Ekphrastic
What is an ekphrastic poem?
An ekphrastic poem is one inspired by visual art. It can be revisionist in the story told by the painting or other form of visual art. It can speak to the artist, or as a persona of something within the piece of art. The poem should be more than merely a description of the art; instead, the poem should speak to--or speak for--the art.
Sample ekphrastic poem
Timothy O’Sullivan, Photographer
BY JOHN SPAULDING
He could have stayed in the city,
photographed the cheese and oyster boys after the war,
opal-colored orphans or ladies of unfortunate standing,
back when tall buildings still believed in America,
back when concrete was still a thing of splendor.
Instead he went West to rehabilitate his grief.
Always the white sky.
Always the dark figures lost in an immense world
full of danger and disaster, starvation and storms
of mosquitoes thick enough to snuff out candles.
Provisions lost in a blazing sun that watched
constantly. Twice hit by shell fragments,
once by tuberculosis.
Dead at 42.
The fortunate thing about his camera
was its ability to stray--
to put things in that didn’t belong,
like footprints in the sand.
Here is the photographer and his party
exploring the great canyons of the West
while their clothes dry on the line.
John Spaulding, “Timothy O’Sullivan, Photographer” from The White Train. Copyright © 2004 by John Spaulding. Reprinted by permission of Louisiana State University Press.
BY JOHN SPAULDING
He could have stayed in the city,
photographed the cheese and oyster boys after the war,
opal-colored orphans or ladies of unfortunate standing,
back when tall buildings still believed in America,
back when concrete was still a thing of splendor.
Instead he went West to rehabilitate his grief.
Always the white sky.
Always the dark figures lost in an immense world
full of danger and disaster, starvation and storms
of mosquitoes thick enough to snuff out candles.
Provisions lost in a blazing sun that watched
constantly. Twice hit by shell fragments,
once by tuberculosis.
Dead at 42.
The fortunate thing about his camera
was its ability to stray--
to put things in that didn’t belong,
like footprints in the sand.
Here is the photographer and his party
exploring the great canyons of the West
while their clothes dry on the line.
John Spaulding, “Timothy O’Sullivan, Photographer” from The White Train. Copyright © 2004 by John Spaulding. Reprinted by permission of Louisiana State University Press.
Understanding the poems:
For these two poems, I was inspired by the three pieces of art shown below. I was thoroughly intrigued by the works, although they were absolutely in a darker "trigger town" than my "home town". However, after extensive study of these images, I decided that I wanted to touch on two closely related topics: the ability/inability of a picture to tell a story and the importance of outward appearance (like in a picture). For the first poem, I worked off of the notion that these works looked as though they were pictures of women (or one woman) from decades ago who, like everyone, had a story. However, with her eyes blacked out in each picture (from crumbling, burns, folds, lines, etc.), it is difficult to even grasp her disposition from this photo. Therefore, I wanted to present a poem in which the reader asks the artist of his intentions with the portraits. For the second poem, I explored the topic of aging, and the story of "The Picture of Dorian Gray". I was hoping to convey the idea of aging beyond recognition and being angered by this thought.
Dyed
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Grayscale
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