The1920sI.IntroductionThe1920sisafloweringperiodofAmericanliterature.Itisconsidered“thesecondrenaissance”ofAmericanliterature.Thenicknamesforthisperiod:(1)Roaring20s–comfort(2)DollarDecade–rich(3)JazzAge–JazzmusicImagismWhatisan“image”?AnimageisdefinedbyPoundasthatwhichpresentsanintellectualandemotionalcomplexinaninstantoftime,“avortexorclusteroffusedideas”(如漩涡般融合在一起的意群)“endowedwithenergy”.Theexactwordmustbringtheeffectoftheobjectbeforethereaderasithadpresenteditselftothepoet’smindatthetimeofwriting.OriginatinginthephilosophyofT.E.Hulme,themovementsoonattractedEzraPound,whobecametheleaderofasmallgroupopposedtotheromanticconceptionofpoetryandinspiredbyGreekandRomanclassicsandbyChinese,Japanese,andmodernFrenchpoets.Theimagistpoetscalledfornewrhythms,clearimages,freechoiceofsubjectmatter,compressedpoeticexpression,anduseofcommonspeech.OriginImagismisapoeticmovementofEnglandandtheUnitedStates,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.MovementDevelopment:threestages1.1908~1909:London,Hulme2.1912~1914:America,Pound3.1914~1917:AmyLowellWithaspiritofrevoltagainstconventions,imagismwasanti-romanticandanti-Victorian.Itstressedfreechoiceofsubjectmatters(oftendealingwithsingle,concentratedmomentsofexperience),concretenessofimagery,musicalphrases,economyofexpression,andtheuseofadominantimage.Itaimedatinstantaneouseffect,visualandconcise.Imagistsusedthelanguageofcommonspeechandemployedexactwordsinsteadoftheflowerylanguageofpoetry.Theyavoidedallclichéexpressions,theornatediction,andcomplexverseformsoftraditionalpoetry.Majorfeature--1Imagismproducedfreeversewithoutimposingarhythmicalpattern.Therhythmwascomposedasifthepoetweremakingamusicphrase.Thiswasadoing-awaywithconventionsofmetersothatthepoetneedednotmakehisideasfitintoanestablishedmeterasinasonnetoraballad.Thepoetcreatednewrhythmsinthesequenceofthemusicalphraseastheexpressionsofanewmood.Majorfeature--21.Tousethelanguageofcommonspeech,buttoemploytheexactword,notthenearly-exact,northemerelydecorativeword.2.Absolutefreedominthechoiceofsubject.3.Toproduceapoetrythatishardandclear,neverblurrednorindefinite.4.Finally,mostofusbelievethatconcentrationisoftheveryessenceofpoetry.EzraPoundImagistManifesto枯藤老树昏鸦,小桥流水人家,古道西风瘦马。夕阳西下,断肠人在天涯。天净沙.秋思马致远[译文]枯藤缠绕着老树,树枝上栖息着黄昏时归巢的乌鸦,小桥下,流水潺潺,旁边有几户人家,在古老荒凉的道路上,秋风萧瑟,一匹疲惫的瘦马驮着我蹒跚前行。夕阳向西缓缓落下,悲伤断肠的人还漂泊在天涯。在地铁站:人潮中这些面容的忽现;湿巴巴的黑树丫上的花瓣。(罗池)地铁车站:人群中这些脸庞的幻影;潮...