Of Modern Poetry Literary Elements

Omniscient voice, usually speaking in imperative ("It has to") or declarative statements.

Free verse

"the theatre was changed" - use of theatre as a metaphor for the literary scene

"like an insatiable actor" - comparison of poetry to a performer

Alliteration:
"the scene was set" - double /s/ sound

Anaphora / Repetition:
frequent repetition of "It has to"
double repetition of "of the time" (lines 7-8)
double repetition of "find[ing] what will suffice" (lines 2 and 9)
double repetition of "twanging" (lines 19-20)

Modernist poetry

No concrete setting

Instructional, pedantic, manifesto

The major conflict is the need for poetry to impact its audiences, to let go of the old way of doing poetry, face the real and ugly parts of the world and find ways to give readers what they want to hear.

A subtle climax occurs in the middle of the poem, in the description of the actor's words causing the audience to experience emotional unity: "an emotion as of two people, as of two / Emotions becoming one." This is the moment when we get the clearest picture of the intimate impact that modern poetry should ideally have on people.

"Then the theatre was changed" - the opening description of how poetry used to be, and how things have changed, sets up the necessity for a powerful new form, a necessity that the rest of the poem then addresses.

"What will suffice" - a bare and understated way to say "what will make life meaningful / bearable"

"the theatre was changed / To something else" - that "something else" includes two world wars and a massively revolutionized literary scene

"It has to think about war" - again, an implicit nod to the World Wars without saying so outright

"a man skating, a woman dancing, a woman / Combing" - images that are beautiful in their understatement and simplicity, and how simple things can give satisfaction to people

Modern poetry is personified first as an actor, then as a "Metaphysician in the dark" who is also a musician

"twanging"