CHAPTER

25
Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
WRITING ABOUT POEMS AND PAINTINGS
Are there, one may ask, significant correspondences among the arts? If we talk abot rhythm in a
painting, are we talking abot a !ality similar to rhythm in a poem? Are the painter"s colors comparable
to the poet"s images? #oes it make sense to say, as $oethe %&'()*&+,2- said, that architectre is fro.en
msic? /r to call architectre 0msic in space1? 2any artists of one sort ha3e felt that their abilities
ought to enable them to mo3e into a 0sister art,1 and they ha3e tried their hand at something otside their
specialty, sally with no great sccess4 %5illiam 6lake, represented in this book by se3eral poems and
pictres, is often said to be the only figre in 7nglish arts who is significant both as a poet and as a
painter4- 8or instance, the painter 7dgar #egas %&+,(*&)&'- tried to write sonnets, bt cold not satisfy
e3en himself4 5hen he complained to his friend, the poet 9t:phane 2allarm:, that he coldn"t write
poems e3en thogh he had plenty of ideas, 2allarm: replied, 0;o don"t write poems with ideas< yo
write them with words41
Painters ha3e been mo3ed, for many centries, to illstrate te=ts4 2ore than two thosand years ago
the painters of $reek 3ases illstrated the $reek myths, and from the 2iddle Ages onward artists ha3e
illstrated the 6ible4 >on3ersely, poets ha3e been mo3ed to write abot paintings or sclptres4 In this
chapter we reprint se3eral poems abot paintings by 6reghel, 3an $ogh, and others4
#espite 2allarm:"s witty remark that poems are made not with ideas bt with words %and despite
Archibald 2ac?eish"s assertion, on page ))+, that 0A poem shold not mean@6t be1-, of corse poems
se ideas, and of corse they ha3e meanings4 5hen yo read the poems that we print along with paintings,
yo might think abot some of the following !estions:
A B5hat is yor own first response to the painting? In interpreting the painting, consider the sbCect
matter, the composition %for instance, balanced masses, as opposed to an apparent lack of
e!ilibrim-, the techni!e %for instance, 3igoros brshstrokes of thick paint, as opposed to thinly
applied strokes that lea3e no trace of the artist"s hand-, the color, and the title4
A BDow that yo ha3e read the poem, do yo see the painting in a somewhat different way?
A BTo what e=tent does the poem illstrate the painting, and to what e=tent does it depart from the
painting and make a 3ery different statement?
A B6eyond the sbCect matter, what %if anything- do the two works ha3e in common?
A 9ample 9tdent 7ssay
/n page )E, read %preferably alod- Anne 9e=ton"s 0The 9tarry Dight,1 which was inspired by 3an
$ogh"s painting of the same name4 Then read the following essay4
5ashington &
Tina 5ashington
Professor 9erno
7nglish &E$
&2 Do3ember 2EE5
Two 5ays of ?ooking at a 9tarry Dight
Abot a hndred years ago Vincent 3an $ogh looked p into the sky at night and painted
what he saw, or what he felt4 5e know that he was a 3ery religios man, bt e3en if we had
not heard this in an art corse or read it in a book we wold know it from his painting The
9tarry Dight, which shows a glorios hea3en, with stars so bright that they all ha3e halos4
8rthermore, almost in the lower center of the pictre is a chrch, with its steeple rising abo3e
the hills and pointing to the hea3ens4
Anne 9e=tonFs poem is abot this painting, and also %we know from the line she !otes abo3e the
poem- abot 3an $oghFs religios 3ision of the stars4 6t her poem is not abot the hea3enly
comfort that the starry night offered 3an $ogh4 It is a poem abot her wish to die4 As I
nderstand the poem, she wants to die in a bla.e of light, and to become e=tinct4 9he says,
5ashington 2
in the last line of the poem, that she wants to disappear with Gno cryG %)E,-, bt this seems to
me to be 3ery different from anything 3an $ogh is saying4 His pictre is abot the glorios
hea3ens, not abot himself4 /r if it is abot himself, it is abot how wonderfl he feels when
he sees $odFs mar3elos creation4 Van $ogh is concerned with praising $od as $od e=presses
himself in natre< Anne 9e=ton is concerned with e=pressing her angish and with her hope
that she can find e=tinction4 9e=tonFs world is not rled by a bene3olent $od bt is rled by an
Gold nseen serpent4G The night is a Grshing beast,G presided o3er by a Ggreat dragon4G
9e=ton has responded to the painting in a highly ni!e way4 9he is not trying to pt 3an
$ogh"s pictre into words that he might appro3e of4 Iather, she has boldly sed the pictre as
a point of departre for her own wordBpictre4
[New page]
5ashington ,
5ork >ited
9e=ton, Anne4 GThe 9tarry Dight4G An Introdction to ?iteratre4 7d4 9yl3an 6arnet et al4 &(th
ed4 Dew ;ork: ?ongman, 2EEJ4 +254
K T/PI>9 8/I >IITI>A? THIDLID$ AD# 5IITID$
&4 B#o yo agree with this stdent"s analysis, especially her point abot 9e=ton"s poem?
