Pound's "In a Station of the Metro" and Connection to Lowell's rules of Imagism

           Ezra Pound’s short poem displays a clear, imagist work presenting the image of faces on a crowded metro train. Pound’s short story is unique, and explicit due to the simple, mirrored image depicted. The form is unique due to the poem itself being only two short lines long, but when including the title “In a Station of the Metro”, Pound’s poem is described as a haiku. The short three lines create the clear image of people within a metro, and capture the qualities of a haiku by mirroring the faces to a scene connected to spring. The line “Petals on a wet, black bough” make the reader think of spring, due to the branch being wet, possibly from rain, and being that the branches have petals, the reader can conclude that it may be springtime. The importance of spring associates with seasons being incorporated with haikus. Based upon Lowell’s rules of imagism, Pound creates a new rhythm that does not “merely echo old moods”. His haiku styled poem creates a new rhythm using short lines that flow smoothly, and generate new emotions within the reader.

Through the simplicity of Pound’s lines, the reader is able to understand the simple scene of people in a metro station on a train, but understand the complexity of the many different faces. Pound compares the “faces in the crowd” (1) to “petals”, signifying that the many faces are all beautiful and unique because the reader can connect these characteristics to petals. Lowell explains that an Imagist must “use the language of common speech, but to employ the exact word…”, meaning that the imagist work should contain only words of value and meaning to the image the poet is trying to present to the readers. Pound follows this rule by using words such as “petals”, and “wet” to capture the faces of the passengers, and the dampness of the underground station. Pound also uses the word “apparition”, which can mean having a ghostly appearance, or remarkable, unexpected appearance. Both meanings apply to the scene because as the passengers shift and crowd onto the train, and as it moves, their faces blur like that of a ghost. The faces also have a remarkable appearance because he finds them all uniquely beautiful, based on his comparison to flower petals. Pound presents two clear images: people on a metro train, and petals on a wet branch, allowing the reader to connect them without having to be told that one image is like the other. This ability to easily connect the two images covers Lowell’s rule of imagism “to produce poetry that is hard and clear, never blurred nor indefinite”. Pound’s two images compare two scenes that seem to contrast. For instance, the line “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;” (1) produces a dull, dark scene, whereas the line “Petals on a wet, black bough” (2) is a more lively scene. Pound follows Lowell’s rules of imagism by creating two clear scenes that the reader is able to mirror one to the other.

        Lowell’s final rule of imagism, “concentration is of the very essence of poetry”, is represented in Pound’s work by his ability to present an image in just two short lines. Lowell’s rule focuses on remaining on the subject of the poem, and not losing sight of the image being expressed. By using the other rules Lowell lists, such as new rhythm, freedom of subject, presentation of an image, exact language, and clear poetry, Pound is able to focus the poem on one clear image. For instance, the first line, “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;” can be interpreted as a crowd in any possible location, but based upon the title, the reader concludes that the faces are passengers on a metro train. The second line, “Petals on a wet, black bough” doesn’t distract from the first because the reader can clearly interpret the second like as a metaphor for the first, comparing the faces on the train to the petals on the branch. The simplistic scene also relates to Lowell’s rule “to allow absolute freedom in the choice of subject”. I read a footnote in an old copy of “In a Station of the Metro” that I had for another class, which talked about how Pound was so captivated by the unique, beautiful faces on the train that he struggled to find the right words to describe the scene. These emotions he felt capture how imagism allowed poet’s to express any image they found important. In Pound’s case, he found that fewer, more exact words captured the entirety of the image he wanted his readers to see.