Blog Post 2, Topic 2

Benjamin Van

Blog Post 2, Topic 2

            In a Station of the Metro is a short poem written by Victorian poet Ezra Pound. In the first sentence of the poem, he describes seeing an apparition, or otherwise ghost-like image, of faces in a crowd on a train station. In the second sentence of the poem, he compares these faces to petals on a wet, black branch of a tree. Even though the poem is very short in length, a significant amount of information can be deduced by doing a close reading of it.

            Starting off considering diction and imagery of the poem, readers notice that the poet tries to paint a very vivid image in their minds without being extremely extravagant and using superfluous words. The poet uses the word “apparition” to describe the ghostly faces of the passengers that seem to come and go during the busy hours of the train station. These faces are representative of petals found on a wet, dark tree branch in the next line of the poem. These faces that pop out to the reader on the train station are like petals that pop out on a tree branch at night during the storm. These faces however are also impermanent. As the train reaches the station, the doors open to show faces while passengers are leaving and boarding. There are only a few moments before the doors close back up and the faces disappear. Petals on a branch at night during the storm are very similar. They land on the branch for a few seconds before being blown away once again.

            For this poem, the sentence rhythm of the first line is more long and flowing while the second sentence is short and choppy. The poem does build on itself due to the fact that the second sentence provides supporting detail to the scene happening in the first sentence. The form of this poem is very fitting to the story it tells as well. The entire poem is only two lines which can be read in a matter of seconds. This brevity of the poem is similar to when people see each other at a train station for only a few seconds during the leaving and boarding period. Just as quick as the faces in the station come and go, the reader finishes reading the poem.

            Two details of this poem seem to be left out. One detail is able to be quickly deduced while the other is still ambiguous and up to interpretation. The first detail is the lack of the words “like” between the first and second seconds. Without the use of the word “like” we are never directly told that the poet is comparing the faces and the petals but it is quite easily inferred to be that way. The second detail is from which point of view is the author in the train station. It is never made known whether the author is at the station looking at the faces of passengers on the train or he is a passenger on a train looking at the people waiting at the train station.

            From quickly researching what the Imagist Manifesto was, this poem is a very accurate representation of the its purpose. In summary, the Imagist Manifesto wanted to convey very imaginative poetry through concise and exact words but also allowed the author to write about any topic chosen. This idea is easily shown in this poem through its use of diction, meter, form, and imagery as described above.