1. As Miss Lowell is the principal exponent of the theories of imagism
and free verse in this country, careful reading of some of her critical
papers leads to a better understanding of her work. Especially valuable
are her studies of Paul Fort in her volume entitled _Six French Poets_,
of "H.D." and John Gould Fletcher in her _Tendencies in Modern American
Poetry_, the prefaces to different volumes of her poems and to the
anthologies published under the title _Some Imagist Poets_ (1915, 1916),
and her articles in the _Dial_, 64 ('18): 51 ff., and in Poetry, 3 ('13):
213 ff.
2. In judging her work, consider separately her poems in regular metrical
form and those in free verse. Decide which method is better suited to her
type of imagination.
3. To what extent does her inspiration come from cultural
sources--travel, literature, art, music?
4. Consider especially her presentation of "images." How far do these
seem to be derived from direct experience? Test them by your own
experience. What principles seem to determine her choice of details?
Which sense impressions--sight, sound, taste, smell, touch--does she most
frequently and successfully suggest? Note instances where her figures of
speech sharpen the imagery and others where they seem to distort it. In
what ways is the influence of Keats perceptible in her work?
5. It is worth while to make special study of the historical imagery of
the poems in _Can Grande's Castle_.
6. If you are familiar with the impressionistic method of painting, work
out an analogy between it and Miss Lowell's word pictures.
7. Study separately her varieties of free verse and polyphonic prose (cf.
her study of Paul Fort and the preface to _Can Grande's Castle_). Choose
several poems in which you think the free verse form is especially
adapted to the content and draw conclusions as to the problems of
development of this kind of verse or of its possible influence upon
regular metrical forms.