L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano O nce the rich- est city in the w o r l d , famous for its s e a f a r i n g prowess, Genoa's glories are still very visible today, but not only in its many fine palazzos, medieval gates, a u s t e r e c h u r c h e s , a n d renowned cuisine, impres- sive as those are. La Superba's wealth is also evident all along its dra- matic coastline of fortified v i l l a g e s p e r c h e d o n h i l l s o v e r l o o k i n g t h e s e a . I n t e r n a t i o n a l p o e t s , painters, and philosophers all drew inspiration in this splendid area. It's not diffi- cult to see why. I n 1 9 2 4 , a n A m e r i c a n poet from Hailey, Idaho, established a household in t h e b u s t l i n g r e s o r t o f Rapallo, which still has a poetic and nostalgic air with its palm-fringed beach and a 16th-century castle on guard above the sea. Ezra Pound, the father o f m o d e r n i s m , t h e p o e t most responsible for defin- ing and promoting a mod- ernist aesthetic in poetry, lived in an attic of Palazzo B a r a t t i i n d o w n t o w n Rapallo, at Via Marsala 12 directly on the promenade. The famous American expa- t r i a t e w a s a r e s i d e n t o f Rapallo from 1924 to 1945. T h e p e a r l s o f t h e G u l f o f Tigullio – Rapallo, Santa M a r g h e r i t a , P o r t o f i n o , Paraggi, Zoagli, San Rocco, and Camogli, and Ruta di Camogli – were the places of h i s h e a r t , h i s G a r d e n o f E d e n . E v e n h i s m o t h e r Isabel and his father Homer m o v e d t h e r e . H o m e r i s buried in Rapallo's protes- tant cemetery. A few minutes away from Pound's apartment is the Salone Consigliare of the T o w n H a l l w h e r e h e arranged music concerts and had his long-time mistress Olga Rudge perform. She was an American-born con- c e r t v i o l i n i s t w h o g a v e P o u n d a d a u g h t e r , M a r y . Olga rented a hill cottage, C a s a 6 0 , j u s t s o u t h o f Rapallo, in Sant'Ambrogio, a hamlet in the picturesque fishing village of Zoagli that t o d a y c o u n t s o n l y 2 , 0 0 0 souls. In 2018, Zoagli was hit by the worst storm and tidal surge in many years. I perused the quiet and b e a u t i f u l v i l l a g e t h a t deserves to rebuild trust and invest in the future. A cab takes me up to Casa 60. The taxi driver, Lino Moscatelli, tells me his father Gino gave Ezra Pound rides. During WWII, Ezra took refuge with Olga in this hillside cottage. This was their benevolent h o m e . I t b e c a m e E z r a ' s place of retreat and creativi- ty in those difficult months of '44 and '45 when he stood accused of spreading Fascist propaganda through broad- casts on Rome Radio. A t t h e t i m e , C a s a 6 0 didn't have electricity and could be reached only by fol- lowing a mule track. T h i s s e d u c t i v e o r a n g e home with red terracotta floors and light blue ceilings represented their faithful love. It was their home of light surrounded by olive groves and cherry trees. " T h e f u r n i t u r e w a s a l l painted by Babbo," Pound's daughter, Mary Pound de Rachewiltz, once said. F o r a t i m e a f t e r M u s s o l i n i ' s f a l l , P o u n d ' s w i f e D o r o t h y S h a k e s p e a r also lived here with them for s a f e t y r e a s o n s . I t w a s a strange menage-à-trois — the two women divided the cooking duties. The home forms the back- g r o u n d o f s o m e o f E z r a Pound's most haunting lines as inspired by the Gulf of Tigullio."The longboats set t h e l i g h t s i n t h e w a t e r " there, as celebrated in Canto 47 of his epic The Cantos. From Casa 60 the view is breathtaking. Below are the r o c k y Z o a g l i a n d t h e sparkling sea. B u t C a s a 6 0 i s a l s o a memento of the most tragic day in Pound's biography. Here, on the third of May 1945, two Italian partisans banged on the door and took him away. He was sitting at his desk translating from M e n c i u s , a C h i n e s e Confucius philosopher, that m o r n i n g . H i s w o r k w a s interrupted by two men with Tommy guns who identified t h e m s e l v e s a s p a r t i s a n s . Olga was not at home at the time. Ezra Pound slipped a b o o k o f C o n f u c i u s a n d a small Chinese dictionary in his pocket. On the way down the hill path, he picked up a e u c a l y p t u s s e e d t o c a r r y with him. The story is told in the editor's preface to The Pisan Cantos. He always kept with him that mnemonic eucalyptus pip. It was his secret talis- man in those tragic days. "Eucalyptus is for memory," he later wrote in Canto 74. The partisans escorted him to a command post in down- t o w n Z o a g l i w h e r e O l g a managed to catch up with h i m . T h e y w e r e t a k e n t o P a r t i s a n h e a d q u a r t e r s i n C h i a v a r i a n d t h e n t o t h e nearby Lavagna where the p a r t i s a n s a l l o w e d h i m t o surrender to the American authorities. Ezra Pound was transferred by jeep to US MARIELLA RADAELLI Zoagli and its colors, typical of Liguria (Photo: Lianem/Dreamstime) Continued to page 32 Zoagli: the poetic redoubt of Ezra Pound and the velvet LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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