Question

Read “In a Station of the Metro,” by Ezra Pound. The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough. Which best describes the metaphor conveyed in the poem? The city environment destroys all beauty. Water cleanses the dirty metro station. There is natural beauty in a city environment. The crowd is made up of many different faces.

Answer 1

‘In a Station of the Metro’, written by Ezra Pound in 1913, is an Imagist poem. In these two lines, Pound´s intention may be interpreted as there is natural beauty in a city environment. (Answer 3)

The speaker who is at a station of Paris Metro underground gets the image that the faces of people are like the petals hanging on the ‘wet, black bough’ of a tree.This central image of the faces as petals is clear and simple It draws together the urban with the natural world making nature the one who embellishes cities.

Answer 2

Option C

Step-by-step explanation:

A metaphor designates identification of one thing with another with which is not literally identifiable. The comparison of "faces in the crowd" in a metro station with "petals on a wet, black bough" at first glance seems to have no relation. However, the underground image ressembles a beautiful view of nature for the speaker. This image might remind him of the flowers of a quiet and nice place in the country side. Accordingly, it is possible to be said that there is natural beauty in a city environment. A complex task when reading poetry is to make multiple associations to find meaning.