1. MAKE IT NEW
Poetry of

2. SYMBOLISTS
A movement to change the direction of American poetry and make it truly American.

3. Symbolists: goals a. Tried to portray the emotional effects objects
suggested
b. Got rid of symbols and clichés of symbols
c. Trusted in the nonrational
d. Felt Imagination more reliable than reason and just as precise
e. Believed poetry should be mysterious and intuitive
f. Utilized self-discovery
g. Had independence of thought
h. Recognized individual important- the soul and nature
i. Went against the mechanism of human life

4. Symbolists and Romanticism
Symbolists much like early Romantics like Thoreau
Believed in the individual
Couldn’t find solace in nature
Nature too defined by science; no more mystery
Science has advanced life but humanity still had poverty, violence, and conflict
Life had become spiritually debased
What is a human in the face of a mass culture ( all alike)

5. IMAGISTS (1912-1917) A new way to see and experience the world
Poetry is better if-
Precise
Clear
Unqualified images
Imagery carries the emotion of the poem

6. IMAGISM No need for Stanzas Meter Pretty words Sentimentality
Artificiality

7. IMAGISM
Poems needs:
Raw power of image
Common speech
Exact words
Hard, clear words
Haiku was the inspiration- short, one main idea, based on nature

8. Imagism and Symbolists
Techniques common in poetry now
Free verse new idea at the time
Topics: anything from kitchen sink to the full
moon
Imagists and Symbolists- discovery:
Free verse is as tough to write as rhyme and
traditional poetry styles