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EnPoetry 6 (1913)

A Few Don'ts by an ImagisteBY EZRA POUND0

An Image is that which presents an inteect!a an" emotiona compe# in aninstant o$ time% I !se the term compe# rather in the technica sense empoye" by

the newer psychoogists& s!ch as art& tho!gh we might not agree abso!tey in o!r

appication%

It is the presentation o$ s!ch a compe# instantaneo!sy which gies that sense o$

s!""en iberation that sense o$ $ree"om $rom time imits an" space imits that

sense o$ s!""en growth& which we e#perience in the presence o$ the greatest wor*s

o$ art%

It is better to present one Image in a i$etime than to pro"!ce o!mino!s wor*s%

A this& howeer& some may consi"er open to "ebate% +he imme"iate necessity is to

tab!ate A ,I-+ .F D./0+- $or those beginning to write erses% !t I can not p!t

a o$ them into 2osaic negatie%

+o begin with& consi"er the three r!es recor"e" by 2r% Fint& not as "ogmaneer

consi"er anything as "ogmab!t as the res!t o$ ong contempation& which& een i$it is some one ese0s contempation& may be worth consi"eration%

4ay no attention to the criticism o$ men who hae neer themsees written a

notabe wor*% 5onsi"er the "iscrepancies between the act!a writing o$ the ree*

poets an" "ramatists& an" the theories o$ the raeco78oman grammarians&

concocte" to e#pain their metres%

Language

se no s!per$!o!s wor"& no a":ectie& which "oes not reea something%

Don0t !se s!ch an e#pression as "im an"s of peace% It "!s the image% It mi#es

an abstraction with the concrete% It comes $rom the writer0s not reai;ing that the

nat!ra ob:ect is aways the adequatesymbo%

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o in $ear o$ abstractions% Don0t rete in me"iocre erse what has area"y been

"one in goo" prose% Don0t thin* any inteigent person is going to be "eceie" when

yo! try to shir* a the "i$$ic!ties o$ the !nspea*aby "i$$ic!t art o$ goo" prose by

chopping yo!r composition into ine engths%

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simpe an" poyphonic& as a m!sician wo!" e#pect to *now harmony an" co!nter7

point an" a the min!tiae o$ his cra$t% /o time is too great to gie to these matters

or to any one o$ them& een i$ the artist se"om hae nee" o$ them%

Don0t imagine that a thing wi go in erse :!st beca!se it0s too "! to go in prose%

Don0t be iewyeae that to the writers o$ pretty itte phiosophic essays% Don0t

be "escriptie remember that the painter can "escribe a an"scape m!ch better

than yo! can& an" that he has to *now a "ea more abo!t it%

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may $a a ictim to a sorts o$ $ase stopping "!e to ine en"s an" caes!rae%

+he m!sician can rey on pitch an" the o!me o$ the orchestra% >o! can not% +he

term harmony is misappie" to poetry it re$ers to sim!taneo!s so!n"s o$ "i$$erent

pitch% +here is& howeer& in the best erse a sort o$ resi"!e o$ so!n" which remainsin the ear o$ the hearer an" acts more or ess as an organ7base% A rhyme m!st hae

in it some sight eement o$ s!rprise i$ it is to gie peas!re it nee" not be bi;arre or

c!rio!s& b!t it m!st be we !se" i$ !se" at a%

?i"e $!rther ?i"rac an" D!hame0s notes on rhyme in Technique Poetique%

+hat part o$ yo!r poetry which stri*es !pon the imaginatie eyeo$ the rea"er wi

ose nothing by transation into a $oreign tong!e that which appeas to the ear can

reach ony those who ta*e it in the origina%

5onsi"er the "e$initeness o$ Dante0s presentation& as compare" with 2iton0s

rhetoric% 8ea" as m!ch o$

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pro"!ction% %%%Mais dabord il faut etre un poete& as 22% D!hame an" ?i"rac

hae sai" at the en" o$ their itte boo*& Notes sur la Technique Poetique b!t in

an American one ta*es that at east $or grante"& otherwise why "oes one get born

!pon that a!g!st continent