The individual in the crowd

Write an essay that explains and interprets In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound. By closely analyzing the poems language, you should show what the text has to say, how it says it, the implicit meanings of the poem, the contradictions and tensions. Be sure to integrate plenty of textual details and keep returning to the actual language of the poem. The analysis should capture as much of the poems singularity and complexity as possible.

In three lines, Pound presents a series of scenes: the metro station, the apparition, the faces in the crowd, and the petals on wet, black bough (“Metro”). The title, “In a Station of the Metro,” gives the reader the expectation that the poem is about city life, bustling with people and certain indifferences that are typical in the city. The word “apparition” gives the mystical qualities to “these faces in the crowd,” preparing the reader for the second line. The sudden image of “petals on a wet, black bough” startles the reader because we do no expect such beauty in a mundane city metro station.

Here are my lecture notes. Hope that can help you.

Petals—–bough—–static—–nature

    /               /        

Face—–crowd——movement—-urban

The relationship between two lines in the poem: a large place appeals some individuals, separately things. And these things didn’t belong to this crowd.