Blog #2 Topic 2

The Imagist Movement started in the early 1900s. Imagism was a type of poetry writing that involved the use of simple and clear language to precisely convey a visual image. Among those who lead the movement was Ezra Pound; he wrote the famous and influential poem called “In a Station of the Metro.” Although the short poem consists of only fourteen words, the poem is full of hidden meaning.
The poem is a haiku, consisting of three lines and seventeen syllables. There is a semicolon used to separate the two contrasting subjects of the poem. Furthermore, the poem references nature its last line. The poem also lacks verbs. By excluding verbs, the poem paints a static image in the reader’s mind as they read.
The title “In a Station of the Metro,” has two words of interest “station” and “metro that help with setting up the image of the poem. The word station refers to a regular stopping place for trains, and its purpose is to make the reader picture a scenery of a train station. The next word, “metro” (short for metropolitan), is then presented, which makes the reader imagine the train station in the middle of a metropolitan area. With the title, Pound sets up the setting of the first part of the poem.
The first part of the poem reads, “The apparition of these faces in the crowd.” The word “apparition” has two meanings in this poem. It can refer to the appearance of something remarkable or unexpected. The other meaning is a ghostly appearance. By using “apparition” to describe the faces in the crowd, Pound conveys how amazed he felt seeing so many people at the train station. Also, he describes how the people look like ghosts as they pass by him and vanish from his sight, thus giving the reader a sense of how lively and fast-paced the station is. By using “these” in the first line, Pound brings the reader into the station by making the reader feel as if the author was getting his or her attention and then pointing at the faces in the crowd. At the end of the first part of the poem, Pound ends with a semicolon; signaling a change in the poem’s subject. The way the poem transitions from the “faces in the crowd” to “petals on a wet, black bough” implies a transition phrase such as “look like”. By determining the implied transition, the reader can reason that the poem is making a metaphor between the faces and petals.
The last part of the poem reads “Petals on a wet, black bough.” Petals symbolize beauty and fragility. By comparing the petals to the faces, Pound is saying that human (life) is as wonderful but delicate as petals. The bough has several possible meanings. First, the bough can represent the life force of the petals. Therefore, the reader can reason that the bough is Earth. As a black bough, the bough symbolizes death. Perhaps the author’s message is that humans are overusing the resources Earth provides, thus Earth is slowly declining. Another possible meaning is that the bough is the unknowns of the world. The color, black, has a mysterious vibe and can represent darkness. Maybe the author is using petals in the black bough to represent how human are just one of the many mysteries in life.
Pound’s imagist poem, “In a Station of the Metro,” may seem simple at first glance, but every word in the poem is well-thought out with its own purpose.