Another way in which ‘In a station of the Metro’ portrays features of imagism as presented by Pound is that the poem was originally far longer, Pound’s original piece was 30 words. This exemplifies the principle of using absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation. The use of the word ‘apparition’ at the beginning is interesting. This suggests that maybe Pound has just realised or came to terms with the fact that these faces are in fact right in front of him. This can be seen as a consequence of the nature of urban life, and the lack of feeling a part of the society or civilisation at the time. Pound could have been psychologically isolated from the fact that all these people were around him due to the wider feeling of isolation at the time within society.

In addition, ‘The Garden’ also exemplifies the principles of imagism as presented by Pound, although ‘The Garden’ is a bit more abstract. Pound utilises free verse in this poem and adapts a rather musical sound as opposed to a strict rhyming scheme. Pound highlights class division in this poem as he refers to ‘unkillable infants of the very poor’. There is a focus during this poem on the mood and emotional state of the woman, rather than a narrative. While the focus of the emotional state might not be a principle set out by Pound, it is a feature of the wider Modernist movement within literature at the time, the focus on the mental state of the human. Pound exemplifies the principles of imagism in ‘The Garden’ through the direct treatment of the woman, it is as if we are inside her mind throughout the poem and feeling her sense of loneliness and complex feelings in regard to the society she is living in.

Pound works within his mandate that he should use “no word that does not contribute to the presentation” by utilizing the name of the poem itself as a way to establish setting and a sense of place without encroaching on the main body of text. This makes the main body itself more direct, in line with Pound’s view that imagism should avoid portraying a “second intensity” of perception and emotion and directly address “the thing”. Pound avoids the poem sounding as though it were composed "in sequence of a metronome” by avoiding the typical structure of rhythmic/metric forms such as iambic, trochaic, spondaic metre etc, differing the metre of the poem in an unconventional way while still maintaining a pattern which comes naturally to the tongue. 

The garden: 

The Garden exemplifies imagist (or more broadly modernist) ethos by focusing on the emotional destitution of its main character. While in Kensington Gardens, seemingly a place that is totally public in a city with hundreds of thousands of people around oneself at any time, the woman Pound describes is in a state of “emotional anemia” - experiencing a “boredom (that) is exquisite and excessive”. Despite this, the idea of the poem’s narrator reaching out to her, a presumed stranger, is described as an “indiscretion” that she “is almost afraid” of. A chief concern of modernist art was the idea of alienation – in the aftermath of industrialization, with cities expanding rapidly and becoming a nexus point of employment and housing, people felt lonelier than ever with more people surrounding them than ever before.  

In a station of the metro, Pound utilises simple and succinct language to ensure every word has importance and meaning. This is a common principal of the imagism movement subverting the complex and abstract language used in the 19th century.

One of the most striking elements of this poem is that it is written entirely without verbs. This style catches the moment in time reminiscent of the fleeting coming-and-going of a train in a station.

pound creates a union between the vastly different worlds of urban life and nature's beauty. His juxtaposition of these diverse worlds creates a hauntingly beautiful scene. This relates back to Pound's idea of life as a cyclical process it comes and goes just like life and death highlighting the post-war questioning of life prevalent in imagism.

'The Garden':

'The Garden' exemplifies the emotional destruction society faced following the first world war. He creates this glamorous and affluent image that contrasts with the social landscape of the time.

Placing a character of great wealth in a contrasting natural surrounding of poverty and destruction highlights the effect the first world war had across all members of society despite social class or status.

The precise visual image within the poem, without any decorative language relates back to the subgenre of imagism as it presents a single clear image, every word contributes to the overall image, reinforcing the reality of post-war urban living.

In a Station of the Metro directly presents the image of the faces in the crowd, comparing them to "Petals on a wet black bough". The metaphor captures the fleeting beauty of faces in a crowd, directly treating the subject and avoiding elaborate descriptions. The poem is only two lines, where each word is essential, mostly nouns, even without verbs. Free verse structure is like natural speech. The rhythm is quick, mimicking the sudden scene the poet observes. 

