Comparing LiteraryWorks

The ImagistPoets
Ezra Pound (1885-1972)
As both an edito r and a
poet, Ezra Pound inspired
the dr amatic cha nges in
American poetry that char-
ac terized the Modern Age.
Pound's insis te nce that writ-
ers "make it new" led man y
poets to di scard the forms, tec h-
n iques, and ideas of the past and
to experiment with new approaches to poet ry.
Pound influ enced the wor k of the Irish poet
William Burler Yeat s, as weII as that of T. S. Eliot ,
William Carlos Williams, H. D. , Marianne Moore,
and Ernest H emingway-a "who's who" of the lit-
erary voic es of the age . He is best rem embered,
however, for h is role in the devel opment
of Imagism.
Despite his preoccupation with or iginality and
inventiveness, Pound's work ofte n drew upon the
poetry of anci ent cultures. Man y of his poems are
filled with liter ar y and histor ical allusions, whi ch
can make the poems difficul t to interpret without
having the appropriate background informati on.
Fall From Grace In 1925, Pound settled in Ital y.
Moti vated by the mistaken beli ef that a co untry
governed by a powerful di ctator was the most con-
ducive environme nt for the crea tio n of art, Pound
became an outspoke n suppor ter of Italian dict ator
Beni to Mussol ini during Worl d War II. In 1943,
the American govern ment indic ted Pound for
treason; in 194 5, he was arres ted by Ameri can
troops and imprisoned. After being flown bac k to
the United States in 1945, he was judged psycho-
logically unfi t to sta nd trial and was confined to
a hospital for th e crimina lly insan e. There he
rem ained until 1958, whe n he was released due
largel y to the efforts of the liter ary community he
had so doggedl y support ed over the year s. He
returned to It aly, where he lived until hi s death .
William Carlos Williams
(1883-1963) I
Unlike hi s fellow Imagists,
William Carlos
spe nt most of hi s life i I
the United States, where
he pursued a double car eer
as a poet and a pediat rician
in New Jersey. He felt his
experiences as a doctor help Jd
prov ide him wit h inspirati on as a poet , crediting
med icine for his ability to "gai n ent rance to . ..
the secret gardens of t he self."
The ch ild of immigrants, Will iams grew up
speaking Spanish, French, and British English.
Neverthel ess, he was ena mored of American
language and life. He rejected t he views of his
co llege friend, Ezra Pound , who believed in u:ing
allusions to history, rel igion, and ancient lit era-
tur e. Williams focused instead on capt uring the
essence of modern American life by depict ing
ordinary peop le, objec ts, and expe riences using
current , everyday language. J
The Poetry of Daily Life In volumes such a.
Spring and All (1923) and In the American Grain
(1925), Williams cap tured the essence of
life and landscape. He avoided offering explan tions,
remarking that a poet sho uld deal in "No idea J but
in thi ngs';--eoncrete images that speak for them-
selves, evoking emotions and ideas, . I
In hi s later work, W illiams departed from Plure
Imagism in orde r to write more expa nsively. Hi s
I
five-vo lume poem Paterson (1946-58) expl ores the
idea of a city as a symbol for a ma n. The poe n is
based on the real ci ty of Paterson , New
Williams continued to write even aft er hi s I
fai ling health for ced him to gi ve up hi s medi cal
practice. In 1963, he receiv ed a Pul itzer PrizJ for
Pictures from Breughel and Other Poems, hi s fit at
volume of poe tr y.
726 Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent ( 1914-1 946)
H. D. (Hilda Doolittle )
(1886-1961 )
In 19 13, whe n Ezra
Pound reshaped three of
Hild a Doo lit tle's poems
and submi tted th em to
Poetr)' magazine under the
name "H. D., Imagiste," th e
creating innovative musical lines in her poetry.
With t hese unusual technique s, H. D. focused
much of her poe t ry and prose on th e issues of her
day-World Wars I and II, the growing interest in
th e human psyche creat ed by Si gmund Freud's
work, and th e blossoming film medium.
In 1925, almost all of H. D.'s early poems were
gathered in Collected Poems, a volume th at also
contained her translations from th e Odysse)' and
from the Greek poet Sappho, Sh e also wrote a
Imagist movement was born.
