Critical Essay | Ian Fletcher

Ian Fletcher

In the following essay, Fletcher discusses sources of Imagism within the English literary tradition.

SOURCE: "Some Anticipations of Imagism," in A Catalogue of the Imagist Poets, J. Howard Woolmer, 1966, pp. 39-53.

Sing we a song
To the Blessed Gods
By the dusky olives,

By the green figs
And the violet grapes,
By the water-casks.

Cry to the Gods,
To the Gods that gave us
Heavy harvest.

Hurtful harvest,
Venomous vintage.

In slant sunlight
Fruit by fruit
Of the Earth-Mother.

In grey twilight
Shaft on shaft
Of the Archer-Goddess.

In thick grasses
Sudden gold
Of the glowing crocus.

In dewy gardens
Multitudinous
Sleepy roses.

They have given us corn
And the lurid blood-hued
Dog-star.

Humid woods
And the terror of moist woods
African.

It reads like an imitation of H.D. Clearly it is touched by Imagist influence: verbs are suppressed; verse is free, leaning on musical phrase in sequence rather...
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