24 BHas the stdent cited and e=amined passages from the poem in a con3incing way?
,4 BA general !estion: #o yo think poets are obliged to be faithfl to the paintings that they write
abot, or do poets enCoy the freedomMa kind of poetic licenseMto interpret a painting Cst as they
choose, doing with it whate3er the prpose of the poem re!ires?
JANE FLANDERS
Jane Flanders, born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, in 1940, and educated at Bryn Mawr ollege and
olumbia !niversity, is the author o" three boo#s o" $oems% &mong her awards are $oetry "ellowshi$s
"rom the 'ational (ndowment "or the &rts and the 'ew )or# Foundation "or the &rts%
Van $ogh"s 6ed N&)+5O
is orange,
like >inderella"s coach, like
the sn when he looked it
straight in the eye4 (
is narrow,
he slept alone, tossing
between two pillows, while it carried him
bmpily to the ball4 +
is clmsy,
bt friendly4 A peasant
bilt the frame< an old wife beat
the mattress till it rose like meringe4 &2
is empty,
morning light pors in
like wine, melody, fragrance,
the memory of happiness4 &J
K T/PI>9 8/I >IITI>A? THIDLID$ AD# 5IITID$
BPane 8landers has told s that the poem is indebted not only to the painting bt also to two
comments in letters that 3an $ogh wrote to his brother, Theo:
I can tell yo that for my part I will try to keep a straight corse, and will paint the most
simple, the most common things4
%#ecember &++(-
2y eyes are still tired, bt then I had a new idea in my head and here is the sketch of it4 4 4 4
It"s Cst simply my bedroom, only here color is to do e3erything, and gi3ing by its
simplification a grander style to things, is to be sggesti3e here of rest or of sleep in
general4 In a word, to look at the pictre oght to rest the brain or rather the imagination4
%9eptember &+++-
&4 B#oes the painting con3ey 0rest1 to yo? If not, has 3an $ogh failed to paint a pictre of interest?
5hat does the pictre con3ey to yo?
24 BIn an earlier 3ersion, the last stan.a of the poem went ths:
empty,
morning light pors in
like wine< the sheets are what they are,
casting no shadows4
5hich 3ersion do yo prefer? 5hy?
