This poem does not
embody traditional form or even traditional grammar. The impression, the image, is what
Pound expresses, on the supposition that poetry exists in the transference of mood from
the poet to the reader through the creation and apprehension of strong and direct
images. The image of the petals is complex: Are they part of a full blossom? Have they
dropped off the flower? Are they sticking temporarily to the wet bough? Do they suggest
that, even in rain and clouds, some remnants of beauty are still visible in human
experience? If they were petals on a sunny tree they would be positive and less
ambivalent. Another aspect of ambivalence is the word “apparition,” which is usually a
ghostly figure, but which may be simply an unexpected sight. Short as the poem is, it is
still a poem because it works entirely in images, not logical development. It is, in
effect, in the tradition of the Japanese haiku.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
What is a good analysis of this poem?
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