Ezra Pound: Imagism, Vorticism, and The Cantos
...ck bough. Pound’s goal was to separate imagists from symbolists using only necessary adjectives in writing and portraying distinct images in the work rather than using abstract symbols such as hearts to show love. The second effort made to differentiate the imagist movement from others was the suggestion that the movement had some kind of “mysterious ingredient or quality that only the user of the product can appreciate” (Dettmar/Watt). The work is supposed to create feelings for the reader while reading. The following are six rules from an Imagist manifesto lead by Pound: 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. (“Imagists”) These words were used to describe how a true imagist should have written, so that the poetry would appeal to the entire population, not to only a select few. As a result of Pound’s new movement, there was absolutely no way he could control the use of the imagism technique. Pound could not patent the new term. What now would be called “Poser Writers” came with the movement. These writers upset Pound who thought that they did not completely understand the concepts of the Imagists. Pound became irritated with these writers. One poet, Amy Lowell, whom Pound had initially welcomed into the movement, was thrown out after Pound had published one of her poems in his Des Imagistes (1914). Pound felt that her poetry was not good enough for his movement for it was not “direct and concise enough to exemplify imagist technique” (Dettmar/Watt). With this, Lowell started to use the money she received for her other works to try to establish connections in the imagist industry and take over leadership of the movement. Pound could not beat Lowell. He shortly dropped the term “imagism” and gave Lowell’s movement the name “Amygism.” Pound also refused to contribute to Lowell’s second “imagiste” anthology after being approached by the Amygists to add his work. Ezra Pound instead decided to start another movement, as he was unhappy with how his last turned out. He again presented Hilda Doolittle’s poetry as the heart of the movement. This movement was called Vorticism. Ezra Pound created Vorticism in 1913, just one year after his beginning of the Imagism Movement. Vorticism was much like the technique Wyndham Lewis had been using for years before Pound began. Whether or not Pound stole the idea from Lewis is unknown, but Lewis was granted much credit in helping out in the movement. Vorticism is closely related to Cubism and Futurism, basically, all things modern. With the influences of Futurism, Vorticism caught movement in images. In a Vorticist painting, modern life is shown as an array of bold lines and harsh colors which draws the viewer’s eye to the center of the painting. The difference between Imagism and Vorticism is quite simple. Imagism is the making of images in poetry. Vorticism is the making of images in visual art. Pound wanted to keep his original “gang” from Imagism to Vorticism but lost many of the members to Lewis. Though “In A Station At the Metro” is one of Pound’s most famous poems, his “The Cantos” is even more famous. “The Cantos” is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections, each of which is called a canto. Most of it was written between 1915 and 1962, although much of the early work was abandoned by Pound. “The Cantos” is rather long for a poem. It has received much good critcism and has been called one of the most significant works of modernist poetry of the twentieth century. Pound uses themes of economics, government, and culture are integral throughout the work. What may stand out most from the poem is that Pound uses Chinese characters in spaces where regular English words would normally be placed. There are also quotations in European languages other than English. The poem goes through many quick changes but still holds a smooth, poetic, rhythm. Pound also included geographical description in the poem. He wrote of the classical Mediterranean culture and East Asia selective topics from medieval and early modern Italy and Provence, the beginnings of the United States, England of the seventeenth century, and included details from Africa that he had obtained from Leo Frobenius. Pound made references to certain people and places without any explanation also. Much of the poem is told in the third person, but Pound occasionally slips into the first person plural. In one part, Pound writes of Melanesia’s army in this way: And we beat the papishes and fought them back through the tents And he came up to the dyke again And fought through the dyke-gate And it went on from dawn to sunset And we broke them and took their baggage (XI/48) Despite all the controversy surrounding both ...