Perhaps modern poetry can be traced back to one man, T.E. Hulme. He defined classical and romantic poetry, which helped distinguish what modern poetry really was. Before modern poetry was considered "modern poetry", there was classical poetry, and there was romantic poetry. In order to make people recognize modern poetry and label it so, we must first distinguish what modern poetry wasn't.
[...] People were embracing the idea of modernism all over America. Chicago was full of beautiful architecture that was modern and new. Art had shifted to modernist a while ago. So why hadn't this change affected poetry? What is Imagism? What is this movement that caused such conflict between Harriet Monroe and Ezra Pound? Between Amy Lowell and Monroe? Between Lowell and Pound? What are its origins, its content, and its creators? The most famous imagists are Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell, Hilda Doolittle (H.D.), and William Carlos Williams. [...]
[...] No longer were words only to show conversation, words were used to give a very detailed and visual description, so that one would read poetry and imagine the setting. The accurate description would help the reader relate to the poet. Not only was description vital to the imagist poem, but so was the rhythm. The poem had to flow. So, Imagism was not only considered an emotional sort of poetry, but an intellectual sort as well. Here is a poem that illustrates what Pound meant: The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough. [...]
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