Tzara
Continental
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2005
- Posts
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Imagism was an early twentieth century movement in poetry that advocated for directness and concision in poems in reaction to the highly metrical and emotionally overwrought poetry of the Victorian period. Imagist poems are typically quite short, non-metrical, and (as one would suspect, given the movement's name) focused on imagery as the basis of their composition.
Ezra Pound is probably the name most often cited as the founder of the movement, though he was himself influenced by the poet T.E. Hulme as well as some of his fellow Imagists such as F.S. Flint and, perhaps especially, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle, his one-time fiancée). Amy Lowell later became a prominent advocate for the movement, though Pound ridiculed her contributions as "Amygism". An early statement of the Imagist's ideals of poetry, attributed to Flint but written by Pound, consisted of the following three principles:
The description is, like in a haiku, straightforward—concrete imagery that is presented literally rather that emotionally. It is metrically irregular (I scan it as The ap · par · i ·tion of these fa · ces in the crowd; / Pet · als on a wet, black bough.) and quite succinct—no wasted words. It is interesting, at least to me, that it rhymes ("crowd" and "bough" are not exact rhymes, but very close near rhymes), which distinguishes it from haiku.
It is also, importantly for this challenge, a metaphor. A metaphor is "a figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another" (Hirsch, A Poet's Glossary, 373). Here the faces in the Metro station are identified as being "Petals on a wet, black bough." They are equated rather than being considered similar. This is the difference between metaphor and simile. A metaphor says one thing is the other, whereas a simile says that one thing is like the other. They are both comparative figures of speech but the metaphor is more emphatic than the simile.
So let me finally get to the actual challenge: Write an Imagist poem—a short poem consisting of a strong central image—and structure it as a metaphor. The poem doesn't have to be as short as Pound's, but don't try and make it too long. The focus should be on trying to make a clear and concrete image describing your subject.
Here's my example, adapting the line "O my Love is like a red, red rose" from Robert Burns (which is, of course, a simile) to an extended metaphor (a version of metaphor that extends over the course of multiple lines, paragraphs, or stanzas of prose or poetry):
Final comment: Don't overly sweat this. It is intended as an exercise in the use of metaphor and in constructing images in poems. If you have questions, just ask. If you have comments, please post them. Please post your poems, questions, comments, and anything else related to this challenge in this thread.
Oh, and happy new year, all.
Ezra Pound is probably the name most often cited as the founder of the movement, though he was himself influenced by the poet T.E. Hulme as well as some of his fellow Imagists such as F.S. Flint and, perhaps especially, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle, his one-time fiancée). Amy Lowell later became a prominent advocate for the movement, though Pound ridiculed her contributions as "Amygism". An early statement of the Imagist's ideals of poetry, attributed to Flint but written by Pound, consisted of the following three principles:
- 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 the metronome.
In a Station of the Metro
Ezra Pound
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Ezra Pound
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
The description is, like in a haiku, straightforward—concrete imagery that is presented literally rather that emotionally. It is metrically irregular (I scan it as The ap · par · i ·tion of these fa · ces in the crowd; / Pet · als on a wet, black bough.) and quite succinct—no wasted words. It is interesting, at least to me, that it rhymes ("crowd" and "bough" are not exact rhymes, but very close near rhymes), which distinguishes it from haiku.
It is also, importantly for this challenge, a metaphor. A metaphor is "a figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another" (Hirsch, A Poet's Glossary, 373). Here the faces in the Metro station are identified as being "Petals on a wet, black bough." They are equated rather than being considered similar. This is the difference between metaphor and simile. A metaphor says one thing is the other, whereas a simile says that one thing is like the other. They are both comparative figures of speech but the metaphor is more emphatic than the simile.
So let me finally get to the actual challenge: Write an Imagist poem—a short poem consisting of a strong central image—and structure it as a metaphor. The poem doesn't have to be as short as Pound's, but don't try and make it too long. The focus should be on trying to make a clear and concrete image describing your subject.
Here's my example, adapting the line "O my Love is like a red, red rose" from Robert Burns (which is, of course, a simile) to an extended metaphor (a version of metaphor that extends over the course of multiple lines, paragraphs, or stanzas of prose or poetry):
Susan, Standing in the Doorway
She is a red, red rose,
her hair a swirl of blossom,
lissome and slender, a slim stem
swaying slightly in a breeze.
If held too tightly, she is prickly
to the point of drawing blood,
but when finally the last soft petals
fall away, what remains but the plump,
smooth swell of one newly exposed hip.
She is a red, red rose,
her hair a swirl of blossom,
lissome and slender, a slim stem
swaying slightly in a breeze.
If held too tightly, she is prickly
to the point of drawing blood,
but when finally the last soft petals
fall away, what remains but the plump,
smooth swell of one newly exposed hip.
Final comment: Don't overly sweat this. It is intended as an exercise in the use of metaphor and in constructing images in poems. If you have questions, just ask. If you have comments, please post them. Please post your poems, questions, comments, and anything else related to this challenge in this thread.
Oh, and happy new year, all.
