Imagist poetry is rather distinct from Symbolist poetry. The former developed in England and the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century as an alternative to Romantic and Victorian-era poetry. The latter developed in France and was a reaction against Naturalism and Realism. Symbolism relied on the imagination and dreams. Arthur Rimbaud believed that great poetry required a "derangement" of the senses. On the other hand, Imagists relied on precision, simplicity, and clarity of expression.
T.E. Hulme, whose ideas about poetry gave birth to Imagism, insisted that verse include "no excess verbiage." For him and other Imagists, such as Ezra Pound and H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), words had to produce concrete images.
In his poem "Autumn," this commitment to the concrete is on display. In the first line, Hulme announces the season as "[a] touch of cold." The image is tactile and familiar. The autumn moon—a harvest moon—is "ruddy" and "[leans] over a hedge / Like a red-faced farmer." This image personifies the moon and likens a celestial being to things and people that are very familiar and equally connected to nature: hedges and farmers.
The stars, which, on an autumn night, tend to shine brightly, are described as "wistful." Stars are ancient, which is why Hulme connects them to a feeling of longing for things past. From their distance in space, they are small, white, and plentiful, like the "white faces" of "town children."
With its emphasis on the concrete, Imagism relies on references to things and people that are very familiar and accessible. Conversely, Romantic and Victorian poetry often made references to classical literature or myth.
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