Editing Imagism (section)

==Early publications and statements of intent==
[[File:H.D. in Tendencies in Modern American Poetry, 1917 - cropped.jpg|thumb|[[H.D.]] in 1917]]
In 1911, Pound introduced two other poets to the Eiffel Tower group: his former fiancée Hilda Doolittle, who by then was writing under her initials, [[H.D.]], and H.D.'s future husband [[Richard Aldington]]. These two were interested in exploring Greek poetic models, especially [[Sappho]], an interest that Pound shared.<ref>Ayers (2004), p. 2</ref> The compression of expression that they achieved by following the Greek example complemented the proto-Imagist interest in Japanese poetry, and, in 1912, during a meeting with them in the British Museum tea room, Pound told H.D. and Aldington that they were ''Imagistes'' and even appended the signature ''H.D. Imagiste'' to some poems they were discussing.<ref>King; Pearson (1979), p. 18</ref>

When [[Harriet Monroe]] started her ''[[Poetry (magazine)|Poetry]]'' magazine in 1911, she had asked Pound to act as foreign editor. In October 1912, he submitted thereto three poems each by H.D. and Aldington under the ''Imagiste'' rubric,<ref name="monroe">Monroe, Harriet (1938). ''A Poet's Life''. Macmillan.</ref> with a note describing Aldington as "one of the 'Imagistes'". This note, along with the appendix note ("The Complete Poetical Works of T. E. Hulme") in Pound's book ''Ripostes'' (1912), are considered to be the first appearances of the word "Imagiste" (later anglicised to "Imagist") in print.<ref name="monroe"/>

Aldington's poems, ''Choricos'', ''To a Greek Marble'', and ''Au Vieux Jardin'', were in the November issue of ''Poetry'', and H.D.'s, ''Hermes of the Ways'', ''Priapus'', and ''Epigram'', appeared in the January 1913 issue, marking the beginning of the Imagism movement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse/1/4#!/20569689/0|title=General William Booth Enters into Heaven by Vachel Lindsay|date=March 20, 2018|website=Poetry Foundation|access-date=March 21, 2018}}</ref> ''Poetry''{{'}}s April issue published Pound's haiku-like "In a Station of the Metro":

{{quote|
:The apparition  of these faces  in the crowd :
:Petals  on a wet, black  bough .<ref>DuPlessis, Rachel Blau (2001). ''Genders, Races, and Religious Cultures in Modern American Poetry, 1908–1934''. Cambridge University Press. Excerpted in "[http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/pound/metro.htm On 'In a Station of the Metro']" (Modern American Poetry). Retrieved on August 29, 2010</ref>}}

The March 1913 issue of ''Poetry'' contained ''A Few Don'ts by an Imagiste'' and the essay entitled ''Imagisme'' both written by Pound,<ref>Pound (1913), pp. 200–206</ref> with the latter attributed to Flint. The latter contained this succinct statement of the group's position, which he had agreed with H.D. and Aldington:<ref>Geiger (1956), p. 144</ref>

{{quote|
# Direct treatment of the "thing", whether subjective or objective.
# To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.
# As regarding rhythm: to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of the [[metronome]].<ref>Elder (1998), pp. 72, 94</ref>}}

Pound's note opened with a definition of an image as "that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time". Pound goes on to state,"It is better to present one Image in a lifetime than to produce voluminous works".<ref>Pound (1918). "A Retrospect". Reprinted in Kolocotroni et al. (1998), p. 374</ref> His list of "don'ts" reinforced his three statements in "Imagism", while warning that they should not be considered as dogma but as the "result of long contemplation".<ref> Pound (1974), p. 12</ref> Taken together, these two texts comprised the Imagist programme for a return to what they saw as the best poetic practice of the past. F. S. Flint commented "we have never claimed to have invented the moon. We do not pretend that our ideas are original."<ref>F. S. Flint letter to J.C. Squire, January 29, 1917.</ref>

The 1916 preface to ''Some Imagist Poets'' comments "''Imagism'' does not merely mean the presentation of pictures. ''Imagism'' refers to the manner of presentation, not to the subject."<ref>''Some Imagist Poets'' (1916). Constable and Company.</ref>