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Gwinn 1
Kelly Gwinn
Ms. Soulsby
English 11
13 May 2007
Modernism in American Poetry
American poetry saw great changes between
the years of 1890 through 1970, an age otherwise known as Modernism. Culturally
and artistically, Modernism defined the movement that shifted away from the
idealistic point of view that most commonly expressed Romanticism. Unlike the
Romantics, Modernist poets tended to point out the flaws in both themselves and
their audience. No subject was too daring, and many poems included sexual,
heretical, and other formerly taboo subjects. The growth of the Imagists also
helped to spur along the Modernist movement, as the Imagist poets added the
dramatic images that were found in most Modernist poems. Many believe that the
Modernist poets drew their inspiration from classical sources, including
literature and philosophy from around the world. A wide resource pool for
discovering new forms of writing led to the popularity rise of free verse, and the
rejection of superfluous wording. To best examine this period, one must view
the use of free verse, vivid imagery, the stream of consciousness style, and
the ways that Modernism affected American poetry (Wikipedia).
Walt Whitman most aptly summed up the art of
his free verse when he said, “I have found the law of my own poems.” Authors
using free verse are free to express their idea in whatever way suits them,
without being hindered by a pre-existing
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meter or a set rhyme scheme. Often, poets worked freely with
unorthodox margins or spacing techniques to further convey their point. An
excellent example of free verse is “Between Walls” by William Carlos Williams.
This poem is broken by large spaces, which force the reader to place emphasis
on phrases that might otherwise be passed over. The lack of any rhyme or
conventional meter is easily noted, and the subject matter is full of vivid
imagery rather than long-winded philosophy (Mayes 267). However, some poets
insisted that some sort of form was still required to make a worthy poem. Donald
Hall, an American poet and U.S. Laureate, even voiced his opinion that “the
form of free verse is as binding and liberating as the form of a rondeau.” T.S.
Eliot also expressed his opinion on the subject, saying, “No verse is free for
the man who wants to do a good job” (Wikipedia). Free verse was a popular
device during the Modernist era in poetry; mainly because of the liberty it
allowed authors to pursue whatever subject matter they personally found
appropriate. This freedom from the strict meter and rhyme of former ages was
perfectly fitting for the Modernist area, which tended to drift further away
from what society had once deemed “orthodox” (Lye).
In 1912, another movement that would drastically shape the face of Modernist
poetry was officially started. An American poet named Ezra Pound was the father
of this movement, and is still considered to be one of the most tenaciously
modern of the Modernist poets. The Imagist movement was a collaboration of
English and American poets who wrote only in free verse and did away with
superfluous vocabulary to create sharper, more dramatic images. Rather than
focusing on a specific meter, poets used free
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verse to create more musical phrases that added to the
poignant effects of their writing. Without decorative language and unessential
elements in their poems, Imagists are famous for creating concise and often
startling pictures for their reader. The Imagist movement is considered to have
ended in the year 1917, but its influence can still be seen throughout the
writing of the twentieth century (Poets.org).
Another facet that can be found in Modernist poems is the unique way that time
was used to give the character’s view point by mimicking their thought process.
In more classical ages, time was normally kept in a chronological order for the
purpose of conveying a story or progression of thought. However, the Modernists
began tinkering with the usage of time to more accurately convey the workings
of the human mind. May Sinclair, a British poet and active suffragist, is given
the credit for first using this technique as a literary device. This style,
referred to as “stream of consciousness” is recognized by a jumbled time
sequence, often filled with flashbacks or brief scenes of future events.
Lengthy internal monologues that explore the character’s morals and
point-of-view are also found in heavy use throughout this style of writing. A
famous American writer who used this technique was William Faulkner, whose
writings are often deemed jumbled and dense through the use of jumbled
timelines. Though stream of consciousness is still used today, it is most
strongly associated with the Modernist movement (Wikipedia).
Modernism in poetry affected America in several dramatic ways.
The Imagists, one of the first poetry sub-cultures of Modernism, were the first
group of English poets to have a
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large number of female poets contributing to the art. Poetry
also became a reflection of the common man, instead of ancient and often dense
epics. Immigration to America
allowed for Americans to begin allowing traces of new cultures and ideas to
slip through their poems. Poets felt free to pursue whatever topics they
pleased, rather than a strict set of what was considered socially correct.
Modernists aided awareness of many topics and ideas with their controversial
poems, and several themes are still commonly explored in poetry today.
The
Modernist era is still remembered today for its powerful and dramatic voice.
The American poetry that it produced is still much beloved today, and the age
itself marked several dramatic changes shifted poetry to a more modern form.
Foregoing the flower-tongued methods of the Georgian Romantics, the Modernists
were known for blunt images and artistic freedom through the use of free verse.
Cultural changes were occurring rapidly, and new poets found their voice to
express their thoughts on subjects that enthralled the world (Wikipedia). A
particularly stunning work of the Modernist era in poetry was T.S. Eliot’s “The
Wasteland”, a poem still considered to be the most powerful poetic work to come
out of the era (“Modernism” 624). No longer was poetry an enjoyment of the idle
and the wealthy, but an expression of the common man. It acknowledged the flaws
and core failures of the human race as a whole, no longer content to focus on
the ideal world that had occupied the poetry of former eras. Though Modernist
poetry was later passed on for newer poetic models, its powerful message remains
unchanged and undimmed throughout the years (Wikipedia).
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"A
Brief Guide to Imagism." Poets.Org. The Academy of American Poets.
13 May 2007. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5658>.
Lye,
John. "Some Attributes of Modern Literature." Brock University
Online.
29 Sept. 1997. Dept. of
English., Brock U. 22 Apr. 2007.
<http://www.brocku.ca/english/courses/2F55/modernism.html>.
Mayes, Frances.
The Discovery of Poetry. Orlando,
Florida: Harcourt, Inc., 2001.
267-300.
"Modernism."
The Columbia
Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 1 vols.
New York City:
Columbia UP,
2006.
Wikipedia.
22 Apr. 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 Apr. 2007.
<http://www.wikipedia.org/>.
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