"
The publication of the poems also
play-HiN)olytus Temporizes, whi ch appeared in
servt'ld to th e career of the young
1927-and two prose work s-Palimpsest (1926)
poet , who cont inued to publ ish under the name
and (1928) . During the later stages of
H. D. throughout her life.
her career, she focused on writing longer works,
in Pennsylvani a, Doolit tle was only
incl uding an epic poem. H. D. is best remembered,
fiftecb when she first met Ezra Pound, who was
however, for her early Imagist poet ry.
stud)hng at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1911,
Doolittle moved to London and renewed
,J
her at quaintance with Pound. She married
Background on Imagism
a eloIe friend of his, the English poet
Imagism was a literary movement established in the early
Richard Aldington, but the marriage strug-
1900s by Ezra Pound and other poets. As the name suggests,
gled knd failed durin g World War I when
the Imagists concentrated on the direct presentation of
left to fight in France. Doolittle
images, or word pictures. An Imagist poem expressed the
remained a shor t while in London , where
essence of an object, person, or incident, without providing
she 0ecame a leader of the Imagist group.
explanations. Through the spare, clean presentation of an
She Jcturned to the United Sta tes ami set-
image, the Imagists hoped to freeze a single moment in time
tled in Ca lifornia, whe re she remained for a and to capture t he emotions of that moment. To accomplish
this purpose, the Imagists used the language of everyday
she n oved to Swit zerland, and lived there
year before going back to England . In 1921,
speech, carefully choosing each word. They also shied away
from traditional poetic patterns, focusing inst ead on creating
until her death .
new, music al rhythms.
Clas ically Inspired Like the Greek
The Imagists were strongly infl uenced by traditional
lyric that she so greatly admired, H. D.'s
Chinese and Japanese poetry. Many Imagist poems bear
earlylpoems were brief, precise, and
a close resemblance to the Japanese verse forms of haiku
direc t. Often emphasizing ligh t, color,
and tanka, which generally evoke an emotional response
and Ihysical textures, she created vivid,
through the presentation of a single image or a pair of
emot ive images. Like other Imagist
contrasting images.
I
poets , H. D. used eve ryday speec h,
The Imagist movement was short-lived, last ing only until
carefully and sparingly chosen to evoke
about 1918. However, for many years that followed, the
an eruot iona l response, to freeze a singl e poems of Pound, Willi ams, HD. and other Imagists contin-
in time. She also abando ned ued to influence the work of other poets, incl uding Wallace
Stevens, 1.S. Eliot, and Hart Crane. tradi honal rhythmical patte rns, instead
r
The Imagis t Poets 727
Preview
Connecting to the Literature
You may know what it is like to have a song st ick in your mind, but
have you ever had an image lodge there ? The poems you are about to
read capture in words some of the str iking images that lodged in the
minds and emot ions of the Imagist s.
Literary Analysis
Imagist Poetry
Imagist poems focus on evok ing emotion and sparking the imagina-
tion th rough the vivid presentat ion of a limited number of images. "In
a Station of the Metro, " for example, presents j ust two images and con-
sists of only two line s and fourt een well-chose n words. Few poems have
been written that convey so much meaning with such brevity.
Compari ng Literary Works
In his essay "A Few Don't s by an Imagiste," Ezra Pound describes the
image as something more than a simple word- picture. Instead, he says it
is "that whi ch presents an intellectual and emot ional complex in an
instant of time."
For Pound, the image br ings the reader a new way of seeing-on th e
physical level through the senses, and on h igher levels through the emo-
tions and intellect . As you read th ese poems, think about which ones best
achieve th e effect of "that sense of sudden growt h" that Pound beli eved
was the hi ghest ach ieve ment of art.
Reading Strategy
Engaging Your Senses
These poems are filled with viv id imagery-words or phrases that
appea l to the senses . As you encounter each image, engage your senses
by re-creating in your mind the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and physical
sens ations associ ated with the image. Als o note that some images appeal
to more than one sense. For example, you can almost see and feel the
thickness in the ai r as H. D. ca lls on the wind in "Heat":
Cut the heat- / plow through it, / Turning it on either side
Use a chart like the one shown to record th e ways in whi ch you engage
your senses as you read these poe ms.
