Imagism is apparent in H.D's 'Sea Rose' immediately from the opening stanza. A rose is typically is depicted with vibrant and elaborate imagery. However, H.D defies traditional beauty standards. H.D's poem does not adhere to a specific meter of rhyme, she discusses the rose in a free verse manner. She uses the rose as a devise to describe the broader human condition. The piece reflects the modernist movement and more specifically the imagist movement through H.D's use of stark imagery, free verse, and exploration of unconventional beauty.

'Sheltered Garden'

The opening line of this poem 'I have had enough' fits into Pounds idea of the modernist movement as 'Starting new'. The opening line sets the tone of the piece and allows the entry of free verse, a feature of imagism. H.D's language is broad and unclear and it is not apparent to the reader what it is exactly she's had enough of. This avoidance of generalities is a prominent feature of imagism. Despite this, H.D is direct in her language allowing the reader to interpretate her stark imagery and come to a personal conclusion.

The poem 'sea rose' is a clear image of the central theme of a rose that is described with a deeper meaning, referencing the harsh realities of nature and the hardships and difficulties the rose has endured throughout it's life, unlike the average rose sitting pretty and untouched 'single on a stem'. The poem shows a transformation of value away from artificial beauty with sharp and compressed images of the 'harsh rose'.

Another poem by Hilda that represents imagism is 'sheltered garden'. In a similar way to sea rose, this poem rejects sheltered constraints. She uses imagistic language to depict a static, overly controlled and predictable garden. It laments the lack of will, free and bracing elements like the 'scent of resin' and the 'taste of bark' that characterize the untamed outside world.

Sea Rose:

This poem exemplifies the traits of imagism as the rose is the thing that is receiving the direct treatment. Typical depictions of a rose would describe it as vibrant and full of life, however in this poem, the rose is seen as 'harsh' and 'wet'. H.D describes the destructive force of nature that is inflicted on this rose through the poem and its unrelenting spirit as it endures these hardships. The poem is short and concise, further perpetuating the tenet of imagism that states no word that does not contribute to the presentation be used. The poem utlilizes free verse, or 'vers libre' as it has an almost human like tone, with the rose being a tool to describe the unrelenting human condition.

Sheltered Garden:

Another poem by H.D. that embodies the imagist style of poetry. The sheltered garden is the thing that receives the direct treatment in this poem. In this poem H.D. also uses free verse to her full advantage with the formation of the lines and stanzas giving the poem a story-like feel. H.D. depicts a beautiful image, but one full of structure and boundaries which it seems she feels restrained by. It is apparent that she can not escape the 'garden' as the second stanza describes the way she is always led back to it. Despite its plentiful images and themes this poem does not use a word that is not necessary for perpetuating the key tenet of imagism.

These poems both also align with the factors of imagism because they are not conclusive in their ending and can be open to interpretation.

The poem ends in a way which stops its direct address of the rose to pose a question to the reader, fragmenting the poem in its turn away from the imagist elements present in previous stanzas. The question itself leads the reader to come to an understanding of what they have read, in the context of the ability of the "spice-rose" to "drip such acrid fragrance" (lines 15-16) - the implication being that the sea rose has its own unique properties that make it beautiful in a way that the spice-rose cannot.

While Sheltered Garden does not at first seem to directly address 'the thing', a reading of the poem poses the question of what 'the thing' being addressed is. From the title it may seem to be the garden which H.D. describes as full of "border-pinks, clove-pinks, wax-lilies" etc, but the poem in reality focuses on the narrator's admiration of the imperfect - the "torn" and "twisted" garden they seek as a symbol of strength and the curated garden the poem begins in as a symbol of stifling perfection.

The narrator takes asides to further develop their points, describing the beauty of an imperfect pear and melon. The indirect address is also seen in the use of "O" to begin lines of thought "O for some sharp swish of a branch" (line 12), "O to blot out this garden" (line 55), rather than jumping right into the primary imagery. While this indirect structure does not conform to imagist principles, the poem still lacks a clear narrative - the narrator does not "find a new beauty/in some terrible/wind-tortured place" (lines 56-58) to give them the breath they began the poem gasping for.

Both poems create a fragmentary form by their use of dashes which indicate the stream of thought of the narrator (e.g. "single on a stem-" in Sea Rose (line 7), "it is better to taste the frost-/the exquisite frost-/than of wadding and of dead grass" in Sheltered Garden (lines 37-39). Both of these give to the poem a form which resembles natural speech, one of imagism's core features, as well as the lack of any pattern of traditional forms of metre in either.

These features are also evident within H.D.’s poem ‘Sheltered garden’. For example, H.D. uses vivid imagery stating, “or the melon – let it bleach yellow”. Paired with simplistic language, H.D. undeniably creates stark imagery allowing the reader to create their own image. Moreover, consider her choice of simplistic verbs throughout the poem, contributing once again to the common features of imagism.

The Sea Rose shows only one imagery - a rose - and it is described clearly and precisely from the beginning, but not as a beautiful, delicate flower, but “harsh”, “stunned”, with “sparse of leaf”. It makes an image which is striking and unsentimental. This short, free-verse poem employs sparse, economical language, avoiding traditional meter and rhythm to create a natural sound and flow.

In contrast, The Shaltered Garden is much longer with no such clear imagery and language from the very start. However, the opening line embodies Pound's idea of "starting new". Also, its free verse form and natural rhythm align with Imagist principles. The poem's language is precise; strong sensory words like "astringent," "bitter," and "scent" are used to create the central image of the unnaturally stifling and empty garden.

Both poems demonstrate Imagism’s core features: precise, sensory images; concise language; free verse; and presented vivid objects, which evoke complex ideas and emotions.

In relation to her poem, ‘Sea Rose’, the first feature of the imagist movement is the direct treatment of the thing which in this poem is the Rose. Often a Rose resembles features of beauty but in this case, the Rose is seen as ‘harsh rose’, which is ‘thin, sparse of leaf’. The use of language for the description of the rose highlights the vivid imagery evident which leads the poem to be seen as fragile ‘flung on the sand’ rather than an symbol of beauty. ‘Sea Rose’ is a poem in which it is very image and visually motivated. Another feature of the imagist movement evident in the poem is free verse. The poem breaks free from the traditional structure of a poem without a rhyme or meter. The poem almost has a natural conversational rhythm. 

In H.D’s poem ‘Sheltered Garden’, the sheltered garden receives the direct treatment in this poem. This poem also follows  the idea of free verse. While there is no consistent rhyme scheme throughout the poem, the use of repetition is prominent in the poem. The poem is a metaphor for the repetition in the poet’s life, ‘then you retrace your steps or find the same slope on the other side’. The poet uses the images of the fruits to display the constraint feeling and longing for freedom, ‘have you seen fruit under cover that wanted light’. This follows the idea from the opening lines where it says ‘I gasp for breath’, the garden is longing to be free from the shelter or perhaps the poet in her own experience. The use of imagery is highlighting the desire to ‘ripen’ and ‘test their own worth’. This poem also follows the feature of free verse.