Week 6 - Imagist Poetry

1.) "The image is the poet's pigment. The image is not an idea, it is a radiant node or cluster. A vortex through which and from which and into which ideas are constantly rushing. It is as true for painting and sculpture as it is for poetry."

2.) When writing poetry, I often opt to break the lines the way they make the most sense. That being said, I usually resign to making each line a complete sentence, and rarely ever venturing into the territory of cutting off a line at a point where it is grammatically incorrect. It has been rather difficult for me to through caution to the wind structurally in my poetry, primarily because I've been taught that breaking the grammatical structure in anything is about the worst offense any writer could do.

Upon reading Hirsh's response to how to create the lines in poems, I found that my method of organizing the structure of my poem is a very normal and natural response to poetry. However, I've also learned that there are many different ways in which poets have deviated from that norm in a way that creates a creative twist to their poetry. But in that same sense, aside from Robert Creeley and a handful of other poets, it seems to me that many writers and poets naturally read poems aloud in the way that makes the most grammatical sense as opposed to the strange and abstract way Creeley will read aloud his. I find it interesting that poets who are drawn to music will often opt to create rhythm and breath in their poetry to make it almost have a tempo when spoken aloud. This technique will have the capacity to add life and rhythm to almost any poem that you read, sometimes even regardless of the topic at hand. The final technique is one that I don't necessarily enjoy, but can respect the artistic merit of. In order to be clear in the meaning of the poem, many will create lines in their poems in the shape of something. This kind of structure takes away the value in speaking the poem aloud, and must be experienced visually as opposed to audibly. In retrospect of reading this article, many different options of how I choose to structure my poetry have been revealed to me, and utilized in the coming assignments I am given.

3.) Imagist Poems

a.) Winter
There is a certain sorrow that hangs
When the last leaf falls
And shrivels into the dormant grass
Leaving us with nothing but the spidery limbs
Of the cold and naked trees

b.) August
And with one swift slam
The life I once knew is gone
Packed away into a car
Ready to be rebuilt

c.) Confession
You grabbed my hand
Out of fear and out of courage
Knowing there is no chance yet hoping
Hoping that I will accept you
Hoping that I will give you a chance

d.) First Day of Spring
Electricity course through me as I embrace the sun
The once bitter air sighs with relief as light drenches the ground
I let the energy of the fresh earth course through me
As I breath in the cool scent of a new world