IMAGISM
1912-1917
WHAT IT IS
• Poetry that presents an image as a larger
statement.
• Usually free verse
• There were three rules:
• Direct treatment of the “thing”—either object or subject
• Use no word that is not absolutely necessary
• Compose as if it is a musical phrase not song
POETS
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HD (Hilda Doolittle)
Ezra Pound
William Carlos Williams
Amy Lowell
IN A STATION OF THE METRO
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Ezra Pound
THIS IS JUST TO SAY
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
William Carlos Williams
EXAMPLE
Sorry But It Was Beautiful
Sorry I took your money and burned it but it looked
like the world falling apart when it crackled and
burned.
So I think it was worth it after all you can’t see the
world fall apart every day.
Andrew Vecchione
EXAMPLE 2
Dear Cat
Please
for
give
me
for
watching
your
eyes
gleam
in
the
night.
Lorraine Fedison
EXAMPLE 3
Dear Bird
I am sorry
To kill you
But when you’re cooked
You taste too good
With gravy.
Unknown
EXAMPLE 4
THE GOLDEN FLEECE I ATE
me:
dear
god
forgive
me
for
eating
the
golden
fleece
Thou
sent
down
to
save
Rolmus
and
Ramous
god:
dear
boy
who
ate
my
golden
fleece
I
shall
punish
Thee
by
making
you
save
Rolmus
and
Ramous
EXAMPLE 5 & 6
Last evening we went dancing and I broke your leg.
Forgive me. I was clumsy and
I wanted you here in the wards, where I am the
doctor!
and
We laughed at the hollyhocks together
and then I sprayed them with lye.
Forgive me. I simply do not know what I am doing
Kenneth Koch
BETWEEN WALLS
the back wings
of the
hospital where
nothing
will grow lie
cinders
in which shine
the broken
pieces of a green
bottle
William Carlos Williams
EXAMPLE 1
Nothing Made to Something
The garbage I saw was like millions of crayon marks
on paper.
It looks like firecrackers of the world being shot off,
But the best thing was it looked like itself—ugly, but
nice in a way.
Andrew Vecchione
EXAMPLE 2
It
was
just
a
big
fat
old
hunk
junk
but
I
like
it
cause
he
was
my
brother
Jorge Robles
EXAMPLE 3
Behind the door
there is a person
with eyes of
blue that shine
like a mirror
when it’s clean
Behind the door
there is a
girl who is
I’d better
not tell you.
Ileana Mesen
EXAMPLE 4
The ticking of the clock
Came from the wall above
Filled with bricks and wood.
The sound of a broken dish filled the air.
Jeannie Turner
YOUR TASK
• Create two imagist poems mocking one of the ones
by Pound or Williams.
• You must adhere to the rules of imagist poetry.
• Please see the Rubric
YOUR RUBRIC
Content /Your Voice/Word Choice::
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Concrete description of an ordinary object, place, experience—something you have
actually seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched (not something from t.v.)
Captures a subject or object (moment in time, idea)
Daily language, but appropriate for school
Minimal words
Descriptive words
No minimum length—however, words chosen must aid the reader to understand
meaning
No sentimentality
No rhyming
Conventions/ Organization /Overall Appearance:
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______(10)
______(5)
Titled (center of page)
Put into stanzas (not essay style paragraphs or full sentences)—can be split artistically
Correct spelling
Punctuation and capitalization can be used artistically
X
Total ____/15