In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
First published in Poetry Magazine in 1913, these 20 words (counting the title, which is central to the poem’s meaning) find "an echo of serene natural beauty in a hectic modern scene."
A Paris Metro station seen from a train, a bustling crowd in the rain at night, become petals on a flowering tree.
I've always liked this poem. I read it in high school. Later, I learned that Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was not only "a shrewd and cantankerous proponent of literary modernism [and Imagism], determined to shake poetry out of its Romantic and Victorian habits," but also an anti-Semite who embraced fascism, broadcasting pro-Mussolini propaganda on Italian state radio during World War II. After the war, he was charged with treason and confined to a mental hospital in Washington, D.C.
But in 1913...
Follow this blog for all things poetry.
To see our past prompts and more than 300 issues,
visit our website at poetsonline.org
No comments:
Post a Comment
* * All comments must be approved by the site administrator before appearing in order to prevent spam.