I had was on the phone last night, and +inter alia+, something strange
emerged with regard to interpretations of Williams' "This is Just to Say"
and Pound's "In a Station of the Metro".
I'd always (and it never occured to me there was any other way of reading)
taken the Williams poem as describing a guest's note of apology to a host,
and the "petals" of Pound's Metro as petals blown off a blossom and
sticking to a black branch.
My interlocutor (equally unquestioningly) had taken the Williams poem as a
husband's aplogy to his wife, and the petals in Metro as flowers blooming
on a branch.
Any comments (either personal, or in reference to published criticism of
these two poems) would be appreciated.
Robin Hamilton
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|