by Sarah Murray

Created on: January 27, 2009   Last Updated: November 18, 2009

While the content of the writings of the Futurists was a direct response to, and a love of, the mechanised age, it was William Carlos Williams that made the direct comparison that poetic form is as a well-oiled machine, and that the parts, or words, should work in unison to form a coherent and fluent whole. This comparison, in conjunction with the rules of F. S. Flint, proved to be the basis for Ezra Pound's 1912 essay, Imagisme, and A few Don'ts by an Imagiste (Rainey, 2008: 94 5), which, combined, outline the tropes of the movement:

Direct treatment of the "thing", whether subjective or objective.To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation. As regarding rhythm: to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of a metronome.

In addition to this, Pound stated that one should "use no superfluous word, no adjective, which does not reveal something", but also admitted that these rules were not exhaustive, but would still provide a starting point for those wishing to partake in writing in the Imagist style.

This focus upon perception and the image is best demonstrated by Pound's poem, In a Station of the Metro:

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bow.

Within these two lines, Pound effectively demonstrates the theories of Imagism put into practice; the reader cannot fail to perceive the image that Pound wishes to convey. Yet, much of Pound's poetry, while following some of the conventions of Imagism, fails to fully encompass that which is at the heart of the movement; they contain repetition, overly-used adjectives, abstraction, and incomplete imagery.

Pound states that it is not to be considered a sin against art to refer to, and implement, the more traditional elements of poetry, as used in the classics, yet this is in contradiction to the premise of the Modernist movement as a whole; to break from traditions of old, whilst simultaneously creating new ones.

Due to the difficulty in adhering to the accepted elements of Imagism, it was inconceivable that this movement would survive. Even those regarded as its creators could not continue to write under such constraints; the concept was sound and agreeable to many, yet practically impossible to implement, to the point where Ezra Pound discontinued his endeavours in Imagism, stating, "[it] was a point on the curve of my development. Some people remained at that point. I moved on." (Hughes, 1972: 38).

However, not all of the conventions of Imagism died with it, and the movement is regarded as being responsible, at least in part, to the vitality of vers libre, or free-verse form, within poetry, as well as influencing the works of such renowned authors as T. S. Eliot and James Joyce.

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