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Imagism was an early-20th-century Anglo-American poetry movement that emphasized precision of imagery and clear language. It was the first organized modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagists rejected the sentiment and discursiveness of Romantic and Victorian poetry and instead favored Classical values such as directness of presentation, economy of language, and experimentation with non-traditional verse forms. They used free verse and attempted to isolate a single image to reveal its essence. The movement was centered in London and included members from Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States, including prominent modernist figures such as Ezra Pound, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Amy Lowell, Ford Madox Ford, William Carlos Williams, F. S. Flint, and T. E. Hulme. Imagism was influenced by Japanese and French poetry, as well as contemporary developments in avant-garde art, especially Cubism. The movement's origins can be traced back to two poems by T. E. Hulme, Autumn and A City Sunset, published in 1909. The first use of the term "Imagist" was in an appendix note in Pound's book Ripostes (1912). The first anthology of Imagist poetry, Des Imagistes, was published in 1914 and included work by Aldington, H.D., and Pound, among others. Some Imagist Poets, a series of anthologies edited mainly by H.D. and Aldington, was published in 1915, 1916, and 1917, featuring most of the original poets. The Imagist Anthology 1930, edited by Aldington, included all the contributors to the earlier anthologies except for Lowell, Cannell, and Pound. Despite its short life, Imagism had a significant influence on modernist poetry in English. Its emphasis on clarity and precision, rejection of sentimentality, and experimentation with form can be seen in the work of later poets such as T. S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens.The Influence of Imagism on Modern Poetry

• Imagism repudiated the Georgian Poetry style.
• Imagism made free verse a discipline and a legitimate poetic form.
• Imagism influenced Objectivist poets, who came to prominence in the 1930s.
• Objectivists worked mainly in free verse and linked their principles with Imagism's.
• Louis Zukofsky, an Objectivist poet, insisted on writing with the things as they exist.
• Language poets carried the Imagist focus on formal concerns to a high level of development.
• Charles Olson, the theorist of the Black Mountain poets, derived his credo from and supplemented the Imagists.
• Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg in particular were influenced by the Imagist emphasis on Chinese and Japanese poetry.
• Williams had a strong effect on the Beat poets, including Lew Welch and Allen Ginsberg.
• Williams wrote an introduction for the book publication of Ginsberg's Howl (1955).
• Imagism's influence can be seen in the work of various modern poetry circles and movements.
• Imagism made a lasting impact on modern poetry.