Imagist poets--Ezra Pound, H.D., and Richard Aldington--agree upon three principles in 1912:
"1. Direct treatment of the 'thing' whether subjective or objective.
2. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.
3. As regarding rhythm: to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of a metronome."
Hejinian sums up the last point: "a declaration of independence from the dictates of conventional prosodic rules"