Unit 5
Lecture
Writing “a response to art” poetry.
This is also another “outward looking” poem because
once again the poet begins by being an observer. Please review Unit 1 on
“writing outside of self” in Unit 2.
Art is defined for the purposes of this class as –
paintings, sculpture, photographs, postcards, poems or other types of written
work, movies, prints or in other words almost anything creative.
The poetic voice structure of the poem can be
varied. Consider the following scenarios:
Let’s begin to think about a painting – in the
painting a woman has taken cover under a tree on a stormy day. Remember the
voice of the poem might not be the poet’s voice, but could be the voice of the
poem. See the last characteristic of this type of poem for when it is
appropriate for the poet to enter the poem.
The poetic voice of the poem can be:
About the Poem Content
The “the response to art” poem can have the
following characteristics which ones you use will depend on the poetic voice:
i.e.
painting terms, sculpting terms, photography terms
i.e.
specific scenes from the movie, maybe the movie title
actors
or characters’ names,
The poet Tino Villanuvea wrote a book of poems
titled “Scene from the Movie Giant.” He writes about one scene in the movie
that affected his life. The 17 poems describe different aspects of the scene in
ways that make it seem like he watched the movie in slow motion, recording
every detail in his memory. The student poem Impression of Darkness
by Jessica Morrow is an example of using a movie to respond to art.
The above characteristics are suggestions for your
poem’s editing process. After you’ve drafted your poem for this unit you’ll
want to go back through to see if the poem fulfills the expectations of the
assignment. This is part of the editing process.
Let’s look at the following example poem by James
Hoggard. Explication will follow.
Of course, I placed him there,
the man at the end of a bench,
his back’s forward roll curving him
into the paper he’s reading
in a pool of spilling light,
the bulb barely in view above him,
and the blur of foliage
fanned around him
is at least as visible as he is,
and as important as he is,
shadow and light being life to me
And as he reads I notice that
his knees and feet triangulate
the pond of light he’s sitting in:
the shape of light conveyed
in much the way that darkness is,
as passive space,
the void between the stars:
a terror to some,
but pleasure to me.
The second example poem is by Dorothy Barnett with
explication to follow.
Tenya Creek, Dogwood, Rain, Yosemite, c.1948
Petaled rain falls against
the creek like torn lace,
rushed down to swim
in eddies between the rocks.
My shutter opens; white
froth freezes in shallow rapids
caressing black trunks.
This poem is one of those read aloud –
explication is included with the reading.
Additional art response example poems
by Clifton Wiles
“An Ed Buffaloe Photograph”
The man and the eye,
out for a wintry look see
where the wind used overdrive
coming off the Llano Estacado
told us of crisp texture
and a violent marriage.
He let the shutter breathe
right where barbed wire and ice
commingled to bar the devil
from staking a claim,
capturing them in barren focus,
awaiting the morrow’s brazen orb
to extend stark empathy
and adjudicate the divorce
of crystal clear alabaster
from its bed of twisted spikes.
Explication:
This poem has the poet as observer – Ed
Buffaloe is a photographer and the poet seems to be watching as the
photographer works – notice the difference in the proceeding poem and this one.
In the proceeding poem the poetic voice “is” the photographer and in the second
poem the poetic voice “watches” the photographer. What are the clues?
Another example poem with explication to follow:
by Dorothy Barnett
Bly’s Dust
(for Robert Bly)
The early morning sun sinks down
to fill my spirit-well.
My thoughts come close,
recede like snow
drifts against the house.
Through the window the old hackberry’s
budshells curl around new yellow-
green potential
that will brood at the
foot
of plants. I have slept
the night.
I will be like that
to last forever.
Explication:
This poem is a response to a poem by the
poet Robert Bly in which he speaks of death and how we will all “brood at the
foot of plants” – turn to dust and become part of a larger world.
Lines taken directly from his poem are
credited to him by the use of italics. The subtitle (for Robert Bly) also is a
way of signaling to the reader that this poem is a response to him or his work.
You will want to always give credit for lines or words taken from some one
else’s work.
Links to other poems that respond to art or connect
to something outside in the student literary journal:
Responding to Art
Ansel Adams Is Not for Me
by Frank Cronin
Responding to Art
Wishful Winter by Blake Moran
Pardon Me, Sir by Christy Popp
This Ordered Scene
by Brian Watson
Vague Memories and Assertion
by Brian Watson
Responding to Art
What Gods Will Take
by Chere Deinlein
Red Cabin – Winter Wood
by Lois Johnson
Impression of Darkness
by Jessica Morrow
Schmerzensmann by Jessica Morrow
For Mrs. Jenkins by Dana Mullaley
Santa Rosa by Dana Mullaley
A Piece of Bone in the Middle of Europe
by Mike Peck
Split World by Jason Wright
Responding to Art
Dying Gaul by Ted Barrow
Car Culture by Thomas Patrick Miller
A Letter to The Beatnik
by Daniel Nichols
Connecting to Art
The Poet by Mark Boyle
Reader’s Response 5
Poem Assignment 5
·
Read the student art response poems in the Rio
Review for examples.
·
Using any of the topics from the free writing
exercises write a response to art poem.
·
Give the poem a title.
·
Make sure the poem is long enough to feel movement
- a beginning, middle and end.
·
Make sure your poem has the elements of a response
to art poem as defined in the section – About the poem content.