ADRIENNE RICH
&drienne *ich+s most recent boo#s o" $oetry are ,he -chool &mong the *uins. Poems /0000/004, and
Fo1. Poems 19920/000 3'orton4% & selection o" her essays, &rts o" the Possible. (ssays and
onversations, was $ublished in /001% & new edition o" What is Found ,here. 'oteboo#s on Poetry and
Politics, a$$eared in /005% -he is a reci$ient o" the 6annan Foundation 6i"etime &chievement &ward, the
6ambda Boo# &ward, the 6enore Marshall7'ation Pri8e, the Wallace -tevens &ward, and the Bollingen
Pri8e in Poetry, among other honors% -he lives in ali"ornia%
2orning Pictre N&)J5O
3,he $icture was $ainted by (dwin *oman8o (lmer 31290019/54 as a memorial to his daughter (""ie%
:n the $oem, it is the dead girl who s$ea#s%4
They ha3e carried the mahogany chair and the cane rocker
ot nder the lilac bsh,
and my father and mother darkly sit there, in black clothes4
/r clapboard hose stands fast on its hill,
my doll lies in her wicker pram 5
ga.ing at western 2assachsetts4
This was or world4
I cold remake each shaft of grass
feeling its rasp on my fingers,
draw ot the map of e3ery lilac leaf &E
or the net of 3eins on my father"s
griefBtranced hand4
/t of my head, halfBbrsting,
still filling, the dream condensesM
shadows, crystals, ceilings, meadows, globes of dew4 &5
Knder the dll green of the lilacs, ot in the light
car3ing each spoke of the pram, the trned porchBpillars,
nder high earlyBsmmer clods,
I am 7ffie, 3isible and in3isible,
remembering and remembered4 2E
They will mo3e from the hose,
gi3e the toys and pets away4
2te and rigid with loss my mother
will ride the train to 6aptist >orner,
the silkBspool will rn bare4 25
I tell yo, the thread that bond s lies
faint as a web in the dew4
9hold I make yo, world, again,
cold I gi3e back the leaf its skeleton, the air
its earlyBsmmer clod, the hose ,E
its noonday presence, shadowless,
and lea3e this ot? I am 7ffie, yo were my dream4
>athy 9ong
athy -ong, born in ;onolulu in 1999 o" a hinese<&merican mother and a =orean<&merican "ather,
holds a bachelor+s degree "rom Wellesley ollege and a master+s degree in creative writing "rom Boston
!niversity% -he is the author o" three boo#s o" $oems, the "irst o" which, Picture Bride 319254, was the
winner in the )ale -eries o" )ounger Poets% -he has also won the ;awaii &ward "or 6iterature and the
-helley Memorial &ward "rom the Poetry -ociety o" &merica%
Beauty and Sadness [1983]
"or =itagawa !tamaro
He drew hndreds of women
in stdies nfolding
like flowers from a fan4
Teahose waitresses, actresses,
geishas, cortesans and maids4 5
They arranged themsel3es
before this !ick, nimble man
whose in3isible presence
one feels in these prints
is as delicate &E
as the skinlike paper
he sed to transfer
and retain their fleeting lo3eliness4
>roching like cats,
they prred amid the layers of kimono &5
swirling arond them
as thogh they were bathing
in a montain pool with irises
growing in the silken snlit water4
/r poised like porcelain 3ases, 2E
slender, erect and tall: their hea3y
brocaded hair was piled high
with sandalwood combs and blossom sprigs
poking ot like antennae4
They resembled beatifl iridescent insects, 25
creatres from a floating world4
Ktamaro absorbed these women of 7do
in their moments of melancholy
He captred the wisp of shadows,
the halfBdraped body ,E
emerging from a bath< whate3er
skin was e=posed
was powdered white as snow4
A pri3ate space disclosed4
Portraying another girl ,5
catching a glimpse of her own 3lnerable
face in the mirror, he transposed
the trembling plm lips
like a drop of blood
soaking p the white e=panse of paper4 (E
At times, indifferent to his inconsolable
eye, the women drifted
throgh the soft gray feathered light,
maintaining stillness, the moments in between4
?ike the dsty ashBwinged moths (5
that cling to the screens in smmer
and that the Papanese 3enerate
as ancestors reincarnated<
Ktamaro graced these women with immortality
in the thosand shea3es of prints 5E
flttering into the re3erent hands of keepers:
the dwarfed and bespectacled painter
holding p to a s!are of snlight
what he had carried home beneath his coat
one afternoon in winter4 55
K T/PI>9 8/I >IITI>A? THIDLID$ AD# 5IITID$
&4 BIn the first stan.a the women in Ktamaro"s prints possess a 0fleeting lo3eliness41 5hat does
0fleeting1 sggest here? 5hat are Ktamaro"s characteristics in this stan.a?
24 BIn the second stan.a wold yo say that the women are beatifl, or not? And in the third
stan.a? 5hat do they look like in each stan.a?
,4 BIn the last stan.a, in the last few lines, we learn that Ktamaro was a 0dwarfed and bespectacled
painter41 5e might ha3e learned this earlier or not at all4 5hy does 9ong wait ntil this late in the
poem to tell s?
