Thursday, February 18, 2016

Ezra Pound vs. John Hamilton

In Ezra Pound’s poem entitled, In a Station of the Metro, he attempts to explain the idea of humanity as seen through the eyes of an observer. Pound’s short, two-lined poem is a rare form that he often doesn’t use. His poems do not stick to a beat or rhythm, but are rather free flowing and a bit random. The poem about the metro is quite shocking. At first, one might notice how short it is. Secondly, they might notice the type of wording Pound uses. Lastly, one might notice how Pound is adamantly quick and to the point.
In Pound’s poem, he talks about the metro; a metro is a large common place where thousands of people travel in and out of everyday. Several thousands of people go through the station without even being noticed. They are simply a punch or stamp on a ticket. These passengers are human beings, important people that mean something to someone. However, being an observer in the metro, these people seem to be useless. Pound uses the strong wording of apparition, which can mean wraith or ghostly being. Insinuating that these people are invisible to everyone around the observer. However, towards the end of the poem, Pound uses the words “wet, black, bough” as a word for the pavement of the metro. The pavement is a building block or foundation of the metro, much like the people of the world are the foundation. Without other believers holding down and building up the body of Christ, the pavement would be empty.
John Hamilton wrote a poem entitled, The Lost Generation, which to me speaks a similar message as Pound’s poem. In Hamilton’s poem, he speaks about the people that are there, but not really there. He says, “You see the blank stare in their eyes, just blank completely non-existent feelings… except for despair.” He attempts to share the feelings of the observer, how he sees them, but they aren’t really there. They are living the motions in their lives, without a phase, moving from point A to point B without a care.

Part of "The Lost Generation" by John Hamilton
The lost generation.

You see the blank stare
in their eyes,

just blank
completely non-existent
feelings...
except for
despair.

You see them
but they are not there.

They dare 
not dream
or
have any hope
as they feel that
their dreams
will not
come true
anyway.


John Derek Hamilton
February 17,2016

Copyright © John Hamilton | Year Posted 2016

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