On the Differences between Conventional Poetry and Imagist Poetry in Language and Form

谢华杰

Abstract：This paper intends to make a brief summarization of the difference between conventional poetry and imagist poetry in language and form so that the literature learners can know their differnce easily.

Key words：conventional poetryimagist poetrylanguage and formA strand of modernism， Imagism was officially launched in 1912 when Ezra Pound read and marked up a poem by Hilda Doolittle， signed it“H.D. Imagist，”and sent it to Harriet Monroe at Poetry.Pound defined the tenets of Imagist poetry as：

I.Direct treatment of the“thing”，whether subjective or objective.

II.To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.

III.As regarding rhythm： to compose in sequence of the musical phrase， not in sequence of the metronome.（History and Anthology of American Literature， 2002）.

With a spirit of revolt against conventions，Imagist poetry is somewhat different from conventional poetry;it has being tried to do something new with language.Here are some major differences between conventional poetry and imagist poetry in language：

First，Imagist poetry tries to use the language of common speech. The language of common speech means a diction which carefully excludes inversions and the cliches of the old poetic jargon. Common speech does not exclude imaginative language or metaphor， but it must be original and natural to the poet himself，not culled from older books of verse.

Secondly，Imagist poetry stresses the exactness of language. The“exactness” means the“exact” word which conveys the poets impression to the reader.Imagist poetry is a reaction against the flabby abstract language of conventional poetry.

Thirdly，Imagist poetry not only emphasizes the economy of language，it also insists on the simplicity and directness of speech. Imagist poetry aims to use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation， and it tries to eliminate all complex，ornamental，superfluous and flowery words.

Lastly，in Imagist poetry，the language is never used to state the poetsinterpretation or comment.In imagist poetry，there are no“I”or no comment，no time sequence，no narration. The language of Imagist poetry is totally objective，which contributes to present an object or a concrete image to have an emotional response in the readers mind.Therefore，the very essence of imagist poetry is suggested by images or pictures rather than stated or commented by poetsinsight.This is a radical change from the way conventional poetry had been written.

In addition to language，poetry form is another critical element that Imagist poetry aims to revolve against. Novelty in form is the major characteristic which distinguishes the imagist poetry from the conventional poetry.

The conventional poetry emphasizes over-padding of extra-poetic matter， firmly follows standard rules of grammar and syntax with a regular rhythm and rhyme scheme.Imagist poets，however，in order to eliminate the complex metrical verse form of conventional poetry，have practiced largely of writing in free verse.

The differences between conventional poetry and Imagist poetry in form can be summarized as follows：

For one thing，imagist poets stress the freedom in choice of form. In imagist poetry，modern subjects，modern habits of mind seem to find more satisfactory expression in free verse than in conventional metrical verse.The imagist poets dont insist upon free verse as the only method of writing poetry; they fight for it as for a principle of liberty. They believe that the individuality of a poet may often be better expressed in free verse than in conventional forms.

For another，imagist poetry produces free verse without imposing a rhythmical pattern.This does not mean that the cadence endangers the idea;quite the contrary，it means that the idea clothes itself naturally in an appropriate novelty of rhythm.That is，in Imagist poetry，the rhythm is composed as if the poet were making a musical phrase;this is a doing-away with conventions of meter so that the poet need not make his ideas fit into an established meter as in a sonnet of a ballad;the poet created new rhythms in sequence of the musical phrase as the expressions of a new mood.

In a word，Imagist poetry，as a strand of modernism，becomes more fluid and less constrained by traditional rules of structure and grammar，and need not follow a strict metrical pattern of rhyme.In such a“free”verse，the form of poetry becomes“open”，while that of conventional poetry is comparatively“fixed”or“closed”.

References：

[1]吴伟仁.History and Anthology of American Literature[M].外语教学与教研出版社，2002.