Poetry a conversation between poetry and art Sources Corn Alfred Notes on Ekphrasis The American Academy of Poetry Ekphrasis Poetry Foundation Morrison Valerie ID: 342766
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Slide1
Ekphrastic Poetry
a conversation between poetry and art
Sources:
Corn, Alfred. “Notes on
Ekphrasis
.”
The American Academy of Poetry.
“
Ekphrasis
.”
Poetry Foundation.
Morrison, Valerie. “
Ekphrastic
Poetry.”
University of Georgia English Department.
Norcross, Christina M. “
Ekphrastic
Poetry.”
“Perspectives in Writing
Ekphrastic
Poetry.”
ReadWriteThink
.
Smithsonian American Art MuseumSlide2
Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh (1889)
“Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)”
Don McLean (1976)Slide3
Ekphrastic Poetry Definitions
Ekphrasis
(Etymology)
ek
:
“out of”
phrasis
:
“
speech
or expression”
Ekphrastic
Poetry
(Definition)
A poem inspired by a work of art
Ekphrastic
Poetry
(Explanation)
It is a
vivid
description of a work of art.
The poet interprets the art and then creates a narrative that represents his or her reaction to it.
Simply put, it is a conversation between poetry and art.Slide4
Examples of Ekphrastic PoetrySlide5
"The Starry Night"
Anne Sexton (1961)The town does not exist except where one black-haired tree slips
up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.
The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars.
Oh starry
starry
night! This is how
I want to die.
It moves. They are all alive. Even the moon bulges in its orange irons to push children, like a god, from its eye. The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars. Oh starry starry night! This is how I want to die:into that rushing beast of the night, sucked up by that great dragon, to split from my life with no flag, no belly, no cry.
Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh (1889)Slide6
“Edgar Degas: The Millinery Shop”
(excerpt) Adam Zagajewski
(1994)
Hats are innocent, bathed in the soft light
which smoothes the contours of objects.
A girl is working.
But where are brooks? Groves?
Where is the sensual laughter of nymphs?
The world is hungry and one daywill invade this tranquil room.The Millinery ShopEdgar Degas (1890)Slide7
“Edward Hopper and the House by the Railroad" (excerpt)
Edward Hirsch (1995)Out here in the exact middle of the day,
This strange, gawky house has the expression
Of someone being stared at, someone holding
His breath underwater, hushed and expectant;
This house is ashamed of itself, ashamed
Of its fantastic mansard rooftop
And its pseudo-Gothic porch, ashamed
of its shoulders and large, awkward hands. But the man behind the easel is relentless. He is as brutal as sunlight, and believes The house must have done something horrible To the people who once lived here Because now it is so desperately empty, It must have done something to the sky Because the sky, too, is utterly vacant And devoid of meaning.
House by the RailroadEdward Hopper (1925)Slide8
“American Gothic" (excerpt)
John Stone (1998)Just outside the frame there has to be a dog
chickens, cows and hay
and a smokehouse
where a ham in hickory
is also being preserved
Here for all time
the borders of the Gothic window
anticipate the ribs of the house the tines of the pitchfork repeat the triumph of his overalls and front and center the long faces, the sober lipsAmerican Gothic
Grant Wood (1930)Slide9
Image: Choose a well-known work of art
Art photography is also acceptableThink museum quality artworkCaption required: Title of piece (italics). Name of artist. Year
.
Poem:
10 line minimum
No requirements regarding rhyme, meter, or form
Title your poem
Format:
Include both image and typed poem on same pageOption 1: Image at top of page, poem belowOption 2: Image on left of page, poem on the rightPrint in colorHomework:
Write an
Ekphrastic
Poem
DUE:
Wed. 4/9Slide10
Ekphrastic Poetry: Approaches
Consider the following suggestions when writing your poem:
Write about the scene being depicted in the artwork
Write about your experience of looking at the art
Write in the voice of a person or object shown
Write in the voice of the artist
Speculate about why the artist created this work
Write a dialogue among characters in a work of art
Speak directly to the artist or the subject(s) of the pieceImagine a story behind what you seeRelate the art to something else it reminds you ofImagine what was happening while the artist was creating the piece