BSc BA ADP English Notes Poem Images and Impressions (i) Autumn (T. E. Hulme) (ii) Fog (Carl Sandburg) (iii) Metro (Ezra Pound) Important Questions

To view other ADP & BA English Poem notes. Please Click Here.

To view Complete ADP & BA English Notes. Please Click Here.

Question No 1. Bring out the literary merits and qualities of the three little poems given under the topic: "Images and Impressions. Or Write the critical appreciation of the poem.

Ans. The three small poems given under the single title "Images and Impressions" include Autumn by T. E. Hulme, Fog by Carl Sandburg and Metro: Paris by Ezra Pound. These are all written by imagist poets in the early 20th century, in revolt against romanticism. These poets are in favor of clarity of expression through the use of exact and precise imagery of the thing. These poets have presented exact "subjective" pictures of the things they describe. Their aim is to promote "visionary" quality among the readers. Autumn presents a graphic picture of an autumn night. The poet observes the moon and the stars. Here he uses two apt and realistic similes. The moon appears as red as a red-faced farmer (as there is no pollution in the place) and the stars seem to be as wistfully twinkling as the white faces of the town children.

The fog in Fog takes the shape of a cat as metaphor. It comes on "little cat feet" and sits on "haunches" silently like a cat "looking/Over the harbor and the city". Later on, it moves away as silently as it had arrived. The image is perfect.

The faces of the crowds of people seen at the platform through the window of the underground railway (Metro: Paris) is given a graphic image. These faces seem to be unreal, as petals on a wet black branch. The simile is again perfect.

So as we have seen, the 2nd poem presents a metaphor whereas the 1st and the 3rd poems presents similes and all of these are exact and precise. There is no wastage of words. The poems may be called as depicting nature (man is also a part of nature) and natural landscape. There is no deep philosophy in them, nor is there any didactive lesson/advice in them.

The poems may be given the name of short lyrics. These are all the three written in free verse, having no rhythm of words (syllables and feet etc.) but rhythm of ideas/thoughts. Vocabulary is simple and mostly monosyllabic in the first two poems and mostly polysyllabic in the third poem. All of them create good visual effect before the mental eyes of the readers.

Questions No 2. Which of the three poems given  under the topic "Images and Impressions" do you like most and why?

Ans. Out of three short poems given under the topic "Images and Impressions", I like "Autumn" most of all. This poem has been written by H. E. Hulme. I like this poem as it presents a graphic picture of an autumn night. The observation of the poet is very keen and precise. He gives evocative images of a "red faced farmer" and "white faces" of the "town-children". The poet has contrasted the unpolluted rural atmosphere with the polluted urban atmosphere.

The poem has two metaphors, two similes and two symbols. The moon and the stars have been personified. Moon is leaning over the hedge with red face and stars are wistful with white faces. Then the moon is red like the red-faced farmer and the stars are white like the town children's white faces. Then the red-faced farmer is the symbol of unpolluted village life and the white-faced children are the symbol of the polluted city life. So the poem has many poetical delicacies.

The vocabulary is simple, evocative and monosyllabic. The theme of the poem is commonplace but it has been turned into something special by the alluring hand of the poet.

Due to all these reasons, I like this poem most of all the three poems given under the title "Images and Impressions".

Question No 3. Read the poems carefully and comment on the art of the imagist poets with reference to their keen observation of their surroundings, physical and social.

Ans. When we read the poems collected under the title of "Images and Impressions", we find one quality that is common. All these are the samples of imagist art. The imagist movements started in poetry in the early 20th century. It was a reaction/revolt against romanticism in poetry that had been much popular during 19th century. The romantics believed in coloring of practical scenes and things with a "coloring of imagination". The imagists, as a revolt, worked for clarity of expressions. They achieved this goal through the use of precise images.

These imagist poets show a keen observation of their surroundings, both physical as well as social, and express the same in clear-cut and exact terms. The poem "Autumn" presents a good example of this art. Physical as well as social observation has been versified in the poem. The moon is red but it is red like a healthy "red-faced" villager. The stars are white but "wistful" and "white" "like town children". The two colors noticed by the poet in moon and stars are physically present but the comparison of colors shows the social observation of the poet. He has observed the clear cut social difference between the "red-faced farmer" and "white faces" of "town-children". So he gives a social simile instead of a drawing-box simile and makes his image perfectly physical as well as social.

The poem "Fog" tells us about the stealthy way in which the fog suddenly hovers over the city, and then suddenly leaves it. "Metro: Paris" tells us about the faces of the under-ground railway passengers that are like "apparitions" and that seem to be "Petals on a wet black bough". It tells us a lot about the social as well as the economic background of the persons travelling on Metro.

Question No 4. Prepare a list of metaphors, similes and symbols used by the poets to give a vivid shape to their vision.

Ans. In the first poem "Autumn", moon and stars have been used as metaphor. These have been personified. The moon is "beaming over a hedge" like a man. The stars are "wistful" and have "white faces". Then in the second poem "Fog", fog is personified as "cat" who "comes/On little ... feet" and "sits looking/Over the harbor and city". It sits "On ... haunches" and, later on, "moves on".

So far as similes are concerned, we find in the first poem "Autumn" the moon ruddy "Like a red-faced farmer." Then we have "white faces" "like town children". Then in the second poem "Fog" fog has the quality of coming and moving on as stealthily as "cat". It also sits "On silent haunches" like a cat. In the third poem "Metro: Paris" the faces of the crowds are like "apparitions" and are also like "Petals on a wet black bought".

So far as symbols are concerned, the "red-faced farmer" in "Autumn" is a symbol of the healthy and unpolluted rural life whereas the "white-faces" of the "town-children" are the symbol of sick and polluted urban life. In "Metro: Paris" "wet black bough" is the symbol of polluted life of the big metropolitan city, Paris.