The Movement

"The Movement " is a name given by an editor of an English periodical

to describe a kind of poetry written during the 1950s by such poets as
Philip Larkin , Kingsley Amis , John Wain , Elizabeth Jennings , Thorn
Gunn , Donald Davie and D .J.Enright .The Movement poetry of is very
different from the modernist poetry written in the nineteen-thirties and
nineteen-forties .It is basically traditional ,anti-modernist poetry .It was
a reaction against the mysticism of W .B.Yeats , the complexity of
T.S.Eliot , the intellectualism and the Surrealism of Dylan Thomas .They
preferred plain poetry like that written by the pre- modern poet ,
Thomas Hardy .

The poetry of the Movement has realistic , anti- symbolist features .It is
also rational in spirit and argumentative . The language of the
Movement poetry is understandable and relatively simple ; it employs
traditional syntax , ordinary diction and it is often colloquial .The style of
the Movement poetry is often described as journalistic and employ a
narrative technique. It is not allusive and highly poetical and its imagery
is clear-cut.

The movement poet seeks to establish a direct relationship with his

audience .He is at one with his people ; he is their representative or
spokesman who meditate on things related to life's daily concerns .He
fits William Words worth's definition of the poet as " a man speaking to
men ".The Movement poetry deals with ordinary or common themes .It
speaks about common situations and social occasions such as weddings
,visits , funerals , animal abuse… etc. He is not often concerned with
metaphysical matters .

Professor Saad Najim Al-Khafaji (Ph D)