Imagism

Background

• Imagists first started writing around 1908• Wanted to reject Romantic

sentimentality/vagueness• Determined that Imagist poetry would…– Have no fixed form– Have variety, irregularity and individuality– Use free verse– Emphasis the momentary capture of a minute in

time– Have a strong visual image– Be concrete

William Carlos Williams

• Imagist

• Wanted to create a new type of poetry for America: one in which the new experiences of America did not have to fit into old, traditional forms

“Nantucket” by William

Carlos Williams

Flowers through the windowlavender 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

“Iris” by William Carlos Williams

a burst of iris so thatcome down forbreakfastwe searched through therooms forthatsweetest odor and atfirst could notfind itssource then a blue asof the seastruckstartling us from amongthose trumpetingpetals  

“Between Walls” by William Carlos Williams

the back wings of the

hospital where nothing

will grow lie cinders

in which shine the broken

pieces of a green bottle

William’s Imagist Self

• Master of the “glimpse”• Wrote about small details of everyday life in

order to help people better see, taste, touch, smell and enjoy the world

• Created poems in which he held an object up to scrutiny

• Believed that the awareness of the object was the purpose of the poem

• Wrote poem with what he called “edges:” parts that would break through our everyday experience and make us really SEE

what is a poet – if any exists?

a manwhose words will bite their way

home –

Williams’ Life

• Country doctor in New Jersey• Had a large practice and spent long days

visiting the sick and maintaining two offices• Neil Baldwin, in his 1984 biography, wrote,

“Williams was afraid life would escape him. He saw importance and significance in every single thing that happened and could not afford to let any event, large or small, pass by without making a record of it” (123).

“The Red Wheelbarrow” by

William Carlos Williams

so much dependsupon

a red wheelbarrow

glazed with rainwater

beside the white chickens.

Williams says, “Why does every line of a poem have to begin

with a capital letter? It’s annoying…We don’t speak in

iambic pentameter…Our language is free! It is the

language that we hear which should go into a poem.”

• Create your own meaning with your own free verse poem.

• Write like Williams: Use strong precise visual imagery of ordinary objects

• Begin your poem with:so much dependsupon

Share with a partner…

1. Read your poem out loud to your partner2. Have your partner respond first:– What did they feel when the poem was read?– What did they see when the poem was read?– What message did they create for themselves

when they read the poem?

3. Then have the author explain their poem– Why does so much depend on their image?– What message were they trying to send?