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2. POETRY: AMagazine of Verse
splendidlyexpressed in some classic (and the school
musters altogethera most formidableerudition).
2. They re-wrotehis verses beforehis eyes, using
about tenwords to his fifty.
Even their opponents admit of them-ruefully
"At least theydo keep bad poets fromwriting!"
I foundamong theman earnestnessthat is amazing
to one accustomed to the usual London air of poetic
dilettantism. They consider thatArt is all science,all
religion,philosophy and metaphysic. It is true that
snobismemay be urgedagainst them;but it is at least
snobismein itsmost dynamicform,with a great deal of
sound senseand energybehind it; and theyare stricter
with themselvesthanwith any outsider.
F. S. Flint
A FEW DON 'TS BY AN IMAGISTE
An "Image" is thatwhich presentsan intellectual
and emotionalcomplex inan instantof time. I use the
term 'complex" ratherin the technicalsenseemployed
by the newer psychologists,such as Hart, thoughwe
might not agree absolutely inour application.
It is thepresentationof sucha "complex" instantane
ouslywhich gives that senseof sudden liberation;that
senseof freedomfromtimelimitsand space limits;that
[ 200 ]

3. A FewDon'ts byan Imagiste
sense of sudden growth,which we experience in the
presenceof thegreatestworks of art.
It is better to presentone Image in a lifetimethan
toproducevoluminousworks.
All this,however,somemay consideropen todebate.
The immediatenecessityis to tabulateA LISTOFDONT'S
forthosebeginningtowrite verses. But I can not put
all of themintoMosaic negative.
To beginwith, consider the three rules recorded
byMr. Flint,not as dogma-never consideranythingas
dogma-but as theresultof longcontemplation,which,
even ifit is someone else's contemplation,may beworth
consideration.
Pay no attention to thecriticismofmen who have
never themselveswrittena notablework. Consider the
discrepanciesbetween the actual writingof theGreek
poets and dramatists,and the theoriesof theGraeco
Roman grammarians,concoctedtoexplain theirmetres.
LANGUAGE
Use no superflousword, no adjective,which does not
revealsomething.
Don't use suchan expressionas "dim landsofpeace."
It dulls the image. It mixes an abstractionwith the
concrete. It comes fromthewriter'snot realizingthat
thenatural object is always the adequatesymbol.
Go in fearof abstractions. Don't retellinmediocre
versewhat has alreadybeen done ingood prose. Don't
thinkany intelligentpersonisgoing tobe deceivedwhen
[ 2011

4. POETRY: A. M a g a z i n e of Ve r s e
you try to shirkall thedifficultiesof theunspeakably
difficultartof good proseby choppingyourcomposition
intolinelengths.
What theexpert is tiredof today thepublicwill be
tiredof tomorrow.
Don't imaginethat theart of poetry is any simpler
than theartofmusic, or thatyou can please theexpert
beforeyou have spentat leastasmuch efforton theart
of verse as the average piano teacherspends on the
art ofmusic.
Be influencedby as many great artistsas you can,
but have the decency either to acknowledge thedebt
outright,or to try to conceal it.
Don't allow "influence" tomean merely that you
mop up the particulardecorative vocabulary of some
one or two poets whom you happen to admire. A
Turkish war correspondentwas recentlycaught red
handed babbling in hisdispatchesof "dove-gray" hills,
or else itwas "pearl-pale," I can not remember.
Use eitherno ornamentor good ornament.
RHYTHM AND RHYME
Let thecandidate fillhismindwith thefinestcadences
he can discover,preferablyin a foreignlanguageso that
themeaning of thewordsmay be less likely to divert
his attentionfromthemovement; e. g., Saxon charms,
[ 202 ]

5. A Few Don'ts by an Imnagiste
HebrideanFolk Songs,theverseofDante, and the lyrics
ofShakespeare-if he candissociatethevocabularyfrom
the cadence. Let him dissect the lyricsof Goethe
coldly into theircomponentsoundvalues, syllableslong
and short, stressed and unstressed, into vowels and
consonants.
It is not necessary that a poem should relyon its
music,but ifitdoes relyon itsmusic thatmusicmust be
such as will delight theexpert.
Let theneophyte know assonance and alliteration,
rhymeimmediateand delayed, simpleand polyphonic,
as amusicianwould expecttoknowharmonyandcounter
point and all theminutiae of his craft. No timeis too
great togive to thesemattersor toanyoneof them,even
if theartist seldomhave need of them.
Don't imaginethat a thingwill "go" inverse julst
because it's toodull to go in prose.
Don't be " viewy"-leave thatto thewritersofpretty
littlephilosophicessays. Don't bedescriptive;remember
that the painter can describe a landscapemuch better
than you can, and that he has to know a deal more
about it.
When Shakespeare talks of the "Dawn in russet
mantle clad" he presentssomethingwhich thepainter
does not present. There is in this lineof his nothing
thatone can call description;he presents.
Consider theway of thescientistsratherthantheway
of an advertising agent for a new soap.
[ 2031

