A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes a single word can create the most vivid picture of all. The poem “A Station of the Metro” relates the near spiritual experience Ezra Pound had while he was in a Paris subway. The image that is conveyed is greatly influenced by the many connotations of the word apparition. Because the poem consists of a mere fourteen words, each word is heavily important. The juxtaposition of the two lines also lends to the supernatural feeling of the experience, for both Pound and the reader.Look at the first half of the poem, “The apparition of these faces in the crowd...” Pound is walking along the damp underground subway. There is a rush of faces around him, dark and dim. The use of the word apparition gives the idea that these people are, in a sense, dead. They function and walk around, but they carry the deadness of the physical world. They are like hollowed out bodies drudging along, lifeless and mundane.
The word also evokes a more general supernatural feeling, which is really at the heart of the poem. In an instant revelation, Pound sees the people, not as the specters that they once appeared, but as bright, beautiful petals.
The placement of the two lines, joined by a semicolon, but with no segue in between, is also very important to the overall meaning of the poem. The semicolon indicates that the ideas are related, but at the same time it acts to contrast them, where the second line is an interpretation of the first. Because the poem is so short, most of the meaning lies in mental process that links the two lines. The first line describes the people as being very one-dimensional, bland, and lifeless. However in the second line, the same people are instantly transformed into “petals on a wet, black bough.” He is seeing their faces for the first time. They are instantly beautiful: the kind of beauty that lies not in the person's features or their attractiveness, but in a heavenly realization that these people carry the life and beauty of their Creator. The poem itself is like the tip of the iceberg, with a rush of emotion lying underneath.
The picture of the bright yellow umbrella in the crowd represents this experience. In a crowd of darkness, you can do nothing but look at the light. It has the effect of instantly drawing your attention. The picture is a somewhat simplified view though, because for Pound it was not one spark of color, but so many that he did not know where to turn his eyes, and he was overwhelmed with the beauty of the situation.
I agree with the idea that appearance of these faces around him resembles, in a sense, the walking dead. I also like how you tied in your description of the image with the effect it has on the poem. "In a crowd of darkness, you can do nothing but look at the light." -agreed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment =D.
ReplyDeleteI never thought the second line symbolized Pound's realization of the beauty in the crowd. But the poet must have made some sort of connection between the first and second line since he used a semicolon, which relates the two lines. I agree with you; the second line "transforms" Pound's thoughts. First, she thought people were like the walking dead. Then, she realizes they are more than that. They are beautiful.
The picture you chose has the same idea as mine. I think we were both on the same track when choosing a picture to post =D.
You do a good job at elaborating your explanation, so the reader gets the whole point that you are trying to convey. I think your picture does a good job at portraying your point- there is a major contrast with the bright yellow umbrella and the dark ones, like the petals on the bough.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shirla's comment. I think that the first line means that the poet sees the people, but he does not take the time to really look at them, or see the features of their faces. Then the poet takes a closer look, and realizes that they are beautiful.