Imagist Poetry Modernism

Revolt Against Victorian Romantic Tradition The Imagists were a group of poets who initiated the first significant revolt against the Victorian Romantic poetic tradition. Their influence spanned approximately a decade, from 1912 to 1922. They believed that Georgian poetry lacked new vitality and often modified or delimited the poetic inheritance of the nineteenth century rather than abandoning it for a radically different approach. Key Figures and Their Limitations Neither Masefield , whose poetry is realistic in subject and vocabulary, nor De la Mare , considered the last true romantic poet of England, pointed toward new directions in English poetry. The poetic revolution initiated by the Imagists, beginning just before the First World War and further encouraged by The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot , favored an older tradition in English poetry over the Victorian Romantic tradition. Imagist Beliefs and Techniques The Romantic and Victorian poets saw poetry as a means of self-expression, appealing …