CARL PHILLIPS
arl Philli$s was born in 1999 in (verett, Washington, and educated at ;arvard and at Boston
!niversity% &"rican<&merican, gay, a scholar o" classical >ree# and 6atin, and the author o" several
boo#s o" $oetry, he has taught creative writing at ;arvard, and he now teaches (nglish and &"rican<
&merican -tudies at Washington !niversity in -t% 6ouis%
?ncheon on the $rass N&)),O
They"re a crios lot, 2anet"s scandalos
lnch partners4 The two men, lost
in cant and fll dress, their legs sprawled
sbwayBstyle, as mens legs in3ariably are, seem
remarkably nrffled, all bt obli3ios to their nde 5
female companion4 Her ndity is p..ling and
correct< clothes for her are srely only needed
to shrg a sholder ot of4 9he herself appears
baldly thereBforBtheBride< her eyes, mo3ing ot
toward the 3iewer, are wide with the most banal, &E
detached srprise, as if to say, 0where"s
the real party?1
Dow, in a comparable state of otdoor
ndress, I"m beginning to ha3e a fair idea
of what"s going on in that scene4 5atching &5
yo, in clothes, remo3e one boot to work yor
finger toward an itch in yor athletic sock,
I look for any similarities between art
and or afternoon here on abandoned
property4 The bather in the painting"s 2E
backgrond, presmably there for a certain
balance of composition, is for s an ngainly,
rsted green dmpster, rising from o3ergrown
weeds that pro3ide a contrast only remotely
pastoral4 5e are two to 2anet"s main grop 25
of three, bt the hm of the odd car or trck
on the highway below s offers a transient third4
?ike the nde, I don"t seem especially hngry,
partly becase it"s difficlt eating naked when
e3eryone else is clothed, partly becase ,E
yo didn"t remember I hate chicken salad4
The beer yo opened for me sits ntoched,
going flat in the sn4 I stroke the wet bottle
fitflly, to remind myself Cst how far
we"3e come or more probably ha3e always been ,5
from the shape of romance4 2y dear,
this is not art< we"re not anywhere close
to Arcadia4Q
K T/PI>9 8/I >IITI>A? THIDLID$ AD# 5IITID$
&4 BThe athor is openly gay4 #oes knowledge of his se=al orientation affect the way in which yo
read the poem? 7=plain4
24 B#o yo agree that the speaker and the partner are 0not anywhere close@ to Arcadia1? 9pport
yor response with e3idence4
ANNE SEXTON
&nne -e1ton 319/2019?94 was born in 'ewton, Massachusetts% -he attended >arland Junior ollege,
married at /0, and began a li"e as a housewi"e% &"ter a mental brea#down at the age o" /2 she too# u$
writing $oetry on the suggestion o" a thera$ist% -he $ublished eight boo#s o" $oetry, the third o" which
won a Pulit8er Pri8e% @es$ite her literary success, her li"e was dee$ly troubled% -he committed suicide in
19?9%
The 9tarry Dight N&)J&O
,hat does not #ee$ me "rom having a terrible need o"Ashall : say the wordAreligion% ,hen : go out
at night to $aint the stars%
MVincent 3an $ogh in a letter to his brother
The town does not e=ist
e=cept where one blackBhaired tree slips
p like a drowned woman into the hot sky4
The town is silent4 The night boils with ele3en stars
/h starry starry nightR This is how 5
I want to die4
It mo3es4 They are all ali3e4
73en the moon blges in its orange irons
to psh children, like a god, from its eye4
The old nseen serpent swallows p the stars4 &E
/h starry starry nightR This is how
I want to die:
into that rshing beast of the night,
scked p by that great dragon, to split
from my life with no flag, &5
no belly,
no cry4
K Topic for >ritical Thinking and 5riting
B9e=ton calls her poem 0The 9tarry Dight1 and ses an epigraph from 3an $ogh4 In what ways does
her poem not describe or e3oke 3an $ogh"s painting? In what ways does it describe the painting?
