Little cramped words scrawling all over the paper
Like draggled fly's legs,
What can you tell of the flaring moon
Through the oak leaves?
Or of my uncurtained window and the bare floor
Spattered with moonlight?
This extraordinary Imagist poet writes these lines at the beginning of a well-crafted poem entitled, "The Letter:" Readers and especially writers spontaneously identify with the frustration and struggle a writer experiences because the imagery emphasizes the senses of sound and sight as though there are flies scuttling across a blank sheet of paper. A critical element of imagist poetry depends upon at least one image. This poem's imagery captures the attention of the audience. The poem continues:
Your silly quirks and twists have nothing in them
Of blossoming hawthorns,
And this paper is dull, crisp, smooth, virgin of loveliness
Beneath my hand.
Now, who is this Imagist poet, word warrior yet troubadour? None other than Amy Lowell! Actually, the era of Imagists of the early Twentieth Century rejected the Victorian or Romantic aspects of not only literature but of society, of living life itself. Just as her own experiences in life, she replicated honing an imagist style of poetry while not conforming to all the dictates of the Imagist movement.
In these lines, the tension of the poetry rises, then slowly descends into an emotion of surrender. Ultimately, Lowell maintains a slight sense of romanticism stretched between taut lines of imagery. This blatant inclusion of romanticism brings a staunch rejection from the accepted pedagogy of imagism as presented by the majority of the Imagists of the time. The loudest of these were Pound and Eliot. However, Lowell maintained a second important aspect of imagism, which is direct focus of an object in the poem, albeit subjectively. Naturally, the tone of the narrator could be either subjective or objective. Very skillfully, Lowell concludes the poem:
I am tired, Beloved, of chafing my heart against
The want of you;
Of squeezing it into little inkdrops,
And posting it.
And I scald alone, here, under the fire
Of the greater moon.
http://www.geocities.com/~bblair/sip15_l...
Such a gross sound to hear: the chafing; such a feeling of touch: the squeezing; such a stench to smell: scalding alone. If one were to compare to a musical composition, perhaps the notes would clang or bong against each other, sounding slightly off key, but the intention is to be off key. Thus, Lowell exemplifies another important aspect of imagism: refrain from the beat of a metronome.
Like draggled fly's legs,
What can you tell of the flaring moon
Through the oak leaves?
Or of my uncurtained window and the bare floor
Spattered with moonlight?
This extraordinary Imagist poet writes these lines at the beginning of a well-crafted poem entitled, "The Letter:" Readers and especially writers spontaneously identify with the frustration and struggle a writer experiences because the imagery emphasizes the senses of sound and sight as though there are flies scuttling across a blank sheet of paper. A critical element of imagist poetry depends upon at least one image. This poem's imagery captures the attention of the audience. The poem continues:
Your silly quirks and twists have nothing in them
Of blossoming hawthorns,
And this paper is dull, crisp, smooth, virgin of loveliness
Beneath my hand.
Now, who is this Imagist poet, word warrior yet troubadour? None other than Amy Lowell! Actually, the era of Imagists of the early Twentieth Century rejected the Victorian or Romantic aspects of not only literature but of society, of living life itself. Just as her own experiences in life, she replicated honing an imagist style of poetry while not conforming to all the dictates of the Imagist movement.
In these lines, the tension of the poetry rises, then slowly descends into an emotion of surrender. Ultimately, Lowell maintains a slight sense of romanticism stretched between taut lines of imagery. This blatant inclusion of romanticism brings a staunch rejection from the accepted pedagogy of imagism as presented by the majority of the Imagists of the time. The loudest of these were Pound and Eliot. However, Lowell maintained a second important aspect of imagism, which is direct focus of an object in the poem, albeit subjectively. Naturally, the tone of the narrator could be either subjective or objective. Very skillfully, Lowell concludes the poem:
I am tired, Beloved, of chafing my heart against
The want of you;
Of squeezing it into little inkdrops,
And posting it.
And I scald alone, here, under the fire
Of the greater moon.
http://www.geocities.com/~bblair/sip15_l...
Such a gross sound to hear: the chafing; such a feeling of touch: the squeezing; such a stench to smell: scalding alone. If one were to compare to a musical composition, perhaps the notes would clang or bong against each other, sounding slightly off key, but the intention is to be off key. Thus, Lowell exemplifies another important aspect of imagism: refrain from the beat of a metronome.
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