 The origins of <unk> are to be found in two poems , Autumn and A City Sunset by T. E. <unk> . These were published in January 1909 by the Poets ' Club in London in a booklet called For Christmas <unk> . <unk> was a student of mathematics and philosophy ; he had been involved in the setting up of the club in 1908 and was its first secretary . Around the end of 1908 , he presented his paper A <unk> on Modern Poetry at one of the club 's meetings . Writing in A. R. <unk> 's magazine The New Age , the poet and critic F. S. Flint ( a champion of free verse and modern French poetry ) was highly critical of the club and its publications . From the ensuing debate , <unk> and Flint became close friends . In 1909 , <unk> left the Poets ' Club and started meeting with Flint and other poets in a new group which <unk> referred to as the " <unk> Club " ; they met at the <unk> Tower restaurant in London 's <unk> to discuss plans to reform contemporary poetry through free verse and the <unk> and <unk> and the removal of all unnecessary <unk> from poems . The interest in Japanese verse forms can be placed in a context of the late Victorian and <unk> revival of interest in <unk> and <unk> as witnessed in the 1890s vogue for William Anderson 's Japanese prints donated to the British Museum , performances of <unk> plays in London , and the success of Gilbert and Sullivan 's <unk> The <unk> ( 1885 ) . Direct literary models were available from a number of sources , including F. V. <unk> 's 1866 <unk> <unk> is <unk> , or , <unk> by a Century of Poets , Being Japanese <unk> Odes , the first English @-@ language version of the <unk> <unk> , a 13th @-@ century anthology of 100 <unk> , the early 20th @-@ century critical writings and poems of <unk> Hartmann , and contemporary French @-@ language translations . 
