Tryphonopoulos writes in an article on The Cantos that “Pound’s
‘religious’ ideas form a mosaic out of elements selected from a wide variety of
pagan mystery religions and occult movements. . . . Pound nowhere takes the step
of attempting to organize his religious ideas into a coherent system” (“The Cantos”
9). In his approach to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá he chooses elements that suit his own
predilections but ignores or misunderstands the rest. Although he concedes that the
Bahà’i Faith is worthwhile, and praises the Bahà’is for having “done instead of
talking,” he cannot see the Bahà’i Faith as a whole. ‘Abdu’l-Bahà spoke on a
variety of topics to the diverse people who came to see him. He discussed the
power of God and true spirituality, Christ and Buddha, education, healing, art,
world peace, and a universal language. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá fitted his utterances to the
capacity and interests of his audiences, but, contrary to what Pound may have
thought, all he said was part of a coherent religious system whose parts are
organically related and must be understood in relation to each other.
The failure to see them as such is not peculiar to Pound of course. Many
others, including occultists, who met ‘AbduT-Bahá were happy to applaud his
vision of the unity of all religions and incorporate parts of it into their own
philosophies. But they treated it as an eclectic collection of beliefs and customs
and not as what ‘AbduT-Bahá said it is, namely “the teachings of the Lord God,
teachings which constitute the very life of humankind . . .” (‘AbduT-Bahá,
Selections 52-53).
Pound, who did not take the Bahà’i Faith as a whole, reverts to his
condescending attitude in a 1913 article on Rabindranath Tagore in The New
Freewoman. In praising Tagore as an artist, he insists that he is “not to be
confused with that jolly and religious bourgeois Abdul Baha” (“Rabindranath
Tagore” 187). He devotes three columns to Tagore because he is a poet and not
a religious teacher, because Pound can take his work and give it “a certain place
10         THE J O U R N A L OF B A H Á Í S T U D I E S                  6.2.1994

in world-literature” (188) without having to take on a value system, something
he would have to do if he similarly praised ‘Abdu’l-Bahà.

Pound’s Canto XLVI
The meeting with ‘AbduT-Bahá apparently made a great enough impression on
Pound for it to emerge several decades later in The Cantos. Pound’s great poetic
work. The Cantos were begun during World War I, but successive volumes
continued to be issued for the rest of his life. As a voyage of exploration of the
modern world in relation to the cultural past, these poems draw on and adapt
many sources, including Homer’s Odyssey , the works of Confucius, and
medieval and Renaissance Christian doctrinal writings. In Canto XLVI, Pound
quotes an anecdote which he attributes to ‘AbduT-Bahá:

Said Abdul Baha: ‘‘I said ‘let us speak o f religion.’
“Camel driver said: I must milk my camel.
“So when he had milked his camel I said ‘let us speak of religion.’
And the camel driver said: It is time to drink milk.
‘W ill you have some?’ For politeness I tried to join him.
Have you ever tasted milk from a camel?
I was unable to drink camel’s milk. I have never been able.
So he drank all of the milk, and I said: let us speak o f religion.
T have drunk my milk. I must dance.’ said the driver.
We did not speak of religion.” Thus Abdul Baha
Third vice-gerent of the First Abdul or whatever Baha,
the Sage, the Uniter, the founder o f a religion,
in a garden at Uberton, Gubberton, or mebbe it was some
other damned suburb, but at any rate a suburban suburb . . . . (242-43)

Canto XLVI is one of many devoted to “exposure or ridicule of
businessmen, bankers, economists,” a favorite topic with Pound in his later
years (Surette, A Light 95). The Canto is particularly important in its “general
summing-up of the economic lesson taught by The Cantos” (Surette, A Light
95), a lesson based on the theories of C. H. Douglas’s Social Credit, which
condemned the organized robbery by banks and which saw underconsumption
and mismanagement of money as the causes of unemployment and waste, and
ultimately of war. Pound’s economic views gradually gave rise to his political
and racial extremism, as he and Douglas failed “to convince any significant
element of the community of the justice and truth of their views” (Surette, A
Light 82).
The appearance of ‘AbduT-Bahá in this context may seem inexplicable at
first. But Pound seems to draw a parallel between himself and ‘AbduT-Bahá.
The camel driver refuses to discuss religion with ‘AbduT-Bahá because he is
preoccupied with his own concerns. In the end, ‘AbduT-Bahá, “Sage” and
AbJu' l-Iialia and Ezra Pound's Circle                             11

“Uniter” though he is, cannot convert the camel driver. Similarly, Pound who
has found an economic vision on which he bases his other views cannot
convince anyone else of its validity. The reaction he commonly gets is
"Wouldn’t convert me, wdn’t HAVE me converted” (Cantos 242).
The portrait of ‘AbduT-Bahá, despite its flippancy, is basically sympathetic
and as respectful as Pound can manage to be. Pound did not interest himself in
‘AbduT-Bahà’s message beyond expressing approval of its unexpected
modernity, but he was sufficiently impressed by him to identify his position
with respect to an unbelieving world with his own. The comparison, however, is
self-serving on Pound’s part. There is no indication in ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s recorded
talks that he uttered any anecdote that could be construed as the story of the
camel driver. Moreover, the depiction of ‘AbduT-Bahá as a frustrated religious
teacher without an audience is completely at variance with the well-established
fact that people of all kinds thronged to his presence and sought to listen to him
both at home in Palestine and during his Western travels.

