“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound is a two-line poem written in 1913. Even though it is made of two lines, its analysis gives us an inside on the poet’s thoughts. The title of the poem gives us a setting of the poem, the station. This poem has a lot of imagery in it, as in just two lines, the poet has painted a picture for us.
In the very first line of the poem, “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;” pound tells us in detail about the faces he comes across at the station, like their ghostly expression. His word choice very easily tells us about his thought, instead of saying, “people” he uses the term “crowd” which tells us that the setting is in an over populated station.
The poem ends with “Petals on a wet, black bough”. This was a bit confusing as we start with the subway and end with nature. The link between these two lines is the comparison of the crowd and the flowers. Pound says like the crowd lights up the station, the same way the flowers bring life to the black branch. The purpose for Pound to say this is to tell us that even though the station is overcrowded with many people, they do not go unnoticed by Pound. Though it is enthralling how a busy station and a calm tree portray the same message.
Pound tried to show that even in a gloomy atmosphere, a light will always shine. Like in the subway after the rain, Pound noticed a lot of beautiful faces. This contrast gives us a very unreal feeling about the poem, which is why Pound used “apparition” to describe this feeling. The main feature of this poem is its length. Its length adds to the imagist manifesto as the speed of the subway in the station and the length of the poem are of similar time. Due to the speed of this poem a lot of important information is missing. Since the poem gives off a feeling of having a purpose but the only interpretation we can make of it is the importance of imagery. We could also say that the fill in the blanks is left for us on purpose as Pound wanted us to imagine the feeling more than understanding the words of the poem.
At the end I feel that the even though the purpose of the poem is not very straightforward the poem leave us to runaway with our imagination. What I infer at the end from the poem is that as long as we have hope, nothing is impossible. No matter how gloomy or dark things are, there will always be a silver lining. Pound compares the beautiful faces at the station to the flower on the bough.
I really like how you explained each sentence, and it helped me understand the poem a little bit more. I also liked how you compared the speed of the train to the shortness of the poem. It kind of brings the poem to life. I don't really understand how you thought of light, though. I think it would be nice if you can explain more on that, tell us how you got that thought. At the end as well, explain how this poem has to do with having hope and nothing being impossible.
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ReplyDeleteI like your description of how imagery plays a significant role in this poem. Your analysis of the poem and elaboration on what the poem seemed to depict to you made sense and your interpretations were unique. There are some grammatical errors throughout your post such as when you say "The purpose for Pound to say this is to tell us that even though the station is overcrowded with many people, they do not go unnoticed by Pound." I believe the a better way to convey this would be: The reason why Pound conveys this is because he's trying to convey how the overcrowded station can't easily be overlooked. I really enjoyed your conclusion!
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