Vocabulary D evelopment
voluminous (va loom' a nss) adj. of apparition (ap' a rish' an) n. act of
enough material to fill volumes appearing or becoming visible (p. 734)
(p. 729)
dogma (dog' rna) n. aut hor itative
doctrines or beliefs (p. 729)
728 Disillusion, Defiance , and Discontent ( 1914- 1946)
i ~
I see the crowd,
faces, petals
A Few Don'ts by an
IMAGISTE
I
I Ezra Pound
Bac ground
EzraPound was oneoftheleading figures in the Imagistmovement.
Asthe ame suggests,Imagistsconcent rat ed on thefocused presentation of
imagesor word-pictures. For example, Pound's original draftof"In aStation
ofthe fY1etro" consistedof30 lines. Pound whittledaway atthepoemuntil he
arrivedlat awork ofonly 14words ofgreatprecision and power. Inthis essay,
Pound piscusseshisbeliefsaboutwhatpoetryshould and should notbe.
A
n "Image" is that which presents an intellectual and emotional
complex in an instant of time. I use the term "complex" rather
in the technical sense employed by the newer psychologists, such as
Hart, tHough we might not agree absolutely in our application.
It is fhe presentation of such a "complex" instantaneously which
gives t ~ a sense of sudden liberation; that sense of freedom from time
limits and space limits; that sense of sudden growth, which we expe-
rience in the presence of the greatest works of art.
It is etter to present one Image in a lifetime than to produce
volumil{ous works.
All t his, however, some may consider open to debate. The immedi-
ate nee ssity is to tabulate A LIST OF DON'TS for those beginning to
write verses. But I can not put all of them into Mosaic riegative.?
To bdgin with, consider the three rules recorded by Mr. Flint,3 .
not as clogma- never consider anything as dogma-but as the result
of long .on templa tton , which, even if it is some one else's contempla-
tion, m1y be worth consideration.. . .
LJGUAGE
Use I 0 superfluous word, no adjective, which does not reveal
I
something.
I
1. Imagi dte French for Imagist .
2. Mosai t negative refers to the ten commandments presented by Moses to the
Israelit6s in the Old Testament of the Bible. Many of the commandments are in the
negatiIe and begin with the words "Thou shalt not ..:'
3. the three rules recorded by Mr. FlintEnglish Imagist poet Frank Stuart Flint noted
that ~ a g s t poets adhered to the following three rules or guidelines.
1. Direct treatment of the "thing," whether subjective or objective.
2. To use absolutely no word that did not contribute to the presentation.
3. As regarding rhythm 10compose in sequence 01 the musical phrase. nol in
s quence of a metronome.
voluminous (va 165m'a
nas)adj. of enough
material to fill volumes
dogma (dog' rna)n.
authoritative doctrines
or beliefs
Reading Check
AccordingtoPound,what
is an image?
A Few Don'ts by an lmagiste 729
Don't use such an expression as "dim lands oj peace." It dulls the
image. It mixes an abstraction with the concrete. It comes from the
writer's not realizing that the natural object is always the adequate
symbol.
Go in fear of abstractions. Don't retell in mediocre verse what has
already been done in good prose. Don't think any intelligent person is
going to be deceived when you try to shirk all the difficulties of the
unspeakably difficult art of good prose by chopping your composition
into line lengths....
Don't imagine that the art of poetry is any simpler than the art of
music, or that you can please the expert before you have spent at
least as much effort on the art of verse as the average piano teacher
spends on the art of music....
RHYTHM AND RHYME
... Don't imagine that a thing will "go" in verse just because it's
too dull to go in prose.
Don't be "viewy"-leave that to the writers of pretty little philo-
sophic essays. Don't be descriptive; remember that the painter can
describe a landscape much better than you can. and that he has to
know a deal more about it.
Literary Analysis
Imagist Poetry W y
is this rule of avoidinq
abstractions o n s i ~ t n t
,
with the goals of Imagist
poetry?
