Blog Post 2, Topic 2

Ezra Pound’s poem, “In a Station of the Metro”,  is only made up of two lines, yet through analysis, it is enough to get a vivid understanding of the point Pound wants to make. To begin with, the title of the poem is extremely important because it lays out the topic. Just from the title, we know the poem is taking place in a subway station. This allows us to imagine ourselves in this setting, therefore, making it comprehensible. Without the title, the poem would not be clear and hard to get a grasp of. The title is very straightforward and it does not seem to have a double meaning.

The first line says “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;”. The word use of “apparition” gives us a detailed representation of the faces he is encountering with the people at the station. He describes them as having a ghostly expression. Instead of using the word “people” he refers to them as “the crowd” to give us an image of the highly populated and busy station. The meter in this line is found within the words “apparition”, “faces”, and “crowd”. These words give the poem an Iambic rhythm, which can also be compared to the subway’s slowing down sound that forms the same unstressed- stressed tempo.

The second line ends the poem with “Petals on a wet, black bough”. This part of the poem requires more analyzing because it mentions petals and a tree branch, which does not really make sense when related to a subway. This line tells us that “The faces in the subway are being compared to flowers on a tree branch” (Shmoop Editorial Team). In other words, the faces he is encountering at the station bring life to the station just as a petal does to a black branch. This line’s purpose is to show us that the people are being noticed by Pound, they are not just there to be there, they actually catch his attention. This line also makes the whole poem have a peaceful tone because he brings nature in it. Although it is a very crowded space, he does not give us a sense of anxiety or frustration, rather he seems calm and aware of his surroundings.

Overall, the shortness of form and structure of the poem add to the imagist manifesto because just as a subway speeds, the poem speeds its way to the finish. It takes about 10 seconds to read the poem and the subway passes by in about the same time. Even though the shortness of the poem can be related to imagism, most poems have a purpose or moral, but the author seems to have avoided or ignored that in this poem. It seems as if the poem was not meant to have a purpose, but instead to show the importance of imagery.  It simply tells us that there are many people at the station with faces that pass by like ghosts, yet bring the station to life.