In The Garden, the “direct object” of a real geographically situated garden is accomplished through a layering of images. But they are not birds, buds, or leaves. Instead, the poem only uses words that are essential to present municipal nature in social terms. The three identities of the poem (women, the “rabble” of children and the speaker) do not make direct contact; their separation is reflected in the three poem's stanzas. Konkol (2020) emphasises the very different depictions of crowds of people in the poems: the beauty of faces in In a Station of the Metro and disgust when describing the children as “sturdy, unkillable infants”. It’s a free-verse poem, too, reflecting the natural language, and the rhythms mimic the flow of thought. 

So, both poems illustrate Pound’s three principles of Imagism: direct treatment, precise language, and rhythm as musical phrase. 

In Ezra Pound's poem "The Garden", the poem uses natural imagery to build a multilayered and complex narrative that extends beyond conventional imagist practice. While the poem seems to portray a literal garden, the poem's images, for example air, roses and winds are symbolic and symbolises femininity and the competing social narratives associated with women. These natural objects withstand stereotypical depictions of women as vulnerable and weak and instead emphasizes productivity, strength and endurance. The title of the poem is used sylleptically and carrys multiple meanings. For example the poem can view the garden as a physical landscape, however the garden can also be viewed as the gendered divisions of society. Metaphorically, the poem is viewed both as an independent space of empowerment, where women can grow independence and a man-made and restrictive place that displays patriarchal views of women as sexualized or fragile beings. This poem makes the reader recall the bibical Garden of Eden, as the poem evokes both paradise and oppression, as a result of that, the poem exposes tensions in cultural perceptions of femininity. The juxtaposition of images, for example the rose with overtones of beauty and vitality and wind or heat suggests limitation and struggle and strengthens these polarities. Also, the poem destabilizes fixed ideas of female identity by displaying the image as a contested site of meaning and connects with imagist precision while promoting a critique of gender and social norms (Karabulut, 2022).

Similarly, "The Garden" also follows the principle of removing surplus words. By immediately describing the woman as "a skein," (meaning loosely wrapped threads) the reader promptly understands that the woman seems to be at risk of unravelling. Additionally, the phrase "emotional anemia" provides the reader with great insight into her mood and raises questions of her emotional deficiencies in a mere two words. Meanwhile, the description of the "filthy, sturdy, unkillable infants" is a jarring line which forces both the reader and the woman in the poem to stare directly at the seemingly apocalyptic scene before them. This line deeply complies with Pound's principle of direct treatment of the thing within a poem, as the image consumes the reader's attention.

"The Garden" is another example of Pound's precise use of imagery. While both poems exemplify Imagism, they do it in different ways. “The Garden” expands the form slightly, using Imagist principles to critique social and emotional decay. Imagists tend to treat the subject directly and in "The Garden", Pound introduces us to a wealthy woman walking through Kensington Gardens. He uses a simile “like a skein of loose silk” which is tactile and visual, evoking the fragility and elegance of the women while also defining her emotional state. Pound doesn’t tell the reader how to feel but rather allows his imagery to speak for itself which is the very essence of what the imagism movement was. “The Garden” is only thirteen lines long, yet it conveys a rich narrative of class division, emotional decay, and existential isolation. Phrases like “dying piece-meal / Of a sort of emotional anaemia” are both medically cold and poetically devastating. The term “emotional anaemia” is a clinical metaphor that encapsulates the woman’s spiritual emptiness. Rather than explaining the woman’s condition, Pound presents her in contrast to the “rabble” of poor children: "And round about there is a rabble / Of the filthy, sturdy, unkillable infants of the very poor". The children are described with raw, unfiltered language, “filthy,” “unkillable”, suggesting vitality and resilience. The woman, by contrast, is emotionally sterile and socially isolated. Pound does not moralize; he presents the contrast and lets the reader interpret its implications. Though the poem lacks a fixed meter, its rhythm is deliberate and musical. The line breaks and enjambment guide the reader’s pace and emotional response. Pound’s phrasing “Her boredom is exquisite and excessive” is both lyrical and biting, capturing the paradox of refined despair. 