Critical Viewing What key details might be emphasized in
an Imagist poem about this portrait of Ezra Pound? [Synthesize]
730 Disillusion, Defiance , and Discontent (1914-1946)
WhenShakespeare talksofthe "Dawn in russ etmantleclad" he
I
presents s omet h ing which the painterdoes not present. Ther e is in
this lirie of his nothingthatone cancalldescription; he presents...
j
Donit chopyou r stuff intos eparate iambs.
4
Don't make each line
s top dead atthe en d . and thenbegin every nextlinewith a heave.
Let thci beginning ofthe nextline catch the rise of the rhythm wave,
unless lyou wanta definite longish pause.
In s hort. behave asa musician, a good musician, when dealing
with t Hat phase ofyourartwhich has exactparallels in music.The
I
same lawsgovern. andyou are bound by no others. . ..
A rhyme must have in it some slightelementof surpriseif it is to
give pleasure; it need not bebizarreorcu ri ous, butit mustbewell
used iil
,
used at a ll. . . .
Don't mess up the perception ofones ens e by trying to define it
in termsof another. This is usuall y only the resultof beingtoo lazy
to findIthe exactword. To this clausethereare possiblyexceptions.
The firs t three s imple proscriptions- will throw outnine-tenthsof
I
a ll thebad poetry nowaccepted asstandardan d classic; andwill
preven you from many a crime of production....
I
I
4. iambs (i' arnbz' ) n. metrical feetconsisting of two syllables, the first unaccented. the
other;accented.
5. The first three simple proscriptions reference to Flint's three rules outlined in
foolnote #3.
I
Re iew and Assess
Thi king About the Selection
I
1. Respond: Whatisyour reactionto Pound's ideasabout poetry?
2. a) Recall: Whatthree rul esdoes Pound invite readers to
donsider ?(b) Define: What isthedifference betweendogma
~ n the resultsof"longco ntemplat ion"?
c) Speculate: Whydid Pound prefer a list of"don' ts" toa list
f"do's"?
3. a) Recall: What does Pound consider preferable to
abstract ions? (b) Analyze: Why would th e use of abs trac t ions
I' e offensive to anImagistpoet ?
4. (a) Recall: Does Pound co nsider Sha kespeare's image an
dxample of descri ption or pre senta t ion ? (b) Distinguish: How
does pre sentationdifferfromdes cri ption?
I
5. (a) Recall: What rule does Pound suggest should gov ern th e
rhythmof a poem? (b) Interpret: Whatdoes a good musi ci an
do that a poet should emulate?
I
6. Evaluate: Do you th inkfoll owing Pound's "don' ts" would
make it easier or moredifficultto write poetry?
Reading Strategy
Engaging YourSenses
What physical sensations
are suggested bythe
rhythmicwave Pound
advocates?
A Few Don 'ts by an lmagiste 731
Wife:
EzraPound
While my hair wasstill cutstraightacross my forehead Literary Analys is
I
r played aboutthefrontgate, pullingflowers.
ImagistPoetry What
details inthis stariza
You cameby on bamboostilts, playinghorse,
are most effectivJ in
You walked aboutmy seat, playingwith blue plums.
. . I ?
conveyinq an Image.
5 And we wenton living inthe village of Chokan:I
Two small people,withoutdislike orsuspicion.
At fourteen r married My Lord you.
r neverlaughed, beingbashful.
Lowering my head, r looked at thewall.
10 Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.
At fifteen I stopped scowling,
I desired my dustto be mingled withyours
Foreverandfor everandforever.
Why should r climb thelookout?
15 At sixteenyou departed,
You wentinto far Ku-to-yen. ? by the river of swirlingeddies,
And youhave beengone five months.
The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.
1. Chokan (cho' kan') a suburb of Nanking , a city in the People's Republic of China.
2. Ku-to-yen (koo' to' yen' ) an island in the Yangtze (yarjk' 56) River.
732 Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent (1914-1946)
YOU' dragged yourfeetwhenyou wentout.
20 By the ga te now, the moss is grown, the differentmos ses,
Tool de ep to clearthemaway!
The leaves fall early this autumn, inwind.
The'paired butterflies arealready yellow withAugust
v ~ r thegrass intheWestgarde n ;
25 They
I
hurtme. Igrowolder.
