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Imagist Poetry: An Anthology (Dover Thrift Editions)

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In a brief, accessible, and inexpensive book, Bob Blaisdell and Dover Thrift have created a fine selection of poems from the "Imagist" movement which changed the direction of American and English poetry in the early 20th Century. The precise nature of "Imagism" has been much discussed. Some of the more famous, succinct forumlations of its creed were "Not ideas of the thing but the thing itself." and, simply, "make it new". Imagism wanted to turn away from late 19th Century poetry with what the new writers perceived as its sometimes stilted diction, involuted syntax, forced rhymes, and forced sentiment and return to the object, to a way of seeing things freshly through precise speech. In Bob Blaisdell's brief introduction to this book, he discusses the principles of Imagism as Richard Aldington, the first poet to appear in the collection, formulated them: 1.Direct treatment of the subject; 2.As few adjectives as possible; 3. A hardness as of cut stone; 4. Individuality of rhythm; 5. A whole lot of dont's; 6. The exact word.

W.C. Williams's poem "To a Solitary Disciple" (page 137 of the collection) offers a good poetic summation of imagist practice. It begins:

"Rather notice, mon cher,
that the moon is
tilted above
the point of the steeple
than that its color
is shell-pink.

Rather observe
that it is early morning
than that the sky
is smooth
as a turquoise"

The collection includes 180 poems by 17 poets. The selections were culled from the pages of the "little magazines" of poetry that presented works of the new movement between 1913 and 1922. The poets receiving the most space are, understandably enough, D.H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, and W.C. Williams.
It will be a joy to a reader coming to these poets for the first time. The book also includes many lesser known but important writers such as Richard Aldington, H.D. Amy Lowell, and others. Thus the book, short and accessible as it is, does not constitute simply a collection of favorites. It is a fine introduction to imagism and to the spirit of our modern age including both well-known and lesser-known figures.

This book can be enjoyed and savored simply for what it is -- an inexpensive collection of many of the poems illustrating the modernist temprament. As such, the book will offer many hours of reading and rereading. Equally important, the book could also serve as an introduction for those who want to learn more, to explore further the development of American or English poetry in the Twentieth Century.

Of all the movements in 20th century literature, Imagism is my favorite. If you're as sick as I am of angry, modern, "confessional" poets (yes, I'm sure your childhood was awful, now see a therapist and get on Prozac), then take a look at this collection. While some of the poems here are widely anthologized (including Wallace Steven's, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" and William Carlos Williams's, "To Waken an Old Lady"), most haven't been seen except by literati. It's truly a shame, because one of the "rules" of the Imagist movement was clarity of prose and vision. Take this gem from Richard Aldington, for example: "The chimneys, rank on rank,/ Cut the clear sky;/ The moon/ With a rag of gauze about her loins/ Poses among them, an awkward Venus---/ And here I am looking wantonly at her/ Over the kitchen sink." Wow! The Imagist movement was about nature, and unexpected beauty; things we haven't seen much of in late 20th/early 21st century art. In my opinion, this affordable little book is worth ten times the cover price. "Confessional" poetry? If I want to read about child molestation or how awful the world is, I'll read the newspaper, thank you.

I bought this book because of the low price and enjoy because of the vast amount of work. Yeah.

Rimbaud steals the show in this exceptional anthology of poets. The introduction does a sufficient job of delineating what qualities are required for an imagist poem to be an imagist poem.
Not much to say about them, since the experience of the poem itself is the point.
Gossip then: hitchhiking with dusty boots, a harmonica, a guitar, "Imagist Poetry" and a name stolen from non-imagist poet Dylan Thomas, he unlocked the box of limitation and became the wellspring for a river of lyrics that enliven us today.
It's as simple as that