ImagismFuLiSchoolofForeignLanguagesHITOriginatinginthephilosophyofT.E.Hulme,themovementsoonattractedEzraPound,whobecametheleaderofasmallgroupopposedtotheromanticconceptionofpoetryandinspiredbyGreekandRomanclassicsandbyChinese,Japanese,andmodernFrenchpoets.Theimagistpoetscalledfornewrhythms,clearimages,freechoiceofsubjectmatter,compressedpoeticexpression,anduseofcommonspeech.OriginationImagismisapoeticmovementofEnglandandtheUnitedStates,whichflourishedfrom1908to1917.Itscreed,expressedinSomeImagistPoets(1915),includedtheuseofthelanguageofcommonspeech,precision,thecreationofnewrhythms,absolutefreedominchoiceofsubjectmatter,theevocationofimagesinhard,clearpoetry,andconcentration.IntheU.S.,thegroupwasrepresentedbyPound,JohnGouldFletcher,andAmyLowell.MovementPoundcollectedsomeoftheirworkinDesImagists:AnAnthology(1914),afterwhichhisinterestbegantowane.AmyLowellthenassumedactiveleadership,advocatingthatthegroupsubscribetoafixedprogramandholdtogetherforatleastthreeyears.Underherguidancewerepublishedseveralanthologies,allentitledSomeImagistPoets.ThemostimportantfiguresareEzraPound,H.D.(HildaDoolittle),AmyLowell,andWilliamCarlosWilliams.OtherimportantpoetsinthisperiodincludeT.S.Eliot,E.R.Robinson,WallaceStevens,andE.E.Cummings.MovementWithaspiritofrevoltagainstconventions,imagismwasanti-romanticandanti-Victorian.Itstressedfreechoiceofsubjectmatters(oftendealingwithsingle,concentratedmomentsofexperience),concretenessofimagery,musicalphrases,economyofexpression,andtheuseofadominantimage.Itaimedatinstantaneouseffect,visualandconcise.Imagistsusedthelanguageofcommonspeechandemployedexactwordsinsteadoftheflowerylanguageofpoetry.Theyavoidedallclicheexpressions,theornatediction,andcomplexverseformsoftraditionalpoetry.Majorfeature--1Imagismproducedfreeversewithoutimposingarhythmicalpattern.Therhythmwascomposedasifthepoetweremakingamusicphrase.Thiswasadoing-awaywithconventionsofmetersothatthepoetneedednotmakehisideasfitintoanestablishedmeterasinasonnetoraballad.Thepoetcreatednewrhythmsinthesequenceofthemusicalphraseastheexpressionsofanewmood.Majorfeature--2ImagismwasequivalenttoNaturalisminfictioninasense.Naturalismwasbasedonscientificobservation,afeelingofdeterminismthatthereadershouldlookonlyattheoutsideobjectswithnoattempttogetinsideofthem.TheImagistwritersalsohadthesamefeelingofdeterminismthatthereadershouldonlylookattheimage.Ifthereaderlooksattheimage,itwillevokeanemotionimmediately.Majorfeature--3Imagismtriedtorecordobjectiveobservationsofanobjectorasituationwithoutinterpretationorcommentbythepoet.Imagismrequiredapoettopresentjustapicture,nothisinsight.Itisverybiologicalandveryscientific.Theyneverstatedtheemotioninthepoem,butjustpresentedanimage:concrete,firm,definiteinpicture.Anysignificancetobederivedfromtheimagehadtoappearinherentinitscleanpresentation.Majorfeature--4Imagismwasaradicalchangefromthewaypoetryhadbeenwritteninthe19thcentury.Thesemodernistpoetstriedtokeeptheirideastothemselves,merelygivingthereaderthedescriptionoftheoutwardsurface.Therefore,anImagistpoemconsistsofclearvisualimages,oftenjuxtaposedwithotherimages,promptingthereadertoanimaginativeresponsethatcompletesitsmeaning.Summary1.Tousethelanguageofcommonspeech,buttoemploytheexactword,notthenearly-exact,northemerelydecorativeword.2.Webelievethattheindividualityofapoetmayoftenbebetterexpressedinfreeversethan...