The Bahà’i Community and Avant-Garde Circles
Pound’s second letter to Margaret Cravens discloses another possible
connection between him and the BahâT's in London and Paris. The Dreyfus-
Barneys he mentions are Hippolyte Dreyfus and his wife Laura Barney, both of
whom were among the earliest Western BaháTs. Dreyfus learned Persian and
Arabic in order to translate BaháT writings; he also wrote a book, Essai sur le
Bahaisme. Barney, a sculptor and painter from a family of artists and scholars,
is best remembered for her compilation of Some Answered Questions, informal
talks given by ‘AbduT-Bahá in response to her questions on a variety of themes
and fundamental tenets of the BaháT' Faith.
Laura Barney was also the sister of Natalie Barney, a writer who held a
famous salon in Paris which “attracted, for 60 years, most of the great literary
figures” including Pound, T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Gertrude
Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ernest Hemingway, and many
others (Lorusso, “Afterword” 164). Her long association with Pound was one of
her most important literary connections. Together, they devised “Bel Esprit,” a
project for financial patronage of promising writers: “The idea was Pound’s; the
name and money were Natalie’s” (Lorusso, “Afterword” 164). T. S. Eliot,
chosen to be the first recipient, declined and the venture failed, but the literary
relationship between Pound and Barney continued. Although Natalie Barney
knèw of the BaháT Faith and had met BaháTs through her sister and her mother,
she showed no interest in it (Gail, Summon 49-54). It is possible, and indeed
probable, however, that her circle may have learned something of the BaháT
ideas through her family who were also well known in Parisian artistic circles.
A final interesting connection between Pound’s circle and the BaháT
community is through a contributor to The New Freewoman (later The Egoist),
12           TH E J O U R N A L OF B A H À ’ Î S T U D I E S                    6.2.1994

a magazine to which Pound contributed frequently and that was later edited by
Eliot. Two poems, “Eve” and “The Plain Woman,” published in the first two
issues of the magazine (June and July, 1913), as well as other works in Century
and Current Opinion, were written by Horace Holley. Holley had become a
Bahà’i in 1911. Soon after, he and his wife, then living in Italy, heard of
‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s arrival at Thonon-les-Bains, France, and left immediately to
meet him. Holley describes his first meeting on 29 August thus:

. . . I saw . . . a stately old man, robed in a cream-coloured gown, his white hair and
beard shining in the sun. He displayed a beauty of stature, an inevitable harmony of
attitude and dress I had never seen. . . . In ‘AbduT-Bahá I felt the awful presence of
Bahà’u’ilàh.........
. . . we were given unusual opportunity of questioning the Master, but I soon realized
that such was not the highest or most productive plane on which 1 could meet Him. My
questions answered themselves. I yielded to a feeling o f reverence which contained more
than the solution of intellectual or moral problems. (Religion 232-33)

Two volumes of Holley’s verse. The Inner Garden and The Stricken King,
were published in the years before the War, and Creation: Post Impressionist
Poems appeared in London in 1914. His books on the BaháT' Faith include The
Modern Social Religion (1913), B a h a i: The Spirit o f the Age (1921), and
Religion fo r Mankind (1956), as well as the first comprehensive compilation of
Bahà’i writings in English, entitled Bahd’i Scriptures (1923). A long-time
secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the BaháTs of the United States,
he was, in 1951, appointed by Shoghi Effendi as a Hand of the Cause of God.
As Holley was the founder and director of the Ashur Gallery of Modem Art
and his wife was an artist, they “enjoyed the entrée to many interesting circles
of artists and intellectuals . . .” (Bahd’i World 13:851). In all likelihood, he
associated with other poets and writers of the period and may even have known
Pound, although there is no evidence of such acquaintance. But the careers of
the two men represent two divergent reactions to contact with the same force.
Pound, despite a momentary sense of awe, ultimately dismissed both ‘AbduT­
Bahá and the religion he promulgated. The inclusion of ‘AbduT-Bahá in the list
of the “blasted” in Wyndham Lewis’s Blast bears witness to the fame he had
achieved in London society (the rather cryptic list also includes Henri Bergson,
Besant, and Tagore) but also indicates the adoption of a sarcastically superior
pose by the compilers of the list, one of whom was Pound. By contrast, Holley,
who at first also thought it “possible to encompass the Revelation of
Bahà’uTlàh by reducing it to a formula or confining it within a well-turned
phrase,” came to realize that “I myself was to be encompassed, re-oriented,
remoulded in all the realms of being. For religion in its purity reveals God, and
only God can reveal man to himself’ (Holley, Religion 9).
‘   A b d u ’ l-Bahá and Ezra Pound's Circle                                13