Ifyou arecomin g down through the narrows of theriverKiang,
I
Please letme knowbeforehand,
And Iwill come ou t to meetyou
As faras Cho-fu-Sa.f
By Rihaku
3. Cho-f L-Sa(cho' foo' sina beach alongtheYangtze River,severalhundredmiles
fromNanking.
Literary Analysis
Imagist Poetry What
details makethis stanza
appeal toboththesenses
and theemotions?
Reading Check
Who isthespeaker in this
poem?Whom doesshe
address?
"
Critical Viewing In whatways doesthe mood ofthis drawing
mirror mood of"The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter "? [Analyze]
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A River-Merchant's Wife: ALetter . 733
Ina tation
etro
1
ofthe
EzraPound
Thea pparit ion of these faces in the crowd; apparition (ap' a rlsh' an)
Petalsona wet, blackbough.
n. act of appearing
or becoming v s ~ l
1. Metro the Paris subway.
Review and Assess
ThinkingAbout the Selections
1. Respond: Ofall the images contain ed in the two poemsby
Ezra Pound, whichdid you find the most striking?Why?
2. (a) Recall: In "TheRiver-Merchant'sWife," how old is the
speaker when she marries? (b) Compare and Contrast: In
whatwaysare her feelingsfor herhusband at agefifteen
differentfrom those whenshefirst marries?
3. (a) Recall: What happens whenth e river-merchant'swife is
sixteen? (b) Analyze: How does she feel about thi s change?
4. (a) Recall: In "In aStat ion of th eMetro," what two things
doesPound compare?(b) Interpret: In whatwaysdoes thi s
poem capture theessenceofasingle moment?
(c) Analyze: Giventhe poem' ssett ing,whyisthe imageof
"Petalsona wet ,black bough"surprising?
5. Take a Position: What do you like about Pound'spoetry?
What do youdislike? Expl ain .
734 Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent (1914- 1946)
TheRed
Wheelbarro\N
so muchdepends
William Carlos Williams
uPi
I
n
a red wheel
I
baITOW
5 glJed with rain
water
I
besidethe white
chitkens.
The Great Figure
William Carlos Williams
I
Among the rain
I
and lights
I sdw the figure 5
in gold
5 ona r ed
I
fire,lruck
moving
tense
unne
,
eded
10 to gong clangs
sirenhowls
andwheels rumbling
through the darkcity .
Critical Viewing Artist Charles Demuth
createdthis work of artto accompany his
f r i ~ Williams's poem. Whatelementsof
his illustration conveytheenergyand
I
clamor ofthe poem?[Connect]
I
The Red Wheelbarrow /The Great Figure . 735
T I I
JU
TT
William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
t hatwere in
the icebox
5 and which
you were probably
savi ng
for breakfast
For give me
10 they were deli cious
so sweet
and so cold
Review and Assess
Thinking About the Selections
1. Respond: Whichof the three poemsbyWilliamsevokes the
strongest emot ionalresponse in you ?Why?
2. (a) Classify: In "The Red Wheelbarrow," to what senses does
the image appealmost ? (b) Analyze: In what way does thi s
poem reflect theImagist emphasison the conc rete?
3. (a) Recall: Whichwordshas Williamsdivided to run on
two separa te lines? (b) Analyze: What istheeffect of this
arrangementofwords?
4. (a) Recall: In "T he Great Figure," wha t detail is the focus of
the speaker's experience ofthe fire truck ? (b) Interpret: In
focusingonthisdetail ,what mightWilliams be sayingabout
beautyand modern life?
5. (a) Recall: What isthe intent ionof thespeaker in "ThisIs
Just toSay"? (b) Connect: Whichdet ails in the second stanza
cha llenge thespeaker'ssincerity?
6. Evaluate: Whichelementsof these poemsreflect Williams's
interest in portraying-andcelebrating-everydayAmerican life?
736 Disillusion , Defiance, and Discontent (1914- 1946)
H. D.
PEAR TREE
5
Silver dust
lifted from the earth,
hi gher than my a r ms rea ch,
you have mounted,
0 silver,
hi gher than my arms re ach
you front us with great mass;
10
no flower ever opened
s o stau nch a white leaf,
no flower ever parted s ilver
from s uch rare s ilver;
Critical Vi ewing
Which phr ases from the
poem best describe this
image of a pear tree in
full flower ? [Evaluate]
15
o whit e pear,
you r flower -tufts
thick on the branch
bring su mmer and ripe fruits
in their purple hearts.