W. H. AUDEN
Wystan ;ugh &uden 3190?019?54 was born in )or#, (ngland, and educated at B1"ord% :n the 1950s his
witty le"t<wing $oetry earned him wide acclaim as the leading $oet o" his generation% ;e went to -$ain
during the -$anish ivil War, intending to serve as an ambulance driver "or the *e$ublicans in their
struggle against Fascism, but he was so distressed by the violence o" the *e$ublicans that he almost
immediately returned to (ngland% :n 1959 he came to &merica, and in 194C he became a citi8en o" the
!nited -tates, though he s$ent his last years in (ngland% Much o" his $oetry is characteri8ed by a
combination o" colloDuial diction and technical de1terity%
:n the "ollowing $oem, &uden o""ers a meditation triggered by a $ainting in the Museum o" Fine &rts
in Brussels% ,he $ainting, by Pieter Brueghel 3c% 19/9019C94, is based on the legend o" :carus, told by the
*oman $oet Bvid 345 B(01? (4 in his Metamor$hoses% ,he story goes thus. @aedalus, "ather o" :carus,
was con"ined with his son on the island o" rete% :n order to esca$e, @aedalus made wings "or himsel" and
"or :carus by "astening "eathers together with wa1, but :carus "lew too near the sun, the wa1 melted, and
:carus "ell into the sea% &ccording to Bvid, the eventAa boy "alling through the s#yAwas witnessed with
ama8ement by a $loughman, a she$herd, and an angler% :n the $ainting, however, these "igures seem to
$ay no attention to :carus, who is re$resented not "alling through the s#y but already in the water 3in the
lower right corner, near the shi$4, with only his lower legs still visible%
Muse des Beaux Arts [1938]
Abot sffering they were ne3er wrong4
The /ld 2asters: how well they nderstood
Its hman position< how it takes place
5hile someone else is eating or opening a window or Cst walking dlly along<
How, when the aged are re3erently, passionately waiting 5
8or the miraclos birth, there always mst be
>hildren who did not specially want it to happen, skating
/n a pond at the edge of the wood<
They ne3er forgot
That e3en the dreadfl martyrdom mst rn its corse &E
Anyhow in a corner, some ntidy spot
5here the dogs go on with their doggy life and the tortrer"s horse
9cratches its innocent behind on a tree4
In 6reghel"s :carus, for instance: how e3erything trns away
Site leisrely from the disaster< the plowman may &5
Ha3e heard the splash, the forsaken cry4
6t for him it was not an important failre< the sn shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
5ater, and the e=pensi3e delicate ship that mst ha3e seen
9omething ama.ing, a boy falling ot of the sky, 2E
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on4
K T/PI>9 8/I >IITI>A? THIDLID$ AD# 5IITID$
&4 BIn yor own words sm p what, according to the speaker %in lines &*&,-, the /ld 2asters
nderstood abot hman sffering4 %The /ld 2asters were the great 7ropean painters who worked
from abot &5EE to abot &'5E4-
24 B9ppose the first lines read:
The /ld 2asters were ne3er wrong abot sffering4
They nderstood its hman position well4
5hat %beside the particlar rhymes- wold change or be lost?
,4 BIeread the poem %preferably o3er the corse of se3eral days- a nmber of times, Cotting down
yor chief responses after each reading4 Then, in connection with a final reading, stdy yor notes,
and write an essay of 5EE words setting forth the history of yor final response to the poem4 8or
e=ample, yo may want to report that certain difficlties soon were clarified and that yor enCoyment
increased4 /r, con3ersely, yo may want to report that the poem became less interesting %for reasons
yo will set forth- the more yo stdied it4 Probably yor history will be somewhat more complicated
than these simple e=amples4 Try to find a chief pattern in yor e=perience, and shape it into a thesis4
(4 B>onsider a pictre, either in a local msem or reprodced in a book, and write a 5EEBword
reflection on it4 If the pictre is not well known, inclde a reprodction %a postcard from the
msem or a photocopy of a page of a book-4
X. J. KENNED
E% J% =ennedy was born in 'ew Jersey in 19/9% ;e has taught at ,u"ts !niversity and is the author o"
several boo#s o" $oems, boo#s "or children, and college te1tboo#s%
Marcel @ucham$+s 'ude @escending a -taircase, 'o% / 3191/4 was e1hibited in 1915 in the &rmory
-how, an international e1hibition held at an armory in 'ew )or#, and later in hicago and Boston% ,he
&rmory -how gave &merica its "irst good loo# at contem$orary (uro$ean artA"or instance, cubism,
which had in"luenced @ucham$+s $ainting%
Nude Descending a Staircase [1961]
Toe pon toe, a snowing flesh,
A gold of lemon, root and rind,
9he sifts in snlight down the stairs
5ith nothing on4 Dor on her mind4 (
5e spy beneath the banister
A constant thresh of thigh on thighM
Her lips imprint the swinging air
That parts to let her parts go by +
/neBwoman waterfall, she wears
Her slow descent like a long cape
And pasing, on the final stair
>ollects her motions into shape4 &2
K T/PI>9 8/I >IITI>A? THIDLID$ AD# 5IITID$
&4 BTo what e=tent does the poem describe the painting? To what e=tent does it do something else?
