Introduction
Poetry is a majestic genre of literature, which can transform anything into beautiful rhyming lines of text. According to some definitions, poetry is an ancient subject since it is the primary source of all languages. It evokes imagination, making the reader build an emotional connection to the writing through rhythm, sound, and vocabulary. This essay will compare and contrast two poetic works by different authors: Rainer Maria Rilke’s The panther’ and Ezra Pound’s ‘In a station of the Metro ‘.
Main body
In ‘The panther’ written by Rainer Maria Rilke, the theme of Nature and its clash with the world of civilization can be seen as early as in the poem’s title. Rilke treats the panther as a device to portray the difference between ‘civil’ and ‘savage’ and whether there is a difference. The author’s communication and Nature occur through the ferocious beast’s image, the panther, which also contrasts with the human world. Through the depiction of a wild animal, the author showcases how Nature feels in human hands and who is more barbaric – the beast, or the human, who subdued it. The message is in the despair of Nature, which exists in captivity and cannot be relieved from humans worldwide. The speaker is distant from the cage, yet he is present as an unseen ghost, a voice that narrates the panther’s feelings of despair. The structure is simple, yet it conveys strong emotional and philosophical content. The poem showcases one short episode, a moment of the majestic creature’s suffering, yet the reader can feel more than that. The animal can be interpreted as many things, including freedom as a concept and as Nature. It presents the reader with the serious question of whether the beast is savage or whether the humans who brought the animal to the verge are.
The theme of ‘caging’ nature is relevant today since humanity destroys it by cutting precious forests, killing wildlife, and poisoning the air. Through the poem, I felt that society is the most harmful creature on Earth, the most savage one. However, the reader cannot learn about the speaker’s perception since he raises the question and he observes on the side, unseen. The speaker follows the struggles of the wild beast, which reveals a part of his philosophical perspective. People tend to cage all that is ‘dangerous’ to them, and tend to destroy and murder without trying to understand. It evokes awareness, empathy for the panther, and fear for the future of humanity. Narratively, the reader observes the moment of despair, the movement of the beast in the cage. Yet, the poem implicit the story of society, which cages everything it deems ‘dangerous’. For example, as people cultivate nature, they contain exotic animals for display, cages, other humans, for different appearances or opinions. The poignant moment for the panther can be interpreted in many ways.
The poem’s ending only manages to bring more feelings of despair and the unavoidable fate that rules over the panther. Moreover, it makes the question of whether the animal is dangerous or whether humans are more vivid. The poem does not answer this question, but it implies that the people are cruel beasts that like taking freedom away and hurting nature. It is unknown how much time had passed throughout the poem; it could have been minutes, hours, or days. The time is blurred to showcase the hopelessness and misery of the wild beast that lives in the cage forever and will be living there forevermore. The usage of different details of the poem enhances the idea since metaphors and images only provide more perspective to the reader and grant them the ability to feel anguish more realistically.
In the haiku-like poem of Ezra Pound, ‘In a station of the Metro ‘, nature communicates with the speaker through the technique called ‘imagism’. Therefore, the subway station’s images are imagined as a wet tree branch, which transforms the view of a common thing in the head of the reader. Nature communicates to the poet in the most unusual place, which is why the contrasting transition seems so magnificent. The message is in the drastic difference between the two realms: the natural world and the civilized urban surrounding. Moreover, by putting those concepts in such proximity, the poet highlighted the contrast and the similarity between the two worlds. The speaker is also the spectator, which means that the reader reviews everything from his perspective. It seems as if the author is missing nature, which is why he observes it in the usually bustling area of the city. The poem’s structure is similar to the Japanese haiku, which enhances the message and gives more space for the imagination of the reader. The ghostly, blurred figures of the people in the crowd might suggest that by rushing, people’s faces become identical to the other, which is similar to nature and the tree branch. Nature is a priority for the author since he sees it everywhere.
I connected with the poem since I often see bustling places and humans faceless to me. They become the swarm of insects, the petals on the wet branch. It feels almost as if I am in nature, relaxing and reflecting on my past experiences. The topic is relevant because humans destroy the Earth, and the city environment becomes natural to everyone. The faceless humans become petals on the wet tree, the hive, the flock of hummingbirds. Instead of preserving nature, humanity replaces it with something contrasting to repent for the loss. Both poems have feelings of hopelessness and caged nature in common. The speaker reveals that by observing humans and their behavior in the ‘wild’, one can see the similarities between them and nature, the forests, the fields with the animals in them. The green life shifts and becomes less apparent than industrial life, which evokes feelings of sadness. Although there is no deliberate story in the poem, but rather an observation, the implicit stories can be whatever the reader imagines. The interpretation can change, which is the benefit of the haiku genre.
The poem had no obvious questions, which is why it did not have any answers. It presented a mere observation, a feeling, a glimpse of the author’s reality and imagery. Similar to the previous poem, ‘In a station of the Metro’ does not tell how much time has passed. It could be seconds, minutes, hours, or even years since it is not apparent that the speaker is human. Time passes quickly; since humanity is always in a rush, their faces become blurred and alike. Furthermore, when they become faceless – time stops, and the author presents the reader with his imagination, offers a deliberate metaphor, and relates it to the universal idea of time, the destruction of nature, loneliness, and other feelings incorporated in the poem.
Conclusion
To conclude, poetry is the world of imagery, vivid metaphors, and diverse life experiences. While ‘The panther’ showcases the urge of humanity to cage everything that can be deemed dangerous, which poses the question of whether they are as civil as they imply. The message of ‘In a station of the Metro’ can be interpreted in a plethora of ways. Both describe nature at their core, but at the same time, both poems hit the reader by different means, which is a beautiful thing poetry does.
References
Pound, E., & Gunn, T. (2005). Ezra Pound: poems. Faber.
Rilke, R. (2021). Letters to a young poet. Dover Pubns.