Why did Imagist poets avoid unnecessary words and adjectives?

Imagist poets avoided unnecessary words and adjectives to ensure that every element of a poem contributed directly to the presentation of a clear, precise image.1

Led by Ezra Pound, the movement advocated for "direct treatment of the 'thing'" and emphasized sparse, exact language to create a total poetic statement. In his 1913 manifesto, "A Few Don'ts," Pound explicitly cautioned poets to use no superfluous words and to include only those adjectives that reveal something new or essential.1

This approach was a deliberate revolt against the "careless thinking" and Romantic sentimentality that the Imagists believed had come to dominate poetry. By stripping away ornamentation, they sought to achieve a "dry clarity and hard outline," drawing inspiration from the structural precision of sculpture and the economy of the Japanese haiku.12