‘Abdu’l-Baha's influence on Ezra Pound may have been limited in terms of
the latter’s subsequent development, but his impact on the countries he visited
was considerable. His journey was most timely: many in the West were
beginning to recognize and articulate truths that BaháVlláh had revealed some
fifty years previously. ‘Abdu’l-Bahà’s journey established the foundation on
which the Bahà’i administrative order was to be raised and led to the
establishment of the Bahd’i Faith worldwide, so that it is now the second most
widely spread religion in the world (Encyclopaedia Britannica Book o f the Year
1992). Those who came into contact with ‘AbduT-Bahá inevitably responded to
him in their own different ways, ranging from wholehearted acceptance to
varying degrees of adm iration and respect, to occasional cases of
misunderstanding and rejection. In general, however, the following comment in
the Christian Commonwealth upon ‘AbduT-Bahà’s second visit to England in
January, 1913, is an apt evaluation of his presence there: “London has rarely
sheltered a more significant and impressive personality than the leader of the
Bahai movement.”

Works Cited
‘AbduT-Bahá. Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Comp. Research Dept.
Universal House o f Justice. Trans. Marzieh Gail et al. Haifa: Bahà’i World Centre,
1978.
---------- . Some Answered Questions. Comp, and trans. Laura Clifford Barney. 4th ed.
Wilmette, 111.: BaháT Publishing Trust, 1981.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London: Addresses and Notes of Conversations. London: BaháT
Publishing Trust, 1987.
Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 5th ed. Fort Worth: Holt, 1988.
Bahâ’i World. The. 18 vols, to date. Haifa: BaháT World Centre, 1925-.
Bahà’uTlàh. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha u lláh. Trans. Shoghi Effendi. 2d ed.
Wilmette, 111.: BaháT' Publishing Trust, 1976.
Balyuzi, H. M. ‘AbduT-Bahá. Oxford: George Ronald, 1971.
“Can any great religion admit spiritual equality with other great religions?” Proceedings of
General Meeting of the Quest Society. 23 Mar. 1911. The Quest 2.4 (July 1911): 601-14.
Christian Commonwealth. 13 Sept. 1911: 850; 20 Sept. 1911: 1; 1 Jan. 1913: 261.
Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year. 1992
Gail, Marzieh. Summon Up Remembrance. Oxford: George Ronald, 1987.
Holley, Horace. Religion for Mankind. Oxford: George Ronald, 1956.
Johnson, Harrold. “Bahaism: The Birth o f a World Religion.” Contemporary Review 101
(Mar., 1912): 391^102.
Lorusso, Edward N. S. “Afterword.” The One Who is Legion. By Natalie Clifford
Barney. Orono: National Poetry Foundation, 1987.
“Manifesto I.” Blast 1 (June, 1914): 11-29.
Maud, Constance E. “Abdul Baha.” Fortnightly Review 91 (Apr., 1912): 707-15.
----------. “The First Persian Feminist.” Fortnightly Review 93 (June, 1913): 1175-82.
14         TH E J O U R N A L OF B A H A ’ I S T U D I E S               6.2.1994

Mead, G. R. S. “The Quest— Old and New: A Retrospect and Prospect.” The Quest
(April, 1926): 289-307.
Monien, Moojan. The Bábi and Bahďí Religions 1844-1944: Some Contemporary
Accounts. Oxford: George Ronald, 1981.
New York Times 2 July 1911: 5.8; 24 Sept. 1911: 3.2.3.
Orage, A. R. “Notes o f the Week.” New Age 9 (Sept., 1911): 481-85.
Pound, Ezra. Ezra Pound and Margaret Cravens: A Tragic Friendship. Ed. Omar Pound
and Robert Spoo. Durham: Duke University Press, 1988.
----------. Ezra PoundIDorothy Shakespear, Their Letters: 1909-1914. Ed. Omar Pound
and A. Walton Litz. New York: New Directions, 1984.
----------. “Psychology and Troubadours.” The Quest 4.1 (1912): 37-53.
----------. “Rabindranath Tagore. His Second Book into English.” The New Freewoman
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----------. The Cantos of Ezra Pound. London: Faber, 1957.
Shoghi Effendi. The Faith ofBahau’llah. Wilmette, 111.: Bahà’i Publishing Trust, 1980.
—--------. God Passes By. Rev. ed. Wilmette, 111.: BaháT Publishing Trust, 1974.
Stevens, E. S. “Abbas Effendi: His Personality, Work and Follow ers.” Fortnightly
Review 89 (June, 1911): 1067-84.
Surette, Leon. A Light from Eleusis: A Study of Ezra Pound’s Cantos. Oxford:
Clarendon, 1979.
Times (London) 6 Sept. 1911:6.
Tryphonopoulos, Demetres S. “The Cantos as Palingenesis.” Paideuma 18.1-2 (1989): 7-33.
Tudor-Pole, W ellesley. “The Passing of Major P.” The Quest 2.4 (July, 1911): 750-55.
-- Abdu'l-Baha and Ezra Pound's Circle (Used by permission of the curator)