The Imagist Poem

Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, H.D., Richard Aldington, Amy Lowell--all those most associated with the Imagist movement, the leaders of the movement are in this anthology, as well as some poets you don't quite expect (such as Carl Sandburg, e.e. cummings & Wallace Stevens). Also within these pages are T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Marianne MooreT.E. Hulme, F.S. Flint, Archibald MacLeish, John Gould Fletcher, Herbert Read, Max Michelson, and Adelaide Crapsey. This is an important anthology because of how important the Imagist movement, and the poets involved in it, was to the creation of modern poetry. Pratt explains it best in his essay/introduction to the anthology. Which is yet another reason to pick up this book, Pratt's essay is truly one of the best about the Imagism. I can't recommend this enough.

... William Pratt's Preface and Introduction provide perspective and a history behind the Imagist movement in poetry. Pratt credits T.E. Hulme as being the first Imagist poet and the genre's driver - through his London Poets' Club. Hulme is credited as initiating the first interval of Imagist poetic output. Pratt states: "...the periods of Imagist activity were brief, sporadic, and practically discontinuous. Which is only to say that the history of Imagism was like its poetic product-a pattern of lucid intervals. His Introduction, written in 1963, covers the history, theory, and "place" of the Imagist poem in modern poetry. Granted, there is likely more thorough analyses and discussions of Imagism available elsewhere, but in 29 pages Pratt does an exquisite job. The anthology of poetry is wonderful. Pratt pulled together work from poets most commonly associated with the Imagist movement, as well as some surprises. One can argue that keystone Imagist poems are missing from the collection, but its clear that Pratt has assembled an excellent anthology nonetheless. There is plenty of space on the pages to allow the poems to breathe - which adds to the enjoyment of reading. Included in the volume are poems by Hulme, F.S. Flint, Ezra Pound, H.D., Richard Aldington, Amy Lowell, Herbert Read, John Gould Fletcher, Adelaide Crapsey, as well as James Joyce, William Carlos Williams, D.H. Lawrence, Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, e.e. cummings, Carl Sandburg, and Archibald MacLeish. Each poet has anywhere from a handful to 15 poems included.All in all, this truly is, as the cover proclaims, "An anthology of the finest Imagist poems," I'm glad to see it's still in print and can highly recommend it.