THE TRIAL OF EZRA POUND
a play by Jed Bolipata
In 1943, the American poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was indicted for treason after ranting and raving on a fascist-backed radio program in Italy where he was living at the time with a wife and a mistress. He did this twice a week, got paid for his services, and the speeches were broadcast in America on short-wave radio. His diatribes were generally anti-FDR and anti-Semitic and the FBI and the Department of Justice moved quickly towards the indictment.
Two years later, at the end of World War II, the 60-year-old Pound was captured and brought back to the United States to stand trial. But before the trial proper could begin, his sanity came into question, possibly as a defense ploy. Treason is a crime punishable by death so the stakes couldn't have been higher. The presiding judge, who denied Pound's request to represent himself, ordered Pound remanded to a mental hospital for observation and a few months later impaneled a jury to assess his sanity.
This is where the play begins, on February 13, 1946, inside a federal courtroom in Washington, DC. With the burden of proof on the defense, and Pound brooding silently in the background, Prosecutor and Defense Attorney examine and cross-examine, in one grueling 90-minute session, three psychiatrists, two from the government and one hired by the defense.
The Defense Attorney tries to show that Pound's mind has come unhinged due to a lengthy period of solitary confinement shortly after his arrest. The Prosecutor is convinced he is faking it in order to avoid the death penalty. The final witness, the head of the mental hospital where Pound is being held, seems to have ulterior motives.
It is an ignominious chapter in the annals of post-war history, and it's as relevant today as it was almost 80 years ago. Only the fashions have changed.
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EXCERPT
PROSECUTOR: Do you think that there was any possibility during the two hours that you were talking with him that he might have been acting or faking in any way?
DR. MUNCIE: Oh no, I don't think so.
PROSECUTOR: You don't think that would have been possible?
DR. MUNCIE: No.
PROSECUTOR: So you’re convinced Mr. Pound has delusions, is that right?
DR. MUNCIE: Yes.
PROSECUTOR: And that has to do with self-importance?
DR. MUNCIE: Yes. He approaches the delusional in his vague schemes for the rehabilitation of the world. Most of us would be appalled by that task, but it does not seem to faze Mr. Pound.
PROSECUTOR: Do you think it is a delusion any different than say Hitler or Hirohito had in that they had an idea they were going to conquer the world?
DR. MUNCIE: It might be, but I have never examined them.
PROSECUTOR: In connection with the charge of treason, did Mr. Pound discuss with you his activities in broadcasting?
DR. MUNCIE: Yes, he told us about the radio broadcasts.
PROSECUTOR: And what did he say about that with respect to whether he thought that it was treason, or not?
DR. MUNCIE: He said that it was not treason, it was free speech.
PROSECUTOR: Now, did the fact that he did not consider it treason have any bearing on the judgment which you formed in this connection?
DR. MUNCIE: It would have this importance: it shows clearly that he was out of touch with a very large segment of the world, and it shows more clearly than anything else perhaps how his world was built for himself. You and I are living in what one is pleased to call the realities of the situation.
PROSECUTOR: "The realities of the situation." Dr. Muncie, do you think it’s possible you are the one who’s insane?
DR. MUNCIE: Absolutely not.
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