Gammarino – Jazz Lit

IMAGISM
In  a  Station  of  the  Metro  
 
The  apparition  of  these  faces  in  the  crowd;  
Petals  on  a  wet,  black  bough.  
 
—Ezra  Pound,  1913  
 
 
The  imagist  movement  included  English  and  American  poets  in  the  early  twentieth  
century  who  wrote  free  verse  and  were  devoted  to  “clarity  of  expression  through  the  
use  of  precise  visual  images.”  A  strand  of  modernism,  imagism  was  officially  launched  
in  1912  when  Ezra  Pound  read  and  marked  up  a  poem  by  Hilda  Doolittle,  signed  it  “H.  
D.  Imagiste,"ʺ  and  sent  it  to  Harriet  Monroe  at  Poetry  magazine.  

Imagist  poetry  aimed  to  replace  muddy  abstractions  with  exactness  of  observed  
detail,  apt  metaphors,  and  economy  of  language.  For  example,  Pound’s  “In  a  Station  of  
the  Metro”  started  from  a  glimpse  of  beautiful  faces  in  a  dark  subway  and  elevated  that  
perception  into  a  crisp  vision  by  finding  an  intensified  equivalent  image.  The  metaphor  
provokes  a  sharp,  intuitive  discovery  in  order  to  get  at  the  essence  of  life.  

Pound’s  definition  of  the  image  was  “that  which  presents  an  intellectual  and  emotional  
complex  in  an  instant  of  time.”  Pound  defined  the  tenets  of  imagist  poetry  as:  

         I.  Direct  treatment  of  the  “thing,"ʺ  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.    

Though  Imagism  as  a  movement  was  over  by  1917,  the  ideas  about  poetry  embedded  in  
the  imagist  doctrine  profoundly  influenced  free  verse  poets  throughout  the  twentieth  
century.(text  adapted  from  poets.org)  
Gammarino – Jazz Lit

Ezra Pound, 1913

Oread  –  H.D.  (Hilda  Doolittle)  

 
Whirl  up,  sea—  
Whirl  your  pointed  pines,  
splash  your  great  pines  
on  our  rocks,  
hurl  your  green  over  us,  
Cover  us  with  your  pools  of  fir.  
 
Gammarino – Jazz Lit

Superstition  –  Amy  Lowell  

 
I  have  painted  a  picture  of  a  ghost  
Upon  my  kite,  
And  hung  it  on  a  tree.  
Later,  when  I  loose  the  string  
And  let  it  fly,  
The  people  will  cower  
And  hide  their  heads,  
For  fear  of  the  God  
Swimming  in  the  clouds.  

"ʺGod  made  me  a  business  woman,  and  I  made  myself  a  poet."ʺ  –Amy  Lowell  
 

 
The  Red  Wheelbarrow  
 
so  much  depends    
upon    
 
a  red  wheel    
barrow    
 
glazed  with  rain    
water    
 
beside  the  white    
chickens  
 

-­‐‑-­‐‑William  Carlos  Williams  

Gammarino – Jazz Lit

A Sort Of A Song
Let the snake wait under
his weed
and the writing
be of words, slow and quick, sharp
to strike, quiet to wait,
sleepless.

— through metaphor to reconcile

the people and the stones.
Compose. (No ideas
but in things) Invent!
Saxifrage is my flower that splits
the rocks.
--William Carlos Williams

"Whereas Symbolism had an affinity with music, Imagism sought analogy with
sculpture." –Al Filreis
Gammarino – Jazz Lit

Modern-isms exercise #4: Reread these poems and then write an

imagist poem of your own of at least 50 words.