Imagism

Imagism 1912-1917

Uses words and language to form a crisp image of what the writer is describing.

Founded by Ezra Pound in 1912 while working with a poem by Hilda Doolittle but based off of ideas by T. E. Hulme. Other important poets were: William Carlos Williams, Richard Aldington, and James Joyce.

Ezra Pound Hilda Doolittle T. E. Hulme

• Ezra signed the poem by Hilda: “H.D. Imagiste” indicating that there was more done to the poem than Hilda’s writing, and that was imagery.
• The movement began in London, England after T.E. Hulme’s poetry club in 1908 which explored the actual subject of poetry with no extra terms added on. The movement was a reaction against Georgian Romanticism which was thought to have “careless thinking” and “flabby abstract language.”

Pound defined Imagist poetry as this (from Poetry.com):

I. Direct treatment of the "thing," whether subjective or objective.
II. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.
III. As regarding rhythm: to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of the metronome.

Pound also came up with the Ideogrammic Method which used concrete images to allow the poetry to deal with abstract content.

A well known poem of Imagism is In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound:

“The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.”


This poem paints a very clear picture of the Metro station Ezra is describing. The poem is directly speaking of the Metro station, and every word contributes to the presentation of this. The rhythm of the poem is almost like a verse of a song.

You can listen to recordings of Pound reading his poetry here: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Pound.php

Imagist Poets and Poems in our text book:

pg. 561 - In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound
pg. 149 - The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter
pg. 108 - The Dance by Williams Carlos Williams
pg. 632 - Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Williams Carlos Williams
pg. 87 - Poem by Williams Carlos Williams
pg. 632 -The Raper from Passenack by Williams Carlos Williams
pg. 634 - Spring and All by Williams Carlos Williams
pg. 634 - This Is Just to Say by Williams Carlos Williams
pg. 205 - To Elsie by Williams Carlos Williams









Works Cited:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5658
http://www.credoreference.com/credomap.do?query=Imagism&view=facet
www.desimages.com/postlude.html
http://www.shmoop.com/in-a-station-of-metro/resources.html

~Blue