In a station of the metro. In a Station of the Metro 2022-10-25
In a station of the metro
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In a Station of the Metro is a poem by Ezra Pound, written in 1912. It is considered one of the earliest examples of Imagist poetry, a movement which sought to use precise and evocative language to create vivid imagery in the reader's mind.
The poem consists of just two lines: "The apparition of these faces in the crowd;/Petals on a wet, black bough." In these lines, Pound uses vivid and sensory language to describe a moment of beauty and fleetingness in the midst of a crowded, bustling metro station.
The first line introduces the theme of the poem: the sudden and unexpected appearance of these faces in the crowd. Pound's use of the word "apparition" suggests that these faces are almost ghostly, appearing suddenly and disappearing just as quickly. This creates a sense of mystery and intrigue, as the reader wonders who these people are and what they are doing in the metro station.
The second line furthers this theme by comparing the faces to "petals on a wet, black bough." This comparison draws a contrast between the beauty and fragility of the faces and the harshness and solidity of the metro station. The use of the word "wet" adds a sense of dampness and melancholy to the image, further emphasizing the fleeting nature of the moment.
Overall, In a Station of the Metro is a short but powerful poem that uses evocative language and imagery to capture a moment of beauty and fleetingness in the midst of a crowded and bustling world. Its theme of the fleeting nature of beauty and its use of vivid and sensory language make it a poignant and enduring work of literature.
In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound
This may be the first published hokku in English. Just as Pound's abandonment of linear sentence structure draws more attention to the poem's imagery, so does his departure from the metronome of traditional meter draw more attention to each musical phrase in the poem. In terms of poetry, modernism broke free from the formal restrictions of rhyme and meter, resulting in what is known today as free verse. This promise appealed to Pound, who despised capitalists like Rockefeller. Lesson Summary Let's summarize what we've learned about Pound's In a Station of the Metro. It's not that one part comes before the other. It also means that the poem can be read in a non-linear way.
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In a Station of the Metro Summary
Traveling through concrete and steel tunnels, it transports passengers through a maze of artificial light and stale air. Fortunately, Pound's original lines use a non-linear structure, which doesn't make us rush through the poem in a straight line. An Imagist poem, by the very definition of the term, was brief. Originally, Pound inserted extra spaces between certain words, phrases, and punctuation marks in the poem. Pound combined the vast knowledge of a scholar with the flashing brilliance of a creative genius. Imagine riding the metro during rush hour one day. Surely, the answer lies beyond the grasp of reason.
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In a Station of the Metro
To get a better understanding of why In a Station of the Metro is significant, let's analyze it using the three principles of imagism. To use Pound's words, the poem isn't a description but an equation. He is the author of, among others, and Image: More Men of Mark New York: Knopf, 1922 ; Wikimedia Commons; public domain. However, instead of giving each musical phrase in the poem its own line, Pound used extra spaces to create pauses within the poem's 2-line structure. Secondly, Pound also explores another theme, that of the natural world. During his time in London, just before World War I, Pound developed a theory of poetry, which he termed Imagism, that stripped away the rhetorical excesses and vagueness that he believed obscured so much of contemporary poetry.
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In a Station of the Metro on JSTOR
Though Pound's genius in poetry was unmatched, he does receive deserved criticism for his political and economic views. This makes us see the poem as a sentence that runs over two lines, which makes us read it in a linear way as a straight line running from start to finish. The second date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. Pound drew inspiration from Japanese poetry throughout his career, and In a Station of the Metro is an excellent example of that influence. First of all, we have to ask ourselves whether this poem is a direct treatment of its subject. Somehow, the faces are arranged like so many petals hanging from a tree on a rainy day, which is the image that Pound's poem conveys.
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Steve Ellis: On "In a Station of the Metro"
Typically, a haiku consists of three short lines that describe an image. As part of the early modernist movement, imagism was launched in 1912 by Ezra Pound and Hilda Doolittle, although a style similar to imagism already existed among European poets. To get a better understanding of why In a Station of the Metro is significant, let's analyze it using the three principles of imagism. The remaining words are articles 'the,' 'these,' 'the,' and 'a' and prepositions 'of,' 'in,' and 'on'. Yet Pound was a solitary figure who read widely, in Italian, French, English, and American verse, and also in Chinese and Japanese poetry, theatre, and philosophy. Instead of trying to elaborate upon these principles with more poetic jargon, let's look at a poem that exemplifies all three aspects of imagism: Ezra Pound's In a Station of the Metro. By choosing the bold imagist style see the second link , Pound comments on the brevity of life.
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What Is the Meaning of "In a Station of the Metro?"?
In the final version of the poem, however, from Lustra onwards, the comma has once more disappeared; indeed, it is missing from the next independent printing of the poem in the Catholic Anthology: 1914-1915, published in November 1915, where Pound has reverted to the version given in T. The Modern American Poetry Site is a comprehensive learning environment and scholarly forum for the study of modern and contemporary American poetry. His work as a critic is nearly as important as his contributions as a poet. The poem appears to be a translation of some Japanese haiku, and while Pound was undoubtably influenced by that tradition, his poem was completely original. Because Pound's style oscillated between minimalist using as few words as possible and epic working on a massive scale , it is difficult to connect him to one particular style.
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What are the major themes of "In a Station of the Metro" by Ezra Pound?
Yet, somehow the effect is very different. Because there's no traditional grammar to push us in one direction or the other, the parts that make up this equation the 'apparition' and the 'petals' are given equal value. Instead of trying to elaborate upon these principles with more poetic jargon, let's look at a poem that exemplifies all three aspects of imagism: Ezra Pound's In a Station of the Metro. It consists of just fourteen words and reflects Pound's desire to capture a flash of insight without any fluff. The first line has five syllables, the second has seven, and the third has five again. Further, the image is presented in a specific literary form, the metaphor, recognized since ancient Greece as one of the most powerful devices of poetry.
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A Short Analysis of Ezra Pound’s ‘In a Station of the Metro’
Fortunately, Pound's original lines use a non-linear structure, which doesn't make us rush through the poem in a straight line. The second is the date of publication online or last modification online. The effect is not quite the same, but it is not so different. We are also happy to take questions and suggestions for future materials. It captures the moment of the metro station with a beautiful simplicity. So, he may have found some inspiration in the haiku form. Tokyo: Kodansha International published 1989.
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In a Station of the Metro Poem Summary and Analysis
In addition to writing a terse poem, Pound did something unusual with the 'Station. In this sense, this is the most direct treatment possible. The image that shines through is one that Pound himself experienced. They were also interested in using non-traditional language patterns, such as irregular sentence structures and free verse. Second, the poet should avoid fancy language favoring the most direct expression. The extra spaces make different parts of the poem stand out in a completely new way.
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