Imagism

by Miranda Wheeler

Definition:

According to Dictionary.com, imagism is “a theory or practice of a group of poets in England and America between 1909 and 1917 who believed that poetry should employ the language of common speech, create new rhythms, have complete freedom in subject matter, and present a clear, concentrated, and precise image.” The goal of imagism is "to use the language of common speech, but to employ always the exact word, not the nearly-exact, nor the merely decorative word."

History:

T. E. Hulme proposed to the London Poet’s Club an idea which made use of exact representation of subject matter instead of flowery language as early as 1908. The movement is said to be a rebellion against representative wording associated with Georgian Romanticism. Ezra Pound (1885-1972) is also credited as one of the founders of imagism. He provided the basis for this trade of ideas between English and American writers. He coined the term in 1912 in marking up a poem by Hilda Doolittle. His studies in Japanese and Chinese poetry forms which can be seen in the way that imagism is makes use of techniques in Chinese and Japanese styles. These styles put emphasis on the following: Clarity Precision Economy of Language And Traditional rhyme and meter

Authors/Poets:

Some of the authors and poets influenced by this theory were W. B. Yeats, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, H. D., James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, and especially T. S. Eliot. We studied this clarity in looking at Hemingway’s works. This can be related to the iceberg theory we discussed in looking at economy of language.

Example:

Tutto č Sciolto
BY JAMES JOYCE
JULY 13, 1914

A birdless heaven, sea-dusk and a star
Sad in the west;
And thou, poor heart, love’s image, fond and far,
Rememberest:

Her silent eyes and her soft foam-white brow
And fragrant hair,
Falling as in the silence falleth now
Dusk from the air.

Ah, why wilt thou remember these, or why,
Poor heart, repine,
If the sweet love she yielded with a sigh
Was never thine?


Works Cited


Brief Guide to imagism. 23 Feb 2008. http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5658

Ezra Pound. 23 Feb 2008. http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/161

Imagism. Dictionary.com. 23 Feb 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/imagism

Joyce, James. Poetry Foundation. Tutto č Sciolto. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=2893

Pomes Penyeach. 23 Feb 2008. http://www.answers.com/topic/pomes-penyeach