Reading Check
What image does the
poet use to describe
the pe ar t ree flowers?
HEAT
H. D.
owind, rend open theheat,
cu t apart the heat,
rend it to tatters.
Fruitcannot drop
5 through this thicka ir-
fruit cannotfall into heat
thatpresses up and blunts
the points of pears
androunds thegrapes .
10 Cuttheheat-
plowthroughit .
turningit on either side
ofyour pat h.
Review and Assess
Thinking About the Selections
1. Respond: How do these two poems byH. D. make you feel ?
2. (a) Recall: What isthe "silver dust" referred to in the first
stanzaof "Pea r Tree" ? (b) Interpret: In what sense is the
silverdust "lifted from th e earth"?
3.(a) Recall: What does the pear tree'sblossom anticipate?
(b) Infer: What time ofyear isthespeakerdescribing?
4. (a) Recall: In "Heat," wha t is the reactionof thefruit to th e
air? (b) Interpret: What specific type of heat isthespeaker
describi ng?
5. (a) Recall: Whichverbsdoes thespeakeruse todescribe
lessening t he he at ? (b) Analyze: Whatimpressionof
th e heat do th ese ver bs crea te?
6. Generalize: Based onth ese two poems, how would you
define th e poet's relatio nship to nature?
738 Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent ( 1914-1946)
CriticalViewing
Does this painting capture
theoppressive heat ofa
humidsummer day as
effectivelyasthepoem
does? Explain.[Evaluate]
s...................
LiteraryAnalysis
ImagistPoetry
1. Does"TheRiver-Merchant'sWife: A Letter" qualify asa purely
Imagist poem? Whyor why not?
2. Whateffectdoes Pound's choice ofthe wordapparition-commonly
used to describe aghostlyfigure-tomean"appearance"con-
tribute to "In aStationof theMetro"?
Compari ng Literary Works
3. In whatways isPound's advice to (a) avoid abstractions and
(b) avoid superfluouswords evident in all ofthese poems ?
4. (a) Useachart like theone shown to compareand contrast
the useofcolor in the poems byH. D.and Williams. (b) What
emotionsdo these usesofcolorevoke?
QuickReview
Imagist poetry focuses on
evoking emotion and vivid
mental associations
through the presentation
of concise, unadorned
images.
foiiiio..,;;,;;:;o==---t. ' 11>1---==
5. AlthoughPound wrote "thepaintercandescribe a landscape much
betterthanyoucan," in whatwaysare these poems like paintings?
6. Whichof these poems best exemplifies Pound's idea of the image
as"thatwhich presents an intellectualand emotionalcomplex in
an instantof time"? Explainyour choice.
ReadingStrategy
Engaging YourSenses
7. Whatothersenses, besides sight, canyou engage to re-create
the imagesof"Petalson a wet, black bough"? Explain.
8. Identify two examplesofpassages in "TheRiver-Merchant'sWife"
in which you were able to engage thesense ofsmell.
ExtendUnderstanding
9. LiteratureConnection: "TheRiver-Merchant'sWife: A Letter"
isan adaptationofa poem bytheChinesepoetLi T'aiPo.What
challengesand opportunitiesface a poet in translatinga work of
literaturefrom one language and culture to another ?
By engaging your senses,
you can fully experience
the images in poetry.
_ Take It tothe Net
www.phschool.com
Take the interactive
self-testonline to check
your understandingof
theseselections.
The Imagist Poets 739
Vocabulary DevelopmentLesson
Word Analysis: Forms of appear
SeveralcommonEnglishwords are forms of
the verbappear, meaning"tocome intosightor
into being" or "tobecomeunderstood."
apparent appearance apparition
Complete eachofthefollowing sentences
with thecorrectwordfrom the list above.
1. He made a brief ? at the awards
dinner-justlongenough to pickup his
trophy andsay a few words.
2. Whenmidnightfound the toddlersstill
runningaround the house, it became
? that the babysitterwas no longer
in control.
