The most remarkable work in modernist poetry was without a doubt that of Ezra Pound (1885-1972). He encouraged such modern writers as T.S. Elliot, and Hilda Doolittle. These imagists, including Ezra Pound, wrote concise poems that were centered on single images. "The Waste Land," "The Encounter" and "The Pool" are poems by T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and H.D. Throughout these poems, human interaction is imagined and represented by using the fundamentals of language/speech, action and emotion in order to exhibit negative and positive aspects of communication.
Throughout "The Waste Land," there are a few points in the poem where the theme of communication is evident. The best example, one might argue, would be in part II, "A Game of Chess." Here, human contact is imagined as the interaction between a man and a woman. First, there is the image of an exquisite banquet with very distinct descriptions of the sights and scents of the dinner scene. Although most of the images are positive there is a transformation after the banquet, which makes it seem like the interaction between these two people are taking place in two different places. For instance, failed communication between the man and the women can be seen when she tries to engage in a conversation with him after dinner:.
"My nerves are bad tonight. Yes, bad. Stay with me.
"Speak to me. Why do you never speak? Speak.
"What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?.
"I never know what you are thinking. Think." (Eliot 111-114).
There are so many unanswered questions. There is no interaction between both parties, and this can be looked at in a negative way. However, even though there is no response from the man, and the women ends up very upset, her frustration ends when she hears the song, "O O O O, that Shakespeherian Rag" (Eliot 128). Music is a form of communication that can incorporate action and emotion; the woman's interaction with it gives her positive emotions that lead to several positive actions: .
