What I found interesting about Pound but did not really mention too much in my essay was Pound’s treason charges and his time spent in St. Elizabeth’s insane asylum. It is indeed very interesting how a man who was presumably insane could possibly have been as influential (at least in the literary field) and as great of a poet as he was. I suppose it is easy to see how an insane person could be a very creative and original person; it is more difficult to imagine him having a lasting impact on poetry and literature in general. I suppose what they say about genius and insanity is true after all. It does seem fitting that no normal person would attempt to write poetry after being arrested for treason and locked in a cage for a week.  Pound, as it turns out, was arrested because of his weekly radio broadcasts denouncing the United States’ involvement in World War II and openly supporting Mussolini and Hitler. This of course caused great controversy in the States as more people unfortunately knew Pound more for his political views and treason arrest than for his poetry. The effect of this controversy can still be felt today as the copy of The Cantos that I own has a total of four pages censored due to the fascist views presented in them, which seemly to me completely hypocritical and more than a little ironic. I never support censoring or burning books or trying to erase ideas. If the ideas are so wrong then why try to destroy them? It seems to me to be much more beneficial to simply provide a counterargument and explain carefully and completely why the ideas are wrong. Does this mean I support fascism? No, but it does mean I support free speech. It really did annoy me when I found out that there were pages missing from the book, more than maybe it should have.