Imagism

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Imagism
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Origination

• Originating in the philosophy of T.E. Hulme, the
  movement soon attracted Ezra Pound, who became
  the leader of a small group opposed to the
  romantic conception of poetry and inspired by
  Greek and Roman classics and by Chinese,
  Japanese, and modern French poets.
• The imagist poets called for
• new rhythms,
• clear images,
• free choice of subject matter,
• compressed poetic expression, and
• use of common speech.

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Movement
Imagism is a poetic movement of England and the
United States, which flourished from 1908 to
1917. Its creed, expressed in Some Imagist Poets
(1915), included the use of the language of
common speech, precision, the creation of new
rhythms, absolute freedom in choice of subject
matter, the evocation of images in hard, clear
poetry, and concentration. In the U.S., the
group was represented by Pound, John Gould
Fletcher, and Amy Lowell.
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Movement
Pound collected some of their work in Des
Imagists An Anthology (1914), after which his
interest began to wane. Amy Lowell then assumed
active leadership, advocating that the group
subscribe to a fixed program and hold together
for at least three years. Under her guidance were
published several anthologies, all entitled Some
Imagist Poets. The most important figures are
Ezra Pound, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Amy Lowell,
and William Carlos Williams. Other important
poets in this period include T. S. Eliot, E.R.
Robinson, Wallace Stevens, and E.E. Cummings.
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Major feature--1
With a spirit of revolt against conventions,
imagism was anti-romantic and anti-Victorian. It
stressed free choice of subject matters (often
dealing with single, concentrated moments of
experience), concreteness of imagery, musical
phrases, economy of expression, and the use of a
dominant image. It aimed at instantaneous
effect, visual and concise. Imagists used the
language of common speech and employed exact
words instead of the flowery language of poetry.
They avoided all cliche expressions, the ornate
diction, and complex verse forms of traditional
poetry.
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Major feature--2
Imagism produced free verse without imposing a
rhythmical pattern. The rhythm was composed as
if the poet were making a music phrase. This was
a doing-away with conventions of meter so that
the poet needed not make his ideas fit into an
established meter as in a sonnet or a ballad.
The poet created new rhythms in the sequence of
the musical phrase as the expressions of a new
mood.
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Major feature--3
Imagism was equivalent to Naturalism in fiction
in a sense. Naturalism was based on scientific
observation, a feeling of determinism that the
reader should look only at the outside objects
with no attempt to get inside of them. The
Imagist writers also had the same feeling of
determinism that the reader should only look at
the image. If the reader looks at the image, it
will evoke an emotion immediately.
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Major feature--4
Imagism tried to record objective observations of
an object or a situation without interpretation
or comment by the poet. Imagism required a poet
to present just a picture, not his insight. It
is very biological and very scientific. They
never stated the emotion in the poem, but just
presented an image concrete, firm, definite in
picture. Any significance to be derived from the
image had to appear inherent in its clean
presentation.
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Summary
Imagism was a radical change from the way poetry
had been written in the 19th century. These
modernist poets tried to keep their ideas to
themselves, merely giving the reader the
description of the outward surface. Therefore,
an Imagist poem consists of clear visual images,
often juxtaposed with other images, prompting the
reader to an imaginative response that completes
its meaning.
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Imagist Manifesto

• To use the language of common speech, but to
  employ the exact word, not the nearly-exact, nor
  the merely decorative word.
• We believe that the individuality of a poet may
  often be better expressed in free verse than in
  conventional forms. In poetry, a new cadence
  means a new idea.
• Absolute freedom in the choice of subject.
• To present an image. We are not a school of
  painters, but we believe that poetry should
  render particulars exactly and not deal in vague
  generalities, however magnificent and sonorous.
  It is for this reason that we oppose the cosmic
  poet, who seems to us to shirk the real
  difficulties of his art.
• To produce a poetry that is hard and clear, never
  blurred nor indefinite.
• Finally, most of us believe that concentration is
  of the very essence of poetry.
• Ezra Pound

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Ezra Pound (1885-1972)
American poet, critic, editor, and translator
one of the foremost literary figures in literary
modernism As a poet, Pound experimented with
various verse forms, from short poems focusing on
concrete images to his epic masterpiece, the
Cantos. As an essayist, he wrote manifestos
establishing influential principles of style and
theme. As a critic and editor, Pound discovered
and encouraged many experimental authors,
including Irish writer James Joyce, English poet
T. S. Eliot, and American writers Robert Frost
and Ernest Hemingway.
Note Cantos, a wide-ranging series of poems
combining ancient and modern history with Pounds
personal reflections and experiences.
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Literary Achievement
His Contribution He launched Imagism, a movement
in poetry which derived its technique from
classical Chinese and Japanese poetry--stressing
clarity, precision, and economy of language. His
influence He advanced the work of major
contemporaries, such as W.B.Yeats, Robert Frost,
William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore,  H.D.,
James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, and especially
T.S.Eliot. Major Works 1  The Cantos (the
encyclopedic epic poem) 2  Hugh Selwyn Mauberley
3  The Pisan Cantos
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In a Station of the Metro
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Hilda Doolittle (1886-1961)

• pseud. H. D.,, American poet
• Married to Richard Aldington in 1913
• In England, under the influence of Ezra Pound,
  she became associated with the imagists and
  developed into one of the most original poets of
  the group.
• Volumes of her verse include
• Sea Garden (1916),
• Red Shoes for Bronze (1931),
• The Walls Do Not Fall (1944), and
• Bid Me to Live (1960).

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William Carlos Williams
(1883 - 1963)
American poet and physician. He wrote stories,
plays and autobiographies as well as poems. He
met and befriended Ezra Pound, and was influenced
by Pound. Biographical Facts He was born in New
Jersey, U.S. 1883. He received his M.D. from the
University of Pennsylvania. He sustained his
medical practice throughout his life. He died in
Vienna, Austria, 1963.
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Poetic Features
Relaxed colloquialism Vivid Presentation Eloquent
passages of beautifully controlled rhythm and
phrasing His subject matter was centered on the
everyday circumstances of life and the lives of
common people. The Red Wheelbarrow 1 How does
the first two lines differ from the other pairs
of lines? 2 What is the most visually compelling
word in each of the last three pairs of
lines? 3 What is the meaning of depends upon in
the first pair of lines?
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The Red Wheelbarrow
So much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed
with rain water beside the white chickens.
William Carlos Williams
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The Great Figure
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Carl Sandburg
(1878-1967)
American poet, historian, novelist and
folklorist, 'the singing bard'. A central figure
in the 'Chicago Renaissance' He emphasized the
tradition of American experience and played a
significant role in the development in poetry
that took place during the first two decades of
the 20th century. In his work Sandburg gave
voice to least powerful people. With the
appearance of his Chicago Poems (1916),
Cornhuskers (1918), Smoke and Steel (1920), and
Slabs of the Sunburnt West (1922), his reputation
was established
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FOG The fog comes On little cat feet. It sits
looking Over harbor and city On silent
haunches And then, moves on.
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Window
Carl Sandburg
Night from a railroad car windowIs a great,
dark, soft thingBroken across with slashes of
light. 
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