English Journal Assignment 3
IN A STATION OF THE METROThe apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
-Ezra Pound
I like the form of this poem in particular; it is a bit unusual in that one is forced to consider all the elements of it in order for it to make any sense. This is different from a great deal of poems that I’ve experienced in that you can at the very least get the gist of it by skimming through it.
Ezra’s structure leads one to believe it is incomplete, incomprehensible, though it is quite the opposite. It seems halted or stunted, and initially, makes no sense. Taking the title of the poem into direct context allows the reader to find the setting for this poem, to derive meaning from the rest by its association. The next two sentences ( technically one sentence, two statements) on their own, don’t make much sense, but when you try to see with your minds eye what she’s describing you realize that the poems meaning isn’t moral so much as it is illustrative. Taking all three statements, you can clearly visualize the metro station. Thus, the power of simplicity reins it head again.
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