Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Reflections on the Project
Early Morning: An Imagist Poem by Amy Carpenter
Misty tendrils of smoke
Selected Works by Amy Lowell
A London Thoroughfare. 2 A.M. The sunshine pours in at the bath-room window and bores through the water in the bath-tub in lathes and planes of greenish-white. It cleaves the water into flaws like a jewel, and cracks it to bright light.
Little spots of sunshine lie on the surface of the water and dance, dance, and their reflections wobble deliciously over the ceiling; a stir of my finger sets them whirring, reeling. I move a foot and the planes of light in the water jar. I lie back and laugh, and let the green-white water, the sun-flawed beryl water, flow over me. The day is almost too bright to bear, the green water covers me from the too bright day. I will lie here awhile and play with the water and the sun spots. The sky is blue and high. A crow flaps by the window, and there is a whiff of tulips and narcissus in the air.
(Note: Top featured photograph is by Terri Moody)
Works Cited: "Amy Lowell." Famous Poets and Poems. N.p., 2006. Web. 3 Jun 2010.
More Poems of William Carlos Williams
Flowers through the window
lavender and yellow
changed by white curtains –
Smell of cleanliness –
Sunshine of late afternoon –
On the glass tray
a glass pitcher, the tumbler
turned down, by which
a key is lying – And the
immaculate white bed
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
Works Cited: "William Carlos Williams." Poem Hunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2010.
The Leader: Amy Lowell
By the time Imagism as a movement had run its course, Amy Lowell was seen as its leader. Although Imagism effectively ended in 1917, its impact on the literary world was immense. Imagism was part of a larger movement known as Modernism and Modernism opened the door for more unconventional styles of art and poetry. Free verse, surrealism and other avant-garde styles became more popular as the century passed. And Imagism itself survived in amateur writings and readers like me who appreciate its clarity and beauty.
Works Cited: "Amy Lowell." Famous Poets and Poems. N.p., 2006. Web. 3 Jun 2010.
Free Verse! Free Verse! The Poems of William Carlos Williams
There is a bird in the poplars!
It is the sun!
The leaves are little yellow fish
swimming in the river.
The bird skims above them,
day is on his wings.
Phoebus!
It is he that is making
the great gleam among the poplars!
outshines the noise
of leaves clashing in the wind.
And yet one arrives somehow,
finds himself loosening the hooks of
her dress
in a strange bedroom--
feels the autumn
dropping its silk and linen leaves
about her ankles.
The tawdry veined body emerges
twisted upon itself
like a winter wind . . . !
Works Cited: "William Carlos Williams." Poem Hunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2010.
The Poems of Ezra Pound
Possibly the father of Imagism, the Ezra Pound poems I've selected closely resemble haikus.
In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Alba
As cool as the pale wet leaves
of lily-of the valley
She lay beside me in the dawn.
The Encounter
All the while they were talking the new morality
Her eyes explored me.
And when I rose to go
Her fingers were like the tissue
Of a Japanese paper napkin.
Works Cited: "Ezra Pound." Poem Hunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2010.
More Poems by H.D.
Whirl your pointed pines.
Splash your great pines
On our rocks.
Hurl your green over us-
Cover us with your pools of fir.
Sea Rose
marred and with stint of petals,
meagre flower, thin,
sparse of leaf,
more precious
than a wet rose
single on a stem --
you are caught in the drift.
Stunted, with small leaf,
you are flung on the sand,
you are lifted
in the crisp sand
that drives in the wind.
Can the spice-rose
drip such acrid fragrance
hardened in a leaf?
The mysteries remain,
I keep the same
cycle of seed-time
and of sun and rain;
Demeter in the grass,
I multiply,
renew and bless
Bacchus in the vine;
I hold the law,
I keep the mysteries true,
the first of these
to name the living, dead;
I am the wine and bread.
I keep the law,
I hold the mysteries true,
I am the vine,
the branches, you
and you.
Stars Wheel in Purple by H.D.: An Analysis
Stars Wheel in Purple
By H.D.
Stars wheel in purple, yours is not so rare
as Hesperus, nor yet so great a star
as bright Aldeboran or Sirius,
nor yet the stained and brilliant one of War;
stars turn in purple, glorious to the sight;
yours is not gracious as the Pleiads are
nor as Orion's sapphires, luminous;
yet disenchanted, cold, imperious face,
when all the others blighted, reel and fall,
your star, steel-set, keeps lone and frigid tryst
to freighted ships, baffled in wind and blast.
The poems of Hilda Doolittle gave birth to the Imagist movement so it is only proper that we start our exploration of Imagisim with her. This poem may feel confusing at first but the first step to understanding it would be a little background in astronomy.
