Blog #2 Topic #2

Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro” is a short, two sentenced poem. Although this poem is very short, Pound manages to let us in on his point of view in a very detailed way. Even with just two lines, it consists of a lot of imagery, and his choice of words also help us understand the meaning of the poem. The shortness of this poem also fits perfectly with the topic he chose. As we read it, the words zoom by very fast, the same way a subway flashes by quickly in an instant.

               To start off, the title already gives out the setting, a metro. What readers do not know just from the poem itself is that this metro is located in Paris, France. Moving on to the first line, Pound describes watching faces appear in a metro station. From this line, it is unsure whether he’s writing from the point of view of a passenger on the train itself, or if he’s walking on the platform. Either way, we know that the station is packed full of people, as he writes “faces in a crowd”. This lets us know that the station is busy. The word “apparition” means that the faces come to him suddenly when he doesn’t expect it, and disappears just as fast. He is somewhat surprised to see this many faces when he enters the subway, and it briefly fills him with a sense of awe.

               In the second line, Pound simply writes “petals on a wet, black bough”. This is a connection between man and nature. The man-made scene at the metro is linked to the cycles of nature. Just as humans on a metro, flowers and trees constantly move, grow and change. What he sees in that quick glance is never going to be the exact same as they were the next second. Likewise, there are no two petals that will ever look exactly the same, and wind blows, rain comes and go, and new flowers blossom. Another example of the linkage between man and nature is the words at the end of each line. The ‘ow’ in crowd doesn’t fully rhyme with “bough”, but the two words move towards each other naturally.

               It isn't included in the poem, but readers get a sense that Pound is comparing the first line to the second. “…the faces in a crowd [look like] petals…” is how readers can read it. But, because those two words aren't included, it shows that this poem isn't a simile, but a metaphor. Pound isn't saying that the faces he saw look like petals, but they are petals. As mentioned above, the setting is in Paris, and we usually imagine the people there dressed fancily and looking nice. This could be why he compares the people to petals. On the other hand, considering this poem is written in Japanese haiku style, it is possible that he was thinking of Japan, which is famous for its beautiful blossoming trees.

               This poem is an example of Imagist. Other poets who write this type of poetry often use a lot of flowery words that captures the readers’ attention, and include lengthy descriptions to get their point across. However, Pound manages to pick out the best words needed to describe what he wants to say, and successfully gets his point across with just two lines.