Imagist Poetry

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Imagist Poetry
A movement in early 20th century Anglo-American
poetry that favored precision of imageryusing
clear, sharp, concise language Imagists rejected
the sentiment and artificiality of typical
Victorian and Romantic poetry Imagist poems
deliver a clear and understandable image in a
musical rhythm
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Sprang from ideas of T.E. Hulme who in 1908 wrote
as the first tenet of the Imagist Manifesto To
use the language of common speech, but to employ
always the exact word, not the nearly-exact, nor
the merely decorative word
Poets associated with the movement Ezra Pound,
William Carlos Williams, Richard Aldington, James
Joyce, H.D., F.S. Flint, D. H. Lawrence, John
Gould Fletcher, and Amy Lowell who took over as
the leader
Though Imagism as a movement was over by 1917,
the ideas about poetry embedded in the Imagist
doctrine influenced free verse poets throughout
the twentieth century. (Poets.org)
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Ezra Pound
Ezra Pounds definition of the image was that
which presents an intellectual and emotional
complex in an instant of time

• Pound defined the tenets of Imagism as
• Direct treatment of the thing whether objective
  or subjective
• 2. To use absolutely no word that does not
  contribute to the presentation
• 3. As regarding rhythm to compose in sequence of
  the musical phrase, not in sequence of the
  metronome

from Poets.org
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• Born in Haley, Idaho, in 1885, Pound was one of
  the most influential poets of the Modernist
  period (first half of 20th century)
• Pound, an incessant talker, chose themes from
  Confucian ethos, classical mythology, and
  economic sources.
• Fond of free verse, Pound said poems could be
  divided according to three essential elements
• Phanopoeia image
• Melopoeia sound
• 3. Logopeoia - meaning

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Pound criticized poetic styles of his time,
calling them flabby and vague and claimed they
lost their musicality because of the lock-step
adherence to metrical structures.
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haiku-like, but not a haiku (Japanese poem of
three lines composed of five, seven, and five
syllables, based on a single image of
nature) Written while Pound was in Paris in 1913,
he describes seeing a series of beautiful faces
while in a metro station and discovering this
image as he walked home. He drew upon Chinese
and Japanese influences.
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In a station of the Metro -Ezra Pound
The apparition of these faces in the
crowd Petals on a wet, black bough.
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Structure does not rhyme only two lines long
does not follow the rules of haiku, but does
concentrate on a single image
Title suggests ordinary, mundane activity-
waiting for a train- in a busy metropolitan city
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www.perth.ac.uk/stream/kyle/H20english.mmp202-12
7.htm
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Pound creates a simple, clear image of modern
life that shows its sadness and isolation as well
as its beauty.
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From Exploring Poetry, Gale 2001 (online)
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Perspective shifts The world looks new no
longer primitive but glossy, washed with rain
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Essential for life- Pure- The first
element Washes clean Changes appearance by making
things appear slick or glossy
Civilized glossy The most basic becomes
sophisticated
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Assonance of long is
beside a preposition denoting placement and
in addition to
ends with the word white a stark contrast to
the red suggests simplicity and purity
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Pure, simple, uncomplicated life
The juxtaposition and contrast between the
complexities of mans sophisticated productivity
and the simplicity of living.
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Two contrasts in the poem
between the latest advances in machine
technology and the continuing but overlooked
importance of elementary machines
-Barry Ahearn, Exploring Poetry, Gale 2001.
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Sound Devices Haiku-like, but not a haiku Poem is
intricately tuned Stanzas 1 and 2 linked by long
o and short uh in much, upon, and a. Long is
and long as create unity (Barry Ahearn,
Exploring Poetry. Gale 2001)
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