"In a Station of the Metro," by Ezra Pound

When taking a look at, “In a Station of the Metro,” by Ezra Pound, one can hardly believe that it is considered a poem. Pound’s work seems to look more like a sentence than a poem, but in fact, the briefness of it only adds to the emphasis of what Pound was trying to convey to the readers. The first line of the poem, “The apparition of these faces in the crowd,” expresses a dark and mysterious emotion. The sentence seems almost ominous when one takes into consideration that the word apparition could also mean a supernatural encounter. It’s as if the poet views something in the crowd of these people that seems to serve as some long lost reminder. The second line of the poem, “Petals on a wet, black bough,” is also just as mysterious. The “black bough” is another reminder of death. Rather than the tree being full of life, it is described as dark and almost empty of any energy. The “petals” only add more questions to the poem. Petals are usually an interpretation of spring and of new life, but in the poem, they are set against death. This adds for a vivid and even beautiful contrast between the two. The overall meaning of the poem seems to gear itself towards death. Flowers are often used as a reminder to the memory of those who have passed on into another life, hence the major contrast between the “flowers” and the “bough.” The shortness of the poem might also be a reference to the shortness of life. The poem, had it been any longer, wouldn’t permit any focus on the key words that the author is trying to let the reader perceive. Overall, the briefness of the poem is used as an advantage to the reader because it allows for the use of a deeper and interesting analysis.

Pound, Ezra. "In a Station of the Metro." The Norton Introduction To Literature. Ed. Peter Simon. New York: W. W. Norton & Company , 2005.

van Vliet, Jeroen. Metro Paris. 2006. 3 Oct. 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/bsidez/134336935/.

Deore, Kedar. Detail of Japanese Cherry Blossoms (prunus serrulata) known locally as Sakura. 2007. 3 Oct. 2008 .