Ekphrastic PoetryLesson 6

ekphrasis. n.

“Composed from the Greek words ek (out) and phrazein (tell, declare, pronounce), ekphrasis originally meant ‘telling in full.’ . . . [I]t was [later] made to designate the description of visual art.”

- James A. W Hefferman

Ekphrastic Poetry can be…

From the point of view of the poet looking at the artworkFrom the point of view of the subjects in the artworkDescribing what’s happening in the artworkDescribing what the artwork makes you recall in your own life

Rindby Catherine A. Callaghan (1999)

The criticresolves her sonnetsinto empty feet.

The bossrejects proposalshe has barely skimmed.

The husbandcompares her pilafto swill for hogs.

The gasshe hopes will kill herleaks away.

The analyst unpeels her till she disappears.

http://www.puddinghouse.com/ekphrastic.htmArt by M.C. Escher

Background• Poets and painters sometimes turn to one

another for inspiration, and the dialogue has been mutually beneficial. Painters and illustrators have often been inspired by literature, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

• Between 1760 and 1900 there existed around 2,300 paintings based on Shakespeare's plays alone.

• Writers turn as well to paintings for their inspiration. This is called ekphrastic poetry.

Questions to ask:• Is the poem simply an objective verbal

description of the work of art, or does the poet make conclusions about what the painting means?

• Could you reconstruct the painting from the

poem without actually seeing it?

• Why does the poet dwell on some features of the painting and ignore other aspects of the picture?

• Do you agree with the meaning the poet

"reads" in the painting, or do you think the writer misreads it or warps the scene depicted to personal ends?

Candle HatBy Billy Collins

In most self-portraits it is the face that dominates: Cezanne is a pair of eyes swimming in brushstrokes, Van Gogh stares out of a halo of swirling darkness, Rembrandt looks relieved as if he were taking a breather from painting The Blinding of Sampson.

But in this one Goya stands well back from the mirror and is seen posed in the clutter of his studio addressing a canvas tilted back on a tall easel.

He appears to be smiling out at us as if he knew we would be amused by the extraordinary hat on his head which is fitted around the brim with candle holders, a device that allowed him to work into the night.

You can only wonder what it would be like to be wearing such a chandelier on your head as if you were a walking dining room or concert hall.

But once you see this hat there is no need to read any biography of Goya or to memorize his dates.

To understand Goya you only have to imagine him lighting the candles one by one, then placing the hat on his head, ready for a night of work.

Imagine him surprising his wife with his new invention, the laughing like a birthday cake when she saw the glow.

Imagine him flickering through the rooms of his house with all the shadows flying across the walls.

Imagine a lost traveler knocking on his door one dark night in the hill country of Spain. "Come in, " he would say, "I was just painting myself," as he stood in the doorway holding up the wand of a brush, illuminated in the blaze of his famous candle hat.

Pieter Bruegel. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. c. 1558http://www.people.virginia.edu/~djr4r/icarus.html

WRITING EXERCISE!Ekphrastic Poem

Try writing your own ekphrastic poem. You may choose one of the following paintings to base your own poem off of, or find your own artwork.

Make your poem stronger by including:

• Imagery• Personification• Simile/and or Metaphor

Stag at Sharkey’s.George Bellows.1909. Oil on canvas

NighthawksEdward Hopper. 1942. Oil on canvas

La classe de danse (The Dancing class) Edgar Degas, c. 1873-75; Oil on canvas

Ice Box

Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987). 1961. Oil, ink, and graphite on canvas

Girl at MirrorNorman Rockwell, 1954. Oil on Canvas

HomeworkAdd images to your prezi (ideas below)

Picture of poetImage of where they livedImage of one of their worksPicture(s) related to themePicture(s) related to imagery in poemIf your poem is an ekphrastic one, include art work based on

Citations pageCite where you got biography informationCite your poemCite any pages that helped you with content (yahoo, sparknotes, ANYTHING)