I must be in a literary mood this week.
Last night, I finished a book about William Carlos Williams. I really like his poems because they are short and paint a picture. I learned two things from this book. He was life-long friends with Ezra Pound, and Ezra introduced him to imagism, the style of poetry that brought William recognition.
I had never heard of imagism, but I really like it.
Imagism was an early 20th-century style of American and English poetry which sought clarity of expression through the use of precise images. The movement involved Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Amy Lowell, and William Carlos Williams, among others.
These types of poems tend to be short. It doesn’t have to rhyme, and there are no unnecessary words. The book I read about William Carlos Williams mentioned a two-line poem that Erza Pound wrote. Of course, I had to look it up.
In a Station of the Metro
by Ezra Pound
The apparition of these faces in the crowd:
Petals on a wet, black bough.
I like that. However, this two-line poem made me wonder what the shortest poem is. According to Wikipedia, this is it.
Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes
(also known simply as Fleas)
By Strickland Gillilan
Adam
Had 'em.
There is nothing wrong with a long poem, but short poems can make their point immediately, and in today’s busy world can be easier to memorize. Share your favorite poem in the comments. Maybe I’ll discover more to like about poetry.