24 B9ome 3iewers ha3e fond #champ"s painting strange and confsing4 #oes Lennedy"s poem
help yo to nderstand #champ"s style of art? 7=plain4
SHERMAN ALEXIE
,he short<story writer, essayist, $oet, and "ilm director -herman J% &le1ie Jr% was born in Bctober 19CC%
;e was raised on the -$o#ane :ndian *eservation in Well$init, Washington, located "i"ty miles northwest
o" -$o#ane% ;e went to high school o"" reservation in *eardan, Washington, where he was an e1cellent
student and $layed on the bas#etball team% ;e attended >on8aga !niversity in -$o#ane "or two years and
then trans"erred to Washington -tate !niversity in Pullman, where he began writing $oetry, graduating
with a degree in &merican -tudies% ;is boo#s include ,he Business o" Fancydancing. -tories and Poems
3199/4, ,he 6one *anger and ,onto Fist"ight in ;eaven 319944, and *eservation Blues 319994%
For additional $oems o" &le1ie, see $ages ?2C and 222F "or a story, see $age /91%
At Navajo Monuent !a""ey #ri$a" Sc%oo" [199&]
"rom the $hotogra$h by -#eet Mc&uley
the football field rises
to meet the mesa4 Indian boys
gallop across the grass, against ,
the beginning of their body4
/n those 9atrday afternoons,
nbroken horses gather to watch J
their sons growing larger
in the small parts of the world4
73eryone is the !arterback4 )
There is no thin man in a big hat
writing down all the names
in two colmns: winners and losers4 &2
This is the eternal football game,
Indians 3erss Indians4 All the 9kins
in the wooden bleachers fancydancing, &5
stomping red dst straight down
into nothing4 6efore the game is o3er,
the eighthBgrade girls" track team &+
comes rnning, circling the field,
their thin brown legs echoing
wild horses, wild horses, wild horses4 2&
K T/PI>9 8/I >IITI>A? THIDLID$ AD# 5IITID$
&4 B5hat do yo make of 0the small parts of the world1 and of 073eryone is the !arterback1 %lines
)*&E-?
24 B5hy do yo think Ale=ie ended the poem by introdcing the girls" track team? And what
fnction%s- does the repetition ser3e in the final line?
,4 B9ome readers find the poem"s tone affirmati3e, e3en celebratory< others hear it as melancholy,
e3en mornfl4 #o yo agree with either of these descriptions, or wold yo se a different term or
set of terms? Point to e3idence in the te=t to e=plain and spport yor interpretation4
(4 B?ook again at the photograph4 #o yo think that the creation of a playing field on this site is a
desecration of the en3ironment? 5hy, or why not?
Pohn Kpdike
John !$di#e, born in 195/, grew u$ in -hillington, Pennsylvania, where his "ather was a teacher and his
mother was a writer% &"ter receiving a B%&% degree "rom ;arvard he studied drawing at B1"ord "or a year,
but an o""er "rom ,he 'ew )or#er maga8ine brought him bac# to the !nited -tates% ;e at "irst served as a
re$orter "or the maga8ine, but soon began contributing $oetry, essays, and "iction% ,oday he is one o"
&merica+s most $roli"ic and well<#nown writers%
6efore the 2irrorN&))JO
How many of s still remember
when Picasso"s 0$irl 6efore a 2irror1 hng
at the trning of the stairs in the preB
e=pansion 2sem of 2odern Art?
2illions of s, probably, bt we form 5
a dwindling poplation4 $arish
and brshBslashed and yet as balanced
as a cardboard Seen in a deck of giant cards,
the painting proclaimed, 07nter here
and abandon preconception41 9he bonced &E
the erotic balls of herself back and forth
between reflection and reality4
Dow I disco3er, in the recent reB
trospecti3e at the same establishment,
that the 3i3id painting dates &5
from 2arch of &),2,
the 3ery month in which I first saw light,
s!inting in nostalgia for the womb4
I bend closer, inspecting4 The blacks,
the stripy cyanide greens are still ncracked, 2E
I note with satisfaction< the cherry reds
and lemon yellows fll of childish Cice4
Do sag, no wrinkle4 8resh as paint4 6ack then
they knew Cst how, I reflect, to lay it on4
K Topics for >ritical Thinking and 5riting
&4 BThe painting shows a yong woman looking into a mirror4 In 3iewing a pictre with this sbCect,
what associations might reasonably come to mind? Vanity? 2ortality? /r what?
