3. Character
States of Mind
On this page are two sample essays on radical psyhological and pereptual changes. The first is on a poem by Ezra Pound (“Stations”) and the second compares Pound’s poem to a song by Cream (“Tales of Brave Ulysses”).
"Station"
In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in a crowd;
Petals on a wet black bough.
Sample Essay
The Cognition of Beauty
Ezra Pound packs a great deal into his famous two-line poem, “In a Station of the Metro.” While the poem is only two lines, one must take into account the title as well, since the imagery of faces and petals contrast with the industrial setting mentioned in the title. The generic nature of the location doesn’t make the reader think about a particular location (the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower) but about characteristics shared by all metros: technology, noise, crowds, people waiting, cars roaring in and out of the station, sudden gusts of air, etc. By contrasting the mechanical station with the living faces and petals, Pound invites us to put ourselves into a mindframe in which we can appreciate the beauty around us. His contrast of industrial and natural spaces encourages us to make our cognition of the world an aesthetic one.
Pound creates a contrast by suggesting that the station is a mechanical thing while the faces and petals are natural and even magical things. The difference between the station and the people is highlighted by the word “apparition.” This is not a word used for the perception of ordinary things, whether they are static (like a sign reading “Concorde”) or dynamic (such as a car rolling into a station). Rather, “apparition” is a term used for the sighting of a spirit, ghost, or supernatural being. Such a perception lies outside normal human cognition. Yet Pound isn’t using it to make us believe in ghosts or mythic scenarios. Rather he’s subtly urging us to change our frame of mind so that we see as an artist or poet might. He suggests that we see the petal-like faces as entities that might fire our imaginations in an emotional, aesthetic, artistic way.
Another possibility suggested by the petals is a similarity between the station and the people. Just as the station is one entity composed of many elements, so the people in the crowd are one entity. The mechanical world of the station might even be seen as a living, breathing entity: the station is the root and the trunk and the black boughs, out of which sprout people with petal faces. In this case, the ‘lower’ physical and the ‘higher’ emotional levels become blended on the aesthetic level, that is, in the perception of the petals and their beauty. The petals are neither mechanical nor human, and can therefore serve as an aesthetic medium connecting the inert to the living. Perhaps Pound is suggesting that if we can mentally transform anonymous faces into petals, we may be able to transform a subway station into a place of beauty.
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Comparative Essays
In comparing texts, try to find some common feature, whether it’s stylistic or thematic. For example, both Hamlet and Macbeth explore the highest form of betrayal: a subject killing someone who is both a friend and a king. Then see how and why the texts work differently. In Hamlet the betrayal is more intimate, since the murderer betrayed his own brother (who is also Hamlet’s father), and since the murderer also insinuates himself into Hamlet’s private life, going so far as to spy into his romantic relation with Ophelia. This gives Shakespeare a chance to explore the psychology of a character who is traumatized by the death of his beloved father, the re-marriage of his mother, the treachery of his uncle, and the destruction of his romantic relationship. In Macbeth on the other hand, the person betrayed is a king who may be a friend yet who isn’t as intimately connected to the protagonist. Yet the murderer in this case is the portagonist. This gives Shakespeare the chance to explore the psychology of a killer: his motive, his guilt, and the destruction of his soul.
"Station" and "Tales"
Here's a sample essay comparing Pound’s short poem, “In a Station of the Metro” to Cream’s lyric, “Tales of Brave Ulysses.” I've put in bold the thesis statement and topic sentences.
The Doors of Perception
“Station” is like a snapshot stopping the moving world to focus on beauty, while “Tales” is like a video taking us from this earth to far-off realms of sky, sea, and myth. Both poems use abrupt, puzzling shifts in setting and psychological states, yet “Station” encourages a grounded, positive shift in perception while “Tales” hints at the dangers of not keeping one’s feet on the ground.
The shifts in both texts are abrupt and illogical, yet they make sense on visual and emotional levels. In “Station” the poet shifts quickly from faces to petals, which are both oval and both stand out from their backgrounds. The mechanical world of the station might be seen as a living, breathing entity—a bough of people with petal faces. The word “apparition” is usually reserved for ghost sightings, yet here it urges us to see the ordinary world with a heightened sense of mystery. “Tales” also contains a sudden shift—from a “leaden winter” to a world where nature is alive with colour and light: the singer takes a steamer “to the violence of the sun” and to “the colours of the sea.” On the surface this is illogical, yet it makes sense that he would yearn for sun if he’s stuck in a grey, “leaden” winter. To escape his boredom or depression, he needs a radical departure, something that will rip him—almost violently—from the ordinary. The agent of this ripping may be drugs, yet it may also be the fantasy of living the type of dangerous, sensual life lead by Ulysses. The Greek hero is perhaps the epitome of adventure: he won the Trojan War, made love to goddesses, battled monsters, endured the excruciating song of the sirens, and became Western culture’s most famous traveller.
The imaginative leap in “Tales” is mythic and dangerous, whereas the leap in “Station” is aesthetic and life-affirming. Although the singer wants to take Aphrodite (the goddess of love) back with him to “the hard land of the winter,” she is at best an impossible fantasy, and at worst, a mortal danger. When she drowns him “in her body” this may indicate either good sex or depression and death -- perhaps the type of gruesome death promised by the mythical “sirens sweetly singing.” Or, if the poem’s about drugs, this could indicate overdose. When she carves “deep blue ripples in the tissues” of his mind this may mean he’s enjoying deep pleasure or that she’s slicing him up, driving him crazy. Either way, the promise of a colourful escape into the world of sensuality and myth turns negative.
By contrast, Pound keeps his readers in the real world so that they can find beauty in the here and now. Neither mechanical nor human, the petals become an aesthetic medium connecting the inert station to the sentient commuters. While Pound writes his poem in 1920 Paris, he avoids any overt reference to love the City of Love. And while Pound was in fact a Classical Greek scholar, he avoids Greek myth completely. His aim is aesthetic, the love of beauty, not the exploration of myth or romance. He blends the physical and the emotional in the aesthetic, suggesting that if we can transform anonymous faces into petals, we may be able to transform a subway station into a place of beauty. His poem stops us in our tracks, and gets us to smell the roses. “Tales” on the other hand offers a larger canvas containing love and myth, yet also a subtle warning about the danger of shifting too precipitously into a world of fantasy.
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Outlines
A good outline can be very helpful. It allows you to see at a glance how the different parts of your argument fit together. A scratch outline contains 1) a thesis statement and 2) topic sentences. A full outline contains 1) a thesis statement, 2) topic sentences, and 3) point form lists beneath each topic sentence (these lists contain—in abbreviated form—the specific proof you will use to support your arguments).
Scratch Outline
Both poems use abrupt, puzzling shifts in setting and psychological states, yet “Station” encourages a grounded, positive shift in perception while “Tales” hints at the dangers of not keeping one’s feet on the ground.
The shifts in both texts are abrupt and illogical, yet they make sense on visual and emotional levels.
The imaginative leap in “Tales” is mythic and dangerous, whereas the leap in “Station” is aesthetic and life-affirming.
By contrast, Pound keeps his readers in the real world so that they can find beauty in the here and now.
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Next: Insanity: “The Tell-Tale Heart”