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Imagism

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.

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.

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.

Major feature--1
With a spirit of revolt against conventions, imagism was antiromantic 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

1. To use the language of common speech, but to employ the exact word, not the nearly-exact, nor the merely decorative word. 2. 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.

3. Absolute freedom in the choice of subject.


4. 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. 5. To produce a poetry that is hard and clear, never blurred nor indefinite. 6. Finally, most of us believe that concentration is of the very essence of poetry. Ezra Pound

Imagist Manifesto

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.

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


: : . : : :

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).

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.

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?


1. 2. 3. 20

The Red Wheelbarrow


So much depends upon

a red wheel barrow


glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.

William Carlos Williams

The Great Figure

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

FOG The fog comes On little cat feet. It sits looking Over harbor and city On silent haunches And then, moves on.

Window
Carl Sandburg

Night from a railroad car window Is a great, dark, soft thing Broken across with slashes of light.

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