6. POETRY: AMagazine of Verse
The scientistdoes not expect to be acclaimed as a
great scientistuntil he has discoveredsomething.He
begins by learningwhat has been discoveredalready.
He goes fromthat point onward. He does not bank
on being a charmingfellowpersonally. He does not
expecthis friendstoapplaud theresultsof his freshman
classwork. Freshmen in poetryare unfortunatelynot
confinedtoa definiteand recognizableclass room. They
are " all over theshop." Is itanywonder "the public
is indifferenttopoetry?"
Don't chop your stuffinto separate iambs. Don't
make each line stop dead at the end, and thenbegin
everynext linewith a heave. Let thebeginningof the
next linecatch the riseof the rhythmwave, unlessyou
want a definitelongishpause.
In short,behave as amusician,a goodmusician,when
dealingwith that phase of your art which has exact
parallels inmusic. The same lawsgovern,and you are
bound byno others.
Naturally,yourrhythmicstructureshouldnotdestroy
theshapeofyourwords,or theirnatural sound,or their
meaning. It is improbablethat,at the.start,you will
be able toget a rhythm-structurestrongenough toaffect
themverymuch, thoughyou may fall a victim to all
sortsof falsestoppingdue to lineends and caesurae.
The musician can relyon pitch and thevolume of
the orchestra. You can not. The termharmony is
misapplied topoetry;it refersto simultaneoussoundsof
[2041

7. A FewDon'ts byan Imagiste
differentpitch. There is,however, in the best verse a
sortof residueof soundwhich remainsin theear of the
hearerand actsmore or lessas an organ-base. A rhyme
must have in it someslightelementof surpriseifit is to
give pleasure; it need not be bizarreor curious,but it
must bewell used ifused at all.
Vide furtherVildrac and Duhamel's notes on rhyme
in"TechniquePoetique."
That part of your poetrywhich strikesupon the
imaginativeeyeof the readerwill losenothingby trans
lation intoa foreigntongue; thatwhich appeals to the
ear can reachonly thosewho take it in theoriginal.
Consider thedefinitenessofDante's presentation,as
comparedwith Milton's rhetoric.Read as much of
Wordsworthas does not seem toounutterablydull.
If you want thegist of thematter go to Sappho,
Catullus, Villon,Heine when he is in thevein,Gautier
when he isnot toofrigid;or, ifyou have not thetongues,
seekout the leisurelyChaucer. Good prosewill do you
no harm,and thereisgood disciplinetobe had by trying
towrite it.
Translation is likewisegood training,ifyou findthat
youroriginalmatter "wobbles" when you tryto rewrite
it. The meaning of thepoem to be translatedcan not
"wobble."
If you are using a symmetricalform,don't put in
what youwant to say and then fillup the remaining
vacuumswith slush.
1205 1

8. POETRY: A AIgagazine of 1erse
Don't mess up theperceptionof one senseby trying
todefineit in termsof another. This isusuallyonly the
resultof being too lazy to findtheexactword. To this
clause thereare possiblyexceptions.
the firstthreesimple proscriptions*will throwout
nine-tenthsofall thebad poetrynowacceptedas standard
and classic; andwill preventyou frommany a crimeof
production.
"i. . . Mais d'abord ilfaut etre un poete," as
MM. Duhamel and Vildrac have said at the end of
theirlittlebook,"Notessir laTechniquePoetique";but in
an American one takes thatat least forgranted,other
wisewhy does one get bornupon thataugust continent!
Ezra Pound
NOTES
Agnes Lee (Mrs.Otto Freer)who has livedmuch in
Boston, but is now a residentofChicago, is known as
the author of various books of poetry, themost rep
resentative,perhaps, being The Border of theLake,
publishedabout twoyearsago bySherman,French& Co.
She has translatedGautier's Emaux et Camees into
English poetry; and has contributedto themagazines.
Her long poem, The Asphodel,which appeared in The
North American Revievwseveral years ago, attracted
wide attention.
Mr. Edmund Kemper Broadus is a member of the
facultyof theUniversityofAlberta,Canada.
*Noted by Mr. Flint.
] 206 1