Modern Poetry: "The Imagist" Ezra Pound (1885-1972) Biography Probably one of the more well-known poets of the Modern era, Ezra Pound, man and poet, is also fraught with controversy. He is often credited with being the driving force behind the modern poetic movement as well as much of the modern art movement. He is credited with creating a movement within the modern period called "Imagisme." "A Retrospect" details this new literary direction. Still, as talented as Pound is credited as being, he struggled continuously. He spent time in prison, traveled the world, and fought for the value of the obscure and abstract poem over more traditonal poetry. He is also credited with pushing T.S. Eliot to the forefront of the movement and was a classmate of William Carlos Williams (who tried to talk Pound out of a lot of what he was doing, but who also eventually became a part of that movment). "A Retrospect" Pound writes that there are "three principles" he and Richard Aldington agreed upon: 1) Direct treatment of the "thing" whether subjective or objective. 2) To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation. 3) As regarding rhythm: to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of a metronome. These are the basic three principles of imagism that Pound came to argue for in his essays. He calls them the rules and defines the "image" as "an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time." The principles of imagism and Pound's style of poetics was unusual and groundbreaking because it asserted a level of intellectual breadth and depth that would seem elitist--an incredibly high and difficult level of knowledge to obtain which included knowledge of past poets, writers, and scholars as well as many languages as possible (to include Chinese, Japanese, and Latin) at a time when many people were barely literate. Pound insists on specific and articulate use of language which is not often simple language--complexity is required for precision. While it seems as though Pound would require quite a lot of metaphor and flowery language, he actually insisted on the opposite. He argued that you should not use a single adjective that did not directly serve a purpose in the poem. He wishes not to "dull the image" through "abstractions with the concrete." The object itself is "always the adequate symbol." Pound also goes on to argue about translation (not so good, language should be read in its original form--if you don't know it, learn it), free verse (poems should be lyrical not necessarily rhyming), and poets of the past ("standing on the shoulders of giants" aka you should read them). | The Harlem Renaissance: Langston Hughes (1902-1967) Biography During the 1920s, there was a surge of emerging black writers. Langston Hughes is seen as an important figure of that period. The movement started in, you guessed it, Harlem, and was credited with bringing "genuine art life" there. However, despite love for Hughes by many critics, he received a lot of criticism from black intellectuals at the time who felt that he was giving a negative picture of black life. This was, and largely still is, a sensitive subject because of the racial issues at hand. Hughes himself took a stance of sympathy with his critics, but asserted that he felt the general populace deserved a voice, too. He saw nothing particularly wrong with portraying the people he wrote about or their culture. His writing is colorful and lively and, unlike much of Pound's work, reachable for those same masses. While Pound worked in abastractia and elitist knowledge, Hughes worked with the vivid imagery of the complexity of the "simple" word. Hughes articulated his hope and positive belief in the celebration of humanity as equal in publishing "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" while still in college. "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" Hughes essay is largely in response to another writer, George Schuyler, who had written an essay discussing "the need for a separate African-American artistic and literary tradition." Hughes' response discusses the challenges that the "poet--not a Negro poet" do and should face. In reality it is a discussion of the "mount standing in the way of any true Negro art in America--this urge within the race toward whiteness, the desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization, and to be as little Negro and as much American as possible." Hughes was not arguing for a separate tradition, simply a non-standardized version. He wanted and saw the need for the treatment of poets as poets rather than as "insert race" poet. Hughes refused to paint a picture of "Negro" life as anything other than what he saw in the working-class African-American lives. Though he drew criticism, Hughes himself saw it as an opportunity for discussion and growth. For Hughes, the value was there because it was reality. Hughes goal was to keep that culture alive and visible so that the growing poet would have something to identify with and recognize. Poetry, after all, is meant to speak to the soul, not "Nordify." His goal is for the "Negro artists" to "escape the restrictions the more advanced among his own group would put upon him." The work of the "serious black artist, then, who would produce a racial art is most certainly rocky and the moutain high." Though Hughes argues that his own work is racial, it should simply, eventually, be deemed art as a true picture. |
Consider both these pictures of modern poetry. Though both reject a more traditional model of what is poetic and what should be considered art, do they say the same thing? Pound is known for his complex and radically obscure references while Hughes is known for his musical, jazz-like tone. Are both the inherent expression of a culture? How do they co-exist?
1 Comment
Steven Andres Tabares
3/25/2014 12:52:07 am
I do not believe that they both say the same thing. Both are the inherent expression of culture because they express themselves in a way that reflects their specific qualities and character - they both seem very influencial and witty. They co-exist because they compliment eachother: both are important figures in American society because of the way they addressed topics . What appeals about their struggle to us as readers, is that we can relate. We can all relate to being discriminated against, or that feeling of having no rights when it comes to Langston Hughes. And the restrospective Ezra Pound reflects a strict rigorous code that he places himself under.
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