These pictures are a symbolic representation of the poem “In a Station of The Metro” by Ezra Pound. The poem was written during the modernism period, and consists of only two lines. Through out the poem Pound used of imagery, diction, and metaphor to portray the speaker’s experience at the station.
This photo of blurred people walking pass and of a flower hanging on a tree branch, produces the illusion that Pound creates in his poem. In line 1 of the poem, Pounds expresses “The apparition of these faces in a crowd”, while in line 2 he says “petals on a wet, black bough.” Both pictures are a relative representation of what the speaker might be experiencing.
The poet’s choice of words in those two lines conveyed just how important very word in the line is to the meaning behind the poem. The word “apparition” means the appearance of something at the precise moment in which it is perceived. The word evokes the reader to the poem immediately and gives the line a deeper meaning. The picture is an image of what one would see when picturing an “apparition of faces.” The poet use of apparition in his poem was effective in relating that in this crowd of people that turns in a blur of ghostly figures as they walk pass he was able to see petals. People usually go on with life not noticing the beautiful things around them not just the beauty of nature but also other things we take fore granted.
The flower is a metaphoric representation of the second line of the poem “petals on a wet, black bough,” not only because it talks about flowers in the concrete sense, but also because in the abstract sense in that it represent the beauty of life. The beauty of nature is one of the things that surround us that most people take for granted. I picked this flower as my representation of the second line of this poem because the flower is on a tree branch and stands brightly on a gloomy rainy day. The single flower in the picture sits alone on a bough surrounded by the dull atmosphere caused by the rain. This can be related to the poem because the speaker looks past the ghostly figures around him and see the beauty that outside.
When first reading the poem the first thing that comes to mind is that this is a very short poem and also the two lines do not make sense together. They appear as a contrast to each other. Only after rereading the poem and fully understanding what the poem is talking about can one realize just how much the two lines put together make the poem a very strong poem. The poet using imagery, metaphors and diction was able to create a great poem
Good images! It's true that the word "apparition" carries a deep meaning for the poem by portraying the blur of ghostly figures. I like how you say that people usually go on with life without noticing beatuiful things around them; it's true. Nowadays, most of us would be too occupied with our activities to take a moment to observe and see all those beautiful things around us. It's true that the flower is a symbol of beauty.
ReplyDeleteYou have two images for the single poem. It would be better if you can merge the two images together. Perhaps, look for a blurry picture with a clear and healthy flower growing on the sidewalk, etc; This would boost your the idea that you want to have across the page and hook the readers right on the moment they set their eyes on this blog. In addition, it would be a good single image for your chosen figurative poem.
I like how you chose a flower as an image for the poem and how much effort you put into selecting that specific flower image. It's interesting how you said that the flower image is a metaphor representing the beauty of life instead of just showing "petals on a wet, black bough." I think it was perfect to select two different images for the two very different lines in the poem.
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