Olga Rudge & Ezra Pound: "What Thou Lovest Well..."

145 The Subject Is—Wartime
brogio for Christmas, he was still ‘‘trying to figure things out, to make up
my mind about some things.’’
On January 26, 1942, Ezra’s photo appeared in Time magazine above an
article about his life in Rapallo, where he had ‘‘retired to continue his
study of Chinese philosophy.’’ ‘‘Because I stopped speaking on December
9th . . . I am not [compared to Lord] ‘Haw-Haw’,’’ he said, referring
to William Joyce, the Brooklyn-born Nazi propagandist who was then
broadcasting from Germany and was later executed by the British for
treason.
Three days after the Time article appeared, he went back to Rome and
picked up the broadcasts. The necessity to earn enough lire to support
three households must have entered into his decision. But he insisted on a
new introduction to the discursi:
Rome Radio, acting in accordance with Fascist policy of intellectual
freedom and free expression of opinion . . . [and] following the
tradition of hospitality, has o√ered Dr. Ezra Pound the use of the
microphone twice a week. It is understood that he will not be asked to
say anything incompatible whatsoever that goes against his conscience,
or anything incompatible with his duties as a citizen of the United
States of America. [emphasis added]
Olga kept busy with the minutiae of daily life at Sant’Ambrogio: ‘‘sitting
on the floor, making wicks out of cotton wool for the [olive] oil
lamps’’ (candles had almost disappeared when the war began). ‘‘Fifty kilos
of tomatoes drying on the roof. . . . She seems occupied all the time, even
got around to a spot of practicing.’’
In late February Homer Pound, who had su√ered in the Rapallo clinic
for many months, died quietly in his sleep. Ezra had been very close to the
Old Man, as he called his father. Mary wrote in her autobiography that her
father came to her and said, ‘‘Il tuo nonno e morto. . . . he just threw
himself on the couch and wanted to be left in peace and listen to music.
Then he went to Rome again.’’ The American Hour began transmission
throughout the Axis countries.
Olga sent Mary to her foster family in Gais again during the summer