Similarly in “The garden”, Pounds way of showing imagism is seen clearly within the second line. He gives us an image of the woman that is rather metaphorical but very vivid as if she if very elegant and tactile. There is rather sharp contrasts or juxtaposition in a way that it shows us things such as class tensions as if the beautiful and elegant woman is contrasted with the working class children of that time. The poem is also written in free verse so there is no meter and rhyme but has a very natural rhythm and a sort of musical elegance with the way phrases flow into one another.

Ezra Pounds In a station of the metro is often seen as a pure example of Imagism. By using concrete images the poem is able to capture a complete emotional and intellectual experience. Without any explanation or unnecessary words it presents the 'faces in the crowd' and the 'petals on a wet, black bough. Every word is essential and contributes to the image. Both the transient character of city life and a delicate aesthetic beauty are immediately conveyed by the juxtaposition of faces and flowers. The semi colon and the line break that is used in the poem creates a soft musical flow. The way the poem focuses of image over abstraction emphasizes sensory experience rather than a sense of commentary.

Similarly, Pound's poem "the Garden" uses precise language to produce a garden scene. This can be seen through words like "light", "sky" and "garden" as an immediate mental image is created for readers when they read those words. Following this, Pound doesn't use strict rhyming schemes or meter instead he chose to draw attention to the natural rhythm of language. There is no doubt Pound achieves a tranquil and lyrical rhythm which perfectly mirrors a garden. However, it is important to mention that "the Garden" is only a partly imagist poem as the line "all the garden is a light of the sky" introduces a more abstract, metaphorical idea rather than just a pure immediate image.

"In a Station of the Metro" follows these rule. Its very short even though in his draft it was 30 lines long. It uses very few strong images even if it doesn't tell a story the heading alone draws us into the metro and saying the faces in train station look like flower petals on tree branch. What makes it a good example of imagism is its simple and direct to the thing and uses clear picture instead of using a lot of words.

On the other hand "The Garden" is a longer poem. It describes a women in a garden and talks about rich vs poor. This poem uses feelings and ideas not just imagery but can still add to strong images and stir up feelings and add depth to the images. The Garden partly follows the rules but explores bigger themes.

in his other work "the garden" this poem illustrates the key principles of imagism through its concise presentation of a complex intellectual and emotional state. its direct and uncomplex language, and focus upon a specific, vivid image of the ageing woman in the garden. the poem captures the complex feeling of loss and the experience of time passing into a single focused image "the leaves fall early this autumn, in wind" "over the grass in the west garden;" "the twin butterflies, they hurt me. i grow older" in an instant the poems image becomes strongly imprinted upon the readers psyche, an autumn breeze, blowing the yellow leaves off a tree over the fields of green grass in the west garden, with an old woman saddened by twin butterflies, seemingly paired, causing her to feel her lonliness even more. in this way pound found a way through the distillation of this image, to fully encapsulate the longing of lost love, the feeling of growing older, and a garden in transformation from the youth and life of summer, to autumn, and eventually, to the slow march to the bleak twilight of winter. the precision and simplicity of the poem, the "direct treatment of the thing" in the evocation of such a powerful image are evident throughout, however the musical quality of the poem varies dramatically, sometimes keeping a natural musical rhythm, and a switch to a very strict metronome, which creates a rhythmic flow that mirrors the natural world and highlights the poems immediate impact and lingering impression.

For example, within Pound’s ‘In a station of the metro’ one characteristic of imagism that is present is Pound’s use of simplistic words. Seen when he states, “A knot pulled tight so tight it ceases to be, A knot yes I’ll say it a knot that becomes angelic”. The significance of simplicity is to allow the reader to envision the image in its purest form, a form that is ultimately free from bias and personal opinions. Another point to consider is they way in which pound is writing. During this time there was an emphasis on psychology and the internal monologue. Due to the principles of imagism, such as simplistic language, one could claim that Pound is giving insight into his internal thoughts of such an image.

These features are also evident within Pound’s poem ‘The garden’. Within this poem, the significance of simplistic language and vivid imagery runs deeper than just characteristics. They work together to illustrate a complex issue. For example, Pound states, “and she is dying piecemeal”. Here Pound constructs a simplistic image of a frail emotionless woman who seems to be related to wealth. It is Pounds simplistic language and description that allows the reader to complete the link of comparison between this woman and the “unkillable infants of the very poor”. Creating an analogy of society at the time.