Sometimes the artists simply illustrate the narrative, while others try to get a little deeper and attempt to evoke a similar emotional reaction from the viewer that the poem elicits.
For your consideration:
The opening stanza in one of Robert Herrick's(1591-1674) more famous poems,
"To the Virgins, toMake Much of Time"
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
Here are two of John William Waterhouse's paintings based on Herrick's work.
Successful? Less Successful? How come?
Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May 1908
John William Waterhouse
Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May 1909
John William Waterhouse
2 comments:
When I first became acquainted with Marsden Hartley’s work, it was his poetry rather than his paintings that attracted my attention. Every other year I teach a course at Bates called “Reading the Watershed.” In it I use the concept of bio-regionalism as a way of approaching literature and I explore with students some of the stories and poems of our home watershed of the Androscoggin. Hartley’s 1940 collection of poems, Androscoggin, seemed a natural choice for the course syllabus. His poem “Lewiston is a Pleasant Place” in that collection strikes me as a particularly compelling example of the capacity of our childhood encounter with place to shape a lasting sense of a home landscape, something we carry with us into adulthood, often experiencing it with increased emotion as the years go by.
Sarah Strong
This is an interesting blog. I'm glad that someone has decided to write about it. I actually have found that this is a very helpful way to create a new piece of art. Getting inspiration from poetry is a wonderful way to create and learn. Poetry in itself is very deep, turning it into art, is genius. I feel that if you are creating a piece of art based on a poem, its smart to add part of the poem ( the part that depicts your art work the greatest) and insert it into your piece somewhere, in words. I feel it makes your work stand out and really gets the viewer thinking. But all in all, yes, poetry is deffinatley inspiring.
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