FORM IN MODERN POETRY by HERBERT READ

AN APOLOGY FOR MODERN POETRY

In this 1932 essay,of five chapters in just 87 pages which in his preface thereto Read describes as ''an apology for modern poetry' published at that time as an attempt to restore the original freedoms of modern poetry achieved by the influential imaging genre that 'as with all art form is inherently organic'
As the creator myself of numerous short poetic imagist forms I would confirm this latter point of Read.All too often,the 'rules' of a particular form become a' straight jacket' that confines rather than liberates poetry which at is apex its an 'oral art ' rather than something to read; ip so facto therefore 'form' is largely redundant when cadence is to the fore . for as rightly Read concludes all art originates in an act of intuition or vision.