On the Affinities of Ezra Pound' s Poetics and His Cantos with Japanese Noh

In the evolution of his poetic style, American poet Ezra Pound draws inspiration from Japanese Noh. Noh plays suggest to Pound a structural conception of time which allows him to progress from the momentary intuitions of Imagism to the complex and extended structure of The Cantos; as a result, his poetics of Unity of Emotion and Unity of Image in the long poem is established. Canto IV not only demonstrates Pound' s mastery of metamorphosis and expression of universal human emotion in Noh plays, but also unfolds the possibility of creating a long poem on the basis of the principle of Unity of Emotion and Unity of Image in Noh plays. The Pisan Cantos reflect the artistic charm and tension based on this principle.