This is an effort to examine the birth and development of the Language movement which started in the early 1970’s by the most experimental avant-garde poets of their day, to subvert so-called “official verse culture.” The Language movement is so diverse in its arguments and practices, but in a loosely collective way, its practitioners have developed various theories and poetries which could be summarized in four distinct features. First, Language poets fundamentally question the referential function of language; second, they consciously avoid exerting the lyrical subjectivity in their poetries; third, they show a Marxist critique of capitalistic culture; and fourth, they often ignore traditional classification of genre, and combine theory and poetry. Language poets can be said to be top-heavy and may be turned away by readers owing to their revolutionary ideas and forms. But now with their solid political and aesthetical accomplishments, they seriously provide us with some significant questions about what poetry can be and where American poetry should go.