Colloquial poetry is to the real art as the barber’s wax dummy is to sculpture.

Pound is drawing a sharp distinction between what he considers genuine poetic craft and a merely surface-level imitation of it. “Colloquial poetry” here suggests verse that relies on casual speech and easy familiarity as a substitute for formal invention, precision, and artistic discipline. By comparing it to a barber’s wax dummy—an object meant to resemble a human head for display or practice—he implies it may look plausibly “real” at a glance but lacks the depth, vitality, and intentional shaping of sculpture. The remark fits Pound’s broader polemical stance: poetry should be made, not merely spoken, and should aspire to the rigor and permanence of the other arts.