Imagist

In a Station of the Metro - Ezra Pound

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.


I decided to do a poem that is near and dear to my heart because I couldn't find any other poem to do. I know I have previously looked at the poem, but I wanted to further elaborate on the literary elements used to create the picture of the "Station of the Metro".

Imagery is the clear crisp and sharp language of poetry. It is when poems can create a picture in the mind of the reader. It is associated with modernist poetry. Imagery was created to counteract the flabby, non-conventional poetry that was written without a second thought.

This short poem had a great impact on me. How could Ezra Pound create such vivid pictures in just two lines? His description of the metro in Paris, which I had to research, illuminate how beautiful the people are. The use of the word apparition greatly enhances his awe for the "faces in the crowd". He mentions it as he is astonished by the beauty of these faces, which is indicated with the use of
"petals". When people picture petals, they imagine the beautiful, colorful part of the flower. The petal can also represent the hope for the future in the dark, and weary present.

In his imagism poem of two lines, Pound captures all of this and more. He mentions "the apparition" which may indicate that he might have only had a quick glimpse of the beauty on the metro. With all of these in effect, it is truely amazing that he could explain this "petal" so vividly. (As vivid two lines can be). I keep mentioning this person being a beauty because he mentions the "black bough", which is a contrasting image from the petals. This particular petal sticks out from the rest of the tree. With all these pictures, he explains his emotions. The lack of words doesn't take away from the poem at all.

This poem uses imagery to describe the scene of the metro. The use of euphony in this poem gives greater depth to the poem. It captures the reader by using the alliteration of "black bough" in the end. The use of this euphony calms the reader and brings the reader to his or her "happy place" almost because of the serenity of the poem. This is what Pound tries to achieve the whole time. The mentioning of the apparition of the beauty indicates this inner passion.

At instances, caesura is used to give the reader the feeling that the speaker is questioning himself/herself. Did he/she really see that beautiful apparition? We never really get the answer, but the constant pauses gives insight to the confusion of the speaker.