Final answer:
Ezra Pound's exclusion of the phrase 'are like' in favor of a semicolon converts a simile into a metaphor, imparting a more intrinsic relation between compared elements and a stronger image. This technique adheres to modernist principles of distilled, potent poetic expression and impacts the poem's tone and reader's experience.
Step-by-step explanation:
By choosing to exclude the phrase 'are like' in favor of a semicolon, Ezra Pound transforms a simile into a metaphor within his poetry. This stylistic choice serves to create a more immediate, direct comparison, suggesting a stronger and more integral relationship between the two elements being compared.
Rather than merely likening one thing to another with 'like' or 'as', the metaphor created by the semicolon implies that one thing is the other in some significant or symbolic way.
Through this more assertive figurative language, Pound creates a vivid image and possibly induces a more visceral response in the reader, as the comparison is understood to be more intrinsic rather than a simple resemblance.
The advice from poets like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams to remove superfluous words aims to increase the density and potency of poetic expression. In doing so, every word and piece of punctuation—or its absence—carries weight and meaning.
The absence of words like 'are like' not just cuts down on unnecessary language but also enhances the artistic and interpretative quality of a poem. By so doing, it aligns with the modernist sentiment of distilling language to its most effective essence, which in turn affects the pacing, the tone, and the overall reading experience of the poem.