How To Write an Imagist Poem: 4 Steps
If you read poetry, you’ve probably already read an Imagist poem. The Imagist movement was a rebellious stage in poetry. It was a way to go against romanticism and Victorian poetry and instead write in simple words, be succinct, use clear images, and be direct instead of abstract.
Ezra Pound, T.E. Hulme, Carl Sandburg, William Carlos Williams, Amy Lowel, Hilda Doolittle, F.S. Flint, and others were proponents of this short movement. Some say that imagism was a trend that only lasted five or so years. However, you may see poets today using an imagistic style.
So, here are four steps to writing an Imagist poem. Plus, we’ll see four examples of Imagist poems to help guide you.
Use the Five Senses
Sight, sound, taste, touch, smell. When I write an Imagist poem, I write down the five senses in a Word or Google doc, then try to see if I can use each one. ‘Smell’ may be the most difficult sense to use.
You might think of the texture of leaves, the smell of a certain flower or tree, the sound of birds or vehicles, and the appearance of the landscape.
Also, don’t be afraid of getting specific and broad. We can compare a tree to the whole universe or a family of foxes to a family of people. There’s no limit to your imagination.
“Sleep Impression” by Carl Sandburg
The dark blue wind of early autumn
ran on the early autumn sky
in the fields of yellow moon harvest.
I slept, I almost slept,
I said listening:
Trees you have leaves rustling like rain
When there is no rain.
Not known primarily as an Imagist, Sandburg still wrote some Imagist poems, such as “Sleep Impression,” about the autumn wind blowing through yellow crops.
The sound of windblown leaves made the author feel like it was raining, which disturbed his sleep. But he didn’t seem to mind. It evokes a calming sensation in the reader.
2. Use Simple Words and Be Succinct
We want to be understood. Some might say we want even a child to understand our Imagist poem. This comes down to opinion on how clear we want to be, but we prefer a basic vocabulary.
How basic? Don’t use a word like ‘ostentatious’; use ‘showy,’ or another word. If you do have a big vocabulary, it may be necessary to use simpler words than you’re used to.
But don’t worry, the entire poem will provide a clear image. The simple diction will enhance your image. For example, here’s one poem I wrote:
“Fawn” by Luke Levi
The sun climbed down
from each gold leaf
and stepped its toes
very lightly on the forest floor
to sit with a newborn fawn.
Simpler than most of the other examples given for Imagist poetry, “Fawn” is a minimalistic image of sunlight on autumn leaves that collect on the forest floor beside a newborn fawn.
Personification, which is giving non-human things human qualities, is expressed by saying that the light “stepped its toes…on the forest floor.”
3. Observe the Environment Around You
This may seem meditative, but it’s how many painters, musicians, poets, and other creatives get many ideas. We can observe the natural world and get inspiration. A gold leaf falling in autumn might be the ideal image you want to capture.
You sometimes can look outside your window to get ideas. If you’re in a city, look out to the street, observe people and animals, and see what you find.
Nothing is off-limits; for example, a homeless war veteran asking for food, a hawk atop a building, or a dove stealing fries off a person’s plate may be good images to explore in a city environment.
“Autumn” by T.E. Hulme
A touch of cold in the Autumn night—
I walked abroad,
And saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge
Like a red-faced farmer.
I did not stop to speak, but nodded,
And round about were the wistful stars
With white faces like town children.
A famous Imagist poem, “Autumn” is a beautiful autumn scene that feels nostalgic. A simile and metaphor (“moon lean over a hedge like a red-faced farmer”) and personification (“stars with white faces”) strengthen this poem. Each word is needed. This may be the ideal Imagist poem.
4. Edit the Poem
Editing can be work. We don’t usually like the process, but it improves our writing. Sometimes just changing a few words makes a big difference.
There’s no line limit to an Imagist poem, but most are 10 lines or fewer. I’d put the maximum at around 16 lines, but there’s no strict rule for a line limit.
When editing, try to let the poem sit for a few days or longer. Forget about it. Then return and see if you understand the poem and the image(s) you described. Ask these questions:
Is the poem clear? Can a reader understand what is being described?
Is there a metaphor or simile that can be improved?
Is each word necessary? Sometimes deleting a single word can be an improvement.
From “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens
I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
This poem, part of a long sequence, provides an image of snowy mountains. It doesn’t seem to be snowing, since the only ‘moving thing’ is the blackbird’s eye. Not known as an Imagist, Wallace Stevens evokes a simple landscape in this poem, which expresses imagistic qualities. It may remind us of haiku or Zen poetry.
I hope these four steps help you write a great Imagist poem. You may be surprised that, with effort, your Imagist poem is something to be proud of and kept.