Yuki no hana verb question

[bigred]

The first line of the song Yuki no hana is:
のびた人陰を舗道に並べ

A translation that I've seen is "As the shadows grow side by side on the pavement." My question is the verb, which I understand to be in the imperative form (narabe). Why would the imperative form be used here? Wouldn't that be ordering someone to line up the shadows on the pavement? That would make no sense, so I'm curious as to whether this verbal form has another usage other than the imperative.

Thanks.

[QuackingShoe]

s'not 並ぶ in imperative, it's 並べる in stem. Note that を is used, and that 並ぶ is intransitive, while 並べる is transitive.

[bigred]

QuackingShoe,

I appreciate your help. I think what I struggle to see is why this uses a transitive verb because the subject isn't made explicit (at least to me as a native English speaker). What I've done is to translate the line by inserting a subject, "We line up/stretch out our shadows on the pavement." Since the rest of the verse is from the perspective of the singer and her beloved, this seems to work in terms of finding a subject for the verb.

Thanks again.