For William McN. who studied with Ezra Pound

For William McN. who studied with Ezra Pound

By John Cage 1912–1992 John Cage
in ten Minutes
                                           Come back: you will
        have taught me chiNese
                                        (sAtie).
                         shall I retUrn the favor?
                                          Give you
                                      otHer lessons
                                        (Ting!)?
                                         Or would you prefer
                                   sileNce?

John Cage, "For William McN. who studied with Ezra Pound" from Empty Words: Writings ‘73-’78. Copyright © 1979 by John Cage.  Reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press.

Source: Empty Words: Writings ‘73-’78 (Wesleyan University Press, 1979)

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Poet John Cage 1912–1992

POET’S REGION U.S., Mid-Atlantic

Subjects Relationships, Friends & Enemies, Activities, School & Learning, Arts & Sciences, Music, Language & Linguistics

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Biography

Born in Los Angeles, prolific avant-garde composer, writer, and artist John Cage was the son of an inventor and a Los Angeles Times society writer. He grew up in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Los Angeles and was educated at Pomona College and the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied with classical composer Arnold Schoenberg. Cage met his lifelong partner and collaborator, the choreographer Merce Cunningham, while . . .

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SUBJECT Relationships, Friends & Enemies, Activities, School & Learning, Arts & Sciences, Music, Language & Linguistics

POET’S REGION U.S., Mid-Atlantic

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Originally appeared in Poetry magazine.

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