The Imagists drew much of their early inspiration from the haiku, and other forms of Japanese verse. However, H.D. always felt fascinated by Classical Greek literature, especially the poetry of Sappho, and during her early Imagist years, she still spent many hours on Greek and Latin translations.
Around the time of WWI, H.D. began a more extensive exploration of myth and lyric form, and began to disassociate with the Imagist label. Her poems became increasingly long, mythically-oriented, and epic—although she never lost her skill for searing imagery and poetic economy.
In 1923, at the height of this transition of poetic identity, H.D. published the poem “Helen.” This poem represents an important moment in H.D.’s career during which she shifted from intense involvement in the stringent standards of the Imagists, to an era of free intellectual and poetic exploration. Notably, the poem “Helen” has often been anthologized, but has not been the subject of much scholarly criticism or analysis over the years. Perhaps this partial avoidance has occurred because the poem itself is a combination of Imagist principles, and an engagement with epic poetry and Greek mythology—not fully belonging to either realm.
As H.D. more visibly entered an era of historical study and longer verse, she began to dissect how Greek myth has been absorbed and perpetuated in male-dominated circles, using masculine perspectives and language. The poem “Helen” marks the beginning of an era in which H.D. examined the treatment of women in myth—and therefore their treatment in our collective unconscious—and gave them a voice.