24 BThe woman %at the left- has two faces, one in profile4 #o yo think Picasso is showing s two
3iews of the same face, or perhaps two stages in the woman"s life? And what of the face in the
mirror? #o yo think it shows either or both of the faces at the left, or a third face or stage?
,4 B5hy do yo sppose the woman is reaching ot toward the mirror? %There cannot be any way of
pro3ing whate3er yo or anyone else might offer as an answer, bt why do yo offer the e=planation
that yo do offer?-
(4 B5hat do yo think the poem is chiefly abot? The distincti3eness of modern art %meaning the
age of Picasso-? The e=cellent condition of the pictre? The speaker"s response to the pictre?
7=plain4
54 BThe first twel3e lines of this poem describe the speaker"s thoghts 0then,1 when he first saw >irl
Be"ore a MirrorF the last twel3e lines describe his ideas and feelings 0now41 In two paragraphs, or in
one e=tended paragraph, write a 0Then and Dow,1 describing a pictre or a song or a sceneMa lake,
a hose, a kitchenMor a person, then and now4
GREG PAPE
>reg Pa$e was born in 194? in (ure#a, ali"ornia, and educated at Fresno -tate ollege 3now ali"ornia
-tate !niversity, Fresno4 and the !niversity o" &ri8ona% ,he author o" several boo#s o" $oems, he has
served as writer<in<residence at several colleges and universities, and now teaches at 'orthern &ri8ona
!niversity, in Flagsta""%
Aerican '"aingo [1998]
I know he shot them to know them4
I did not know the eyes of the flamingo
are ble, a deep li3e ble4 ,
And the tonge is lined with many small
tonges, thirteen, in the sketch
by Adbon,Q to fnction as a sie3e4 J
I knew the long roseBpink neck,
the hea3y tricolored downBsweeping bill,
the black primaries4 )
6t I did not know the ble eye
drawn so passionately by Adbon
it seems to look ot, wary, intense, &2
from the paper it is printed on4
Mwhat
:s man but his $assionG &5
asked Iobert Penn 5arren4Q In the backgrond
of this sketch, tenderly sbtitled Bld Male,
beneath the o3erBdraping feathered &+
monment of the body, between the long
fle=ible neck and the long bony legs
co3ered with pink plates of flesh, 2&
Adbon has gi3en s eight postres,
eight stnning mo3ements in the ongoing
dance of the flamingos4 2(
/nce at HialeahQ in late afternoon
I watched the satin figres of the Cockeys
perched like bright beetles on the backs 2'
of horses ponding down the home
stretch, a few crops whipping
the lathering flanks, the lod flat ,E
metallic 3oice of the annoncer fading
as the flamingos, gra.ing the pond water
at the far end of the infield, rose ,,
in a feathery blsh, only a few feet
off the grond, and flew one long
clippedBwinged rital lap ,J
in the hea3y 2iami light, a great
slow swirl of grace from the old world
that made tickets fall from hands, ,)
stilled horses, and drew toasts from the stands
as they settled down again
like a roseBcolored fog on the pond4 (2
K T/PI>9 8/I >IITI>A? THIDLID$ AD# 5IITID$
&4 B5hy is the speaker preoccpied with the flamingo"s eyes?
24 BA transition occrs in lines &(*&5, with the italici.ed !otation from Iobert Penn 5arren4 5hat
is the relationship of this to the description of the flamingo %and the speaker"s reflections- that
precede it?
,4 B8rom line 25 to the end, the speaker careflly describes a scene at Hialeah4 Take note of the
specific details and terms that the speaker presents, and e=plain how these make the poem both a
3i3id description and something more than that4

>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
A 9ample 9tdent 7ssay
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
Vincent 3an $ogh, Hincent+s Bed in &rles, oil on can3as, '2 )E cm4 %Vincent 