Anything can be poetry

Even with the title of the piece being as vaguely formulated as the succeeding lines, it is easy to argue why “In a station of the Metro” is in fact a poem. Written by Ezra Pound, “In a station of the Metro” contains fourteen words – five nouns, two adjectives, and a ghostly absence of verbs. There is no rhyme and no obvious meter. These are the precise reasons why the piece can be interpreted as a poem. The simplicity of the poem leaves it wide open for interpretation. Meaning can be found even in the punctuation, as the first line is ended in a semi-colon. Words full of meaning such as apparition, petals, and bough are used. The vagueness and simplicity of the poem itself lends to its literary merit.

The first line of the poem reads “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;” The use of the word apparition is important to note. Apparition gives a ghostly, almost phenomenal feel such that the faces vividly appear into the image. By using the word apparition, the author creates a powerful mental feeling using a simplistic word. The line ends with a semicolon, indicating that the next line will talk about the first line. The use of imagery and diction in this line lends to the proof that the work is in fact a piece of poetry.

The second line of the poem reads “Petals on a wet, black bough”. Here, the author introduces the first positive word: petals. Moreover, the author uses a metaphor to further elaborate on the faces mentioned in line one. The words attributed to the bough are wet and black, painting a vivid image of a flower petal against a branch. The imagery here allows the readers to further interpret what the author saw at the metro. These elements lend evidence to the claim that “In a station of the Metro” is in fact a poem.