Modernist Poetry

Ezra (Weston Loomis)

Pound
(1885 1972)

Imagism

Anglo-American movement
developed in the pre- World War II
years

Critical reaction against

the poetry of the immediate past
in England and America:
As subjective, impressionistic
As decadent Romanticism
Both typical of the Victorian era
(Imagist opinion)

sources of inspiration were,

chronologically, of two sorts:
Ancient: Greek, Latin, Hebrew,
Chinese, and Japanese
Modern: French.

Yet the platform on which the

imagists eventually took their stand

was a harmonious structure based

on these principles:
Hardness of outline
Clarity of image
Brevity
Suggestiveness
Freedom from metrical laws.
April 22, 1909: Ezra Pound
joined the group
the group died a lingering death
at the end of its second winter

its discussions had a sequel:

1912: E. Pound published at the

end of his book, Ripostes, the
complete poetical works of T.
E. Hulme.

Pound was no longer a

member of the group
six articles/poetic rules:
Use the language of
common speech,
employing always the
right word.
Create new rhythms
(free verse is
recommended) to

express the individuality

of the poet.
Have absolute freedom
in the choice of the
subject of the poem.
Present images, and
not vague generalities.
Write hard and clear,
not blurred and
indefinite, poetry.
Use concentrated poetic expression.

1."Direct treatment of the 'thing,'

whether subjective or objective
2."To use absolutely no word that
does not contribute to the
presentation.
3."As regards rhythm, to compose
in sequence of the musical
phrase, not in sequence of a
metronome."
4.To conform to the "doctrine of
the image" -- which the author
says has not been defined for
publication, as it does not concern
the public and would provoke
useless discussion.

Pounds definition of the

image (same issue):

that which represents an

intellectual and emotional
complex in an instant of time.

1914 Pound started finding Imagism too

limiting turned to Vorticism:

 established by Wyndham Lewis (British

painter, novelist, and journalist, 18821957) in 1914.
avant-garde movement in British art
drawing on futurism, cubism, and
expressionism celebration of German
aesthetics and the principles of energy,
visual violence, and dynamism
represented by the journal Blast, edited
by Lewis
For Pound: energy and emotion expressed in
pure form. The image was now
defined as:
a radiant node or cluster; it is what I
can, and must perforce, call a vortex (a
whirling mass of something, especially
water or air, that draws everything near it
toward its center), from which and
through which, and into which, ideas
are constantly rushing.

Canto I (1925)

Pound used a Latin version of

Homer's Odyssey by Andreas Divus
(dated 1538):

On the metre and syntax of a 1911

version of the Anglo-Saxon poem The
Seafarer, Pound made an English
version of Divus' rendering of the
Nekuia (Gr. Poetry: journey to the
Underworld) episode (11th book of
the Odyssey):

Odysseus and his companions sail to

Hades in order to find out their future.

Odysseus - an heroic explorer cultivating

the gods and acting significantly (great
deeds) in search of knowledge

a metaphor of classicism as meaningful

and balanced
an allegory of Pound at the beginning of
his poetical journey, a voyage of the artists
self and a world history discovery to meet

love (Aphrodite) and temptation (Circe) as

forgetfulness / erotic sensuality.

apparent senseless structure of the

poem is the result in the belief in the
authenticity of live art as life: a
multifarious flux, an open form

Journey to the underworld,

seeking direction from the dead
symbolic intention > it goes back to
the original ground of knowledge > a
respectful enquiring relation with nature
and with the human past, gained
through submission (see his following
the ritual [poetry, art] indicated by
Circe) > we ascend to the source of
Western literature and wisdom in
order to get our bearings [Tiresias,
Divus, Dartona Cretensis (the Cretan)].
The Cantos as epic of knowledge.
Suggested in lines 70-74: the Sirens,
Circe, Aphrodite > sensory, carnal,
visionary knowledge.

Odysseus = first-person
speaker of the Canto; Pound
protagonist and author
Pound, the poet, engaged
in this journey to the past
and back, to the present in
order to create original and
substantial art
Odysseus sails on his
appointed voyage past the

Sirens to Circes enchantment

(dangers of being
swallowed by tradition),
leading to a worshipful
encounter with Aphrodite
(aesthetic revival) .

first part of Canto I: on its

symbolic level Pounds answer to the
raised question for the relationship
between the present and the past
It is the past that influences and
maybe determines the present and
it is the past that shall be asked for
knowledge to lead us
Elphenor here = our debt to the
past our responsibility to
cherish and take care of that what
is the past = our tradition
rejection of modernity
The past and the present are not
mutually exclusive;
The past as the motoric force of the
present; if the present stands still it is
because weve lost our sensitivity to
the past and forgot its value and
meaning.

initiatory rites of
Proserpina / Persephone:

daughter of Demeter and Zeus

who was abducted by Hades, king
of the underworld; she spent half
the year in the underworld and
half the year on earth with her

mother; her return to earth

symbolized the arrival of spring;
the branch [golden bough] was
held up to her as an offering
such an offering symbolized the
golden bough bearers
understanding of her polarity
(good and evil): to enter the
darkness was to return to the light
(a necessarily cyclic universe)
Necessary to regain cultural
past: contribute to the
present.