Don'ts for Imagists

Pay no attention to the criticisms of men who have

never themselves written a notable work.

Use no superfluous word and no adjective which does not
reveal something.

Go in fear of abstractions. Don't retail in mediocre verse
what has already been done in good prose.

Don't imagine that the art of poetry is any simpler than

the art of music or that you can please the expert before you
have spent at least as much effort on the art of verse as
the average piano teacher spends on the art of music.

Be influenced by as many great artists as you can, but

have the decency either to acknowledge the debt outright or

try to conceal it.

Consider the definiteness of Dante's presentation as
compared with Milton's. Read as much of Wordsworth as

does not seem to be unutterably dull.

If you want the gist of the matter go to Sappho, Catullus,
Villon when he is in the vein, Gautier when he is not too
frigid, or if yon have not the tongues seek out the
leisurely Chaucer.

Good prose will do you no harm. There is good discipline to
be had by trying to write it. Translation is also good
training.


Em: Ezra Pound: His Metric and Poetry, de T. S. Eliot.(Free eBook)