3. TILe ? ofa face at the window
nearly stopped herheartwithfear.
Grammar and Style Lesson
Concreteand AbstractNouns
Nounscanbe classified according to the item
they name. A concrete noun namessomething
thatcanbe perceived withoneor more ofthe
five senses. Concrete nouns have a physical, tan-
gible reality. Anabstract nounnamessomething
thatcannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or
touched. These may be qualities, characteristics,
emotions, or ideas thatare notperceived mainly
through thesenses.
Concrete: I played about thefrontgate,
pullingflowers.
Abstract: Two smallpeople, withoutclisW<e
or suspicion.
Concept Development: Synonyms
Select the letterofthe bestsynonym, or word
of similarmeaning, for the numberedword.
1. dogma: (a) doctrine, (b) legality,
(c) statement
2. voluminous: (a) loud, (b) arrogant,
(c) comprehensive
3. apparition: (a) suspicious, (b) vision,
(c) face
Spelling Strategy
You may need to drop thecl whenadding the
prefixad- to a word or word stembeginningwith
theconsonantsp, g,s, orc. Ifso, you mustalso
double the consonant, as in appear. Use this
principle to correctlyspell the words below.
1. ad- + gressor 2. ad- + sign 3. ad- + prove
Practice Label the italicized nouns in these
sentencesas eitherconcrete or abstract.
1. Don'tuse suchanexpression as "dimlands
ofpeace."
2. Theleaves fell early this autumn, in wind.
3. Isaw thefigure 5in gold ona red firetruck
moving tense unheeded to gongclangs siren
howls andwheels rumblingthrough the
darkcity.
4. Cuttheheat-plowthrough it ...
5. I haveeaten theplumsthatwere in the
icebox and whichyou were probably
savingfor breakfast.
LookingatStyle Explainwhy you would expect
to find mainlyconcrete nouns in anImagistpoem.
'Jt16 Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar Connection: Chapter 17, Section 1
740 Disillusion, Defiance, andDiscontent (1914-1946)
Writing Lesson
An Editor's Review of Manuscript
Imagine that youare a magazine edi tor who has just received a manuscri pt from
an Imagist poet. Write a let ter to thepoet explaining why youwillor will not publish
hisor her poems.Besimple,honest, and kind,and incl ude construct ivecriticism.
Prewriting Choose 11 poetand reread the poems.Take noteson the strengths
and weaknessesofeach poem,citing relevantpassages.
Drafting Write a letter thatexpl ains why youwillorwill not publ ish the
poems.Discussstrengths, and ident ifyflaws.Select specific words
that best convey your meaning.
Revising Reviewyourdraft, highlightingany words thatare inaccurate or
vague.Then, replace those wordswith better,more specificchoices.
Model: RevisingforBrevityand Clarity
)
deceptively simple
Replacing vague
words with specific
Your poems are small and but are rich in imagery
wry
words helps to express
and ideas. I especially enjoyed theiner isle-tone of "This Is
ideas exactly.
Just to Say."
I
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7t16 Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar Connection: Chapter 16, Section 1
-
Extension Activities
Research andTechnology Se lect one of the
Listening and Speaking Of "The Red Wheel-
Imagist poems and illustrate it, eitherwith art-
barrow," Roy Harvey Pearce writes: "At its worst
worksofyour ownor withcl ippingsorprintouts
thi sistogethernessin achickenyard.Atitsbest
from magazines,the Internet ,and othe rsources.
it is an exercise in the creation of the poeticout
If possible,create your illust rat ionusing graphic
oftheanti-poetic."Which viewdoyouhold?
arts soft wareand integrat e them in afile with the
Defend yourview inan informaldebatewith
text of t he poe m.Then, post your work in the
classmates. To prepare,keepthese tips in mind:
classroom with a brief exp lana tio n of its imagery,
Find examples to support bot h posit ions,
and use it as the basis for an oral interpretation
and then decide wh ich youwillargue.
orreading ofthepoem.
Use exa mples for the opposi ng side to
develop arguments against thatposition. Take It to the Net www.phschool.com
As you debate, be asclea rand aseloquentas Goonline for an additional research act ivity
possible.[Group Activity] using the Internet.
The Imagist Poets 741