What does Pound compare in the poem "In a Station of the Metro"?
In Ezra Pound’s short poem “In a Station of the Metro,” Pound compares the apparitional faces of subway riders in Paris to “petals on a wet, black bough.” In other words, he compares the ghostly faces of Paris commuters to wet petals on a black branch.
Though Pound’s poem, as previously mentioned, is small (it consists of only two lines and 14 words), much has been said about the comparison.
Some have said that Pound’s comparison was inspired by Japanese poetry, particularly the haiku. Pound’s poem doesn’t follow the official haiku form—a proper haiku is three lines of five, seven, and five syllables. However, Pound’s poem embraces the general spirit of the haiku. The poem presents a striking image and a peculiar metaphor , which is what many haikus set out to do. The comparison might also have been inspired by Japanese prints, which regularly bring...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
the human world and the natural realm into close contact, just as Pound’s poem does.
Whatever the inspiration, the comparison between the commuters and the petals is continually held up as an excellent example of Imagist poetry. The Imagist movement was led by Pound. He advocated for poetry that presented clear images, and it’s hard to argue that the comparison in “In a Station of the Metro” doesn’t provide its reader with a concise, vivid picture.
References
What comparison does Pound make in "In a Station of the Metro", and what is its purpose?
In his short poem “In a Station of the Metro,” poet Ezra Pound is comparing the beautiful faces he sees on a night in the Paris Metro with flower petals on a wet branch. The entire poem reads,
The apparition of these faces in the crowd:
Petals on a wet, black bough.
In the first line of the poem, Pound makes an interesting observation of the people around him by comparing them to ghosts. The word apparition gives the idea that the people's faces are obscured and makes the people seem less than human. Then, in the next line, he compares their appearance to flower petals, which are colorful, fragile pieces of nature. By describing the bough these petals are on as wet” and “black," Pound emphasizes the contrast between the appearance of the people and their location and says that their faces appear beautiful and vibrant in their dreary environment. This comparison suggests that beauty can be found even in dark places, like a dark metro station.
This poem is also a testament to Pound’s theory of imagism, which critiqued excessive rhetoric and vague language in poetry and advocated for the use of precise images. By making a straightforward comparison like the one in this poem, Pound shows how meaning can be created with just a few carefully chosen words that construct a specific image.
What comparison does Pound make in "In a Station of the Metro"?
Before diving into a discussion of Ezra Pound’s poem “In a Station of the Metro” it is worth taking a minute to outline Pound’s style so we can understand his goals. Ezra Pound was the founder of a poetic style called Imagism. The Imagist poets admired precision of language; they shunned verbose, allusion-laden styles of earlier poetry. Pound described the “image” as,
that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time.
This definition functions as a statement of Pound’s objective for his poetry: to impart a profound “intellectual and emotional” experience using as few words as possible.
With this context in mind, let’s examine Ezra Pound’s poem “In a Station of the Metro”. This short poem is often described as the archetypal example of the Imagist style for how it creates a poignant mental picture using only fourteen words. The poem is below in its entirety,
“In A Station of the Metro”
The apparition of these faces in the crowd:
Petals on a wet, black bough.
The title of Pound’s poem is noteworthy and important to the poem's context because it provides the setting: a busy metro station. Without the context provided by the title, the single metaphor in the poem would lack weight.
The poem compares the faces in the crowded metro to petals on a wet, black bough of a tree. The metaphor is strengthened by the total lack of verbs in the poem. With “In a Station of the Metro”, Pound crisply captures a single moment with precise language. If we re-examine Pound’s own purpose with his poetry of capturing “an instant in time” with words, most would argue that he accomplished his goal.