Hesperus is the "evening star" (Venus in the evening)
Aldeboran is the brightest star in the Taurus constellation
Sirius is know as the "Dog Star" and is the brightest star in the night sky
"the stained and brilliant one of War" refers to the planet Mars
the Pleiads are a group of stars in the Taurus constellation
"Orion's sapphires" referrs to the line of stars in the constellation Orion that make up Orion's belt
Even if you knew or guessed that all those things were astronomical bodies doesn't the poem make more sense now that you know a little bit more about the night sky?
So what H.D. is saying, this star, "wheeling through space" (i.e. moving smoothly) is not rare, like a sighting of Hesperus and it's not as bright as Aldeboran or Sirius or Mars. It's not as pretty as the Pleiads or Orion's belt is but there is something special about it.
What's special about the star, along with clues to what this star is can be found in the last stanza. H.D. tells the star that when "all the others blighted, reel and fall,/your star, steel-set, keeps lone and frigid tryst/to freighted ships, baffled in wind and blast."
When all the other stars fail, this star stays stationary ("steel-set") and never breaks it's appointment ("tryst") to lost and frightened (here the play on words is the similarity between "freighted" meaning loaded with cargo and "frightened") ships "baffled in wind and blast" at sea.
What other star could this be but the North Star in the constellation of the Big Dipper? While unremarkable in many ways, this star is the second most important star in the sky after our own sun. H.D. is reminding the star of this when it might be feeling outshone by its brighter, prettier neighbors.
This star, moving smoothly through a deep purple night sky keeps sailors on course in a lonely ocean.
Works Cited: "H. D. - Stars Wheel in Purple." American Poems. N.p., 16 Jan 2006. Web. 3 Jun 2010.
(Note: Featured photograph was taken by Terri Moody)
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The Imagist Manifesto and Imagism's Link to Haikus
The following is a excerpt from an Imagist Manifesto, which explains what Imagism as a movement set out to do.
From an Imagist manifesto:
1. To use the language of common speech, but to employ the exact
word, not the nearly-exact, nor the merely decorative word.
2. We believe that the individuality of a poet may often be better
expressed in free verse than in conventional forms. In poetry, a new
cadence means a new idea.
3. Absolute freedom in the choice of subject.
4. To present an image. We are not a school of painters, but we
believe that poetry should render particulars exactly and not deal in
vague generalities, however magnificent and sonorous. It is for this
reason that we oppose the cosmic poet, who seems to us to shirk the real
difficulties of his art.
5. To produce a poetry that is hard and clear, never blurred nor
indefinite.
6. Finally, most of us believe that concentration is of the very
essence of poetry.
Hmm, presenting an image? Language of common speech? Exact wording? What does that sound like?
Now, it’s well-known that Imagism was heavily influenced by Japanese poetry and haikus and I would put it out there that Imagism is really American Haiku. Like I said in my first post, haikus are not really about the rules even though that’s what’s best known about them. The presentation of the image is what’s most important and although the Imagists went about it differently, at their hearts, Imagism and haikus are essentially the same.
Imagism=Haikus that got a little disheveled during their trip across the Pacific Ocean.
Works Cited:
"imagism: defined." UPenn, n.d. Web. 1 Jun 2010.
Before Imagism
Poetry…the name itself sounds pretty. Now, words conjure different images and feeling for different people, but when I hear the word “poetry” or similar words like “poetical” or “lyrical” I imagine things like soft silk, English countrysides and lavender. Girly things. Maybe it’s different for you but poetry still has this reputation of impossible language, improbable metaphors and sometimes being just plain stupid, or worse, boring.
You wouldn’t be the first to dismiss poetry on the diction commonly associated with it: flowery, sentimental and saccharine. In fact, several poets in the early twentieth century felt similarly. Around the turn of the century and for a long time before that, the most common and popular poetry was this kind, called “genteel” poetry. It was pretty, stuff for ladies to embroider onto cushion, meaningless words for young boys to copy and impress their sweethearts, all the things that many people complain about when it comes to poetry. Well a group of poets decided to change this and started a movement known as Imagism.
Ezra Pound is really the father of this movement, which got started in 1912 when he helped a young poetess publish two of her poems. Her name was Hilda Doolittle but she was known primarily by her initials, H.D. Other poets contributed to the Imagism movement including Amy Lowell, Richard Aldington, James Joyce, F.S. Flint, John Gould Fletcher, William Carlos Williams (Free verse! Free verse!) and D.H. Lawrence.
Works Cited:
"Ezra Pound." Poets.org N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Jun 2010.
(Note: I can't put URL in the blog so the Works Cited is technically unfinished but there you are.)