Pound published over 70 books and translated Japanese plays and Chinese poetry. The Cantos, a series of poems which he wrote from 1920s throughout his life, are considered among his best works. In The Cantos Pound recorded the poet's spiritual quest for transcendence, and intellectual search for worldly wisdom. Just as Beatrice guided Dante 's pilgrim, so classical goddesses appear in The Cantos . Pound also presents mythical, historical, and contemporary figures, mirroring the poetry and ideas of the past and present.
Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.
As an essayist Pound wrote mostly about poetry. From the mid-1920s he examined in several writings the ways economic systems promote or debase culture. Pound hoped, that fascism could establish the sort of society in which the arts could flourish. He argued that poetry is not 'entertainment', and as an elitist he did not appreciate the common reader. Pound considered American culture isolated from the traditions that make the arts possible, and depicted Walt Whitman as 'exceedingly nauseating pill'.