Imagistes

Imagistes refers to a loose grouping of early 20th‑century poets associated with the imagist movement in modernist poetry. The movement emerged in Britain and the United States around 1912–1914, with Ezra Pound playing a central role in articulating its aims. Pound’s essays and the anthology Des Imagistes (1914) helped define the approach, while American supporters such as Amy Lowell contributed to its dissemination in the United States. Other poets commonly linked with the core circle include H. D. (Hilda Doolittle), Richard Aldington, and F. S. Flint.

The Imagistes advocated a direct, unadorned treatment of subjects, stressing the use of precise, concrete images to convey meaning. They emphasized economy of language, avoiding unnecessary adjectives and rhetorical flourishes. Formally, they leaned toward free verse and flexible rhythm, using cadence and sound to enhance the image rather than to support sentiment or didactic rhetoric. The guiding idea was that the poem should be built from an instant, exact image or a cluster of related images that illuminate a larger idea or feeling.

Impact and reception: The imagist program influenced subsequent modernist poetry by promoting concise, image-driven composition and a renewed focus on surface clarity. Though the label and the movement’s strict boundaries faded by the mid-1920s, its principles helped shape poets across the English-speaking world, contributing to the broader modernization of poetic language. Critics have debated the movement’s scope, origins, and lasting influence, but its emphasis on vivid imagery remains a defining feature of early modernist poetry.