A words worth

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many pictures is a word's worth?

In a Station of the Metro, Ezra Pound’s entire poem consists of his emphasis on a particular moment. So rare and precious was his reaction towards this moment that he had to capture it. In doing so, Pound did not elaborate, and use flowery language, but instead he wrote a short and concise poem. By enhancing this moment into what it was, a brief instant, Pound comes across as very effective. Pound further enhances his feelings and thoughts in relation towards this instance by his use of a single metaphor; the comparison of an unusual sight in the midst of normality. The photo of the wet branch demonstrates this normality; it is a natural sight that we take for given. Just as the use of the metro is a given, there is nothing special about it. Meanwhile, the second photo of a crowded branch of blossoms, demonstrates the beauty that lies within this given normality. Just as these faces lie within a massive crowd. This beauty exists; we just have to look for it.

Pound has created this imagery of contrast, the unusual against the normal, light versus dark, faces within a crowd, and petals to a branch. All of these comparisons can be seen through the use of these photos in some extent or another. Yet, his basic representation of the contrast of angelic faces within a dark dense and massive crowd is more abstract in relation towards his realistic comparison of small, light, and airy petals against a thick, wet, and dark branch. At first glance these images provided enhance the visual representation of the poem physically, and after much thought symbolically. Yet they lack a complete justification of Pound’s thoughts and emotions. While, Pound clearly communicates his ideas, his feelings are more abstract. The uses of these photos to enhance the text are limited because each image generates a variety of different responses from every person. A particular image may not be as meaningful to one person as to the next. There are an array of possibilities. And these possibilities complicate the essential idea that Pound may be trying to get across. For instance, maybe the branches represent seasons, growth, life, or nature. But Pound may be only implying the contrast of a beautiful sight and nothing more. There is no guarantee, that the responses we give in seeing a photograph actually help clarify the poet’s ideas.