each block cut smooth and well fitting
[...]
with usura
hath no man a painted paradise on his church wall
[...]
no picture is made to endure nor to live with
but it is made to sell and sell quickly" - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
Canto XLV
 • Note: Regarding usura, in 1972 Pound wrote in the foreword to "Selected Prose, 1909-1965": "re USURY: I was out of focus, taking a symptom for a cause. The cause is AVARICE."McDONALD, G. (1995). [Review of Ezra Pound/The Tragic Years, 1925-1972, by J. J. Wilhelm]. Paideuma, 24(2/3), 231–234. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24726525
“

With usura hath no man a house of good stone
each block cut smooth and well fitting
[...]
with usura
hath no man a painted paradise on his church wall
[...]
no picture is made to endure nor to live with
but it is made to sell and sell quickly

— Ezra Pound

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "With usura hath no man a house of good stone
each block cut smooth and well fitting
[...]
with usura
hath no man a painted paradise on his church wall
[...]
no picture is made to endure nor to live with
but it is made to sell and sell quickly" in the context of "Canto XLV
 • Note: Regarding usura, in 1972 Pound wrote in the foreword to "Selected Prose, 1909-1965": "re USURY: I was out of focus, taking a symptom for a cause. The cause is AVARICE."McDONALD, G. (1995). [Review of Ezra Pound/The Tragic Years, 1925-1972, by J. J. Wilhelm]. Paideuma, 24(2/3), 231–234. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24726525" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Ezra Pound" (Quotes, The Cantos) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Ezra Pound#sell#man#fittingwith#stoneeach#usurahath#paradise#painted#picture#withbut#quickly#smooth
Ezra Pound

About Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound (October 30, 1885 – November 1, 1972) was an American expatriate poet, musician and critic who was a major figure of the Modernist movement in early to mid-20th century poetry. He was the driving force behind several Modernist movements including Imagism and Vorticism.