Hemingway's Marlin and Pound's Canto 40

Abstract

Abstract:This essay focuses on an allusion to Hemingway's deep-sea fishing in Pound's Canto 40. The most direct source for Pound's allusion is probably Hemingway's letter to Pound dated 22 July 1933, in which he refers to his catching a world-record seven marlin in one day. Set in context, Pound's line about the record-setting, unnamed marlin fisherman groups him with monopolists who "extracted" natural resources such as oil for their private profits at the expense of the common good. Pound's reference in Canto 40 to Hemingway as a record-breaking marlin fisherman reflects tensions between the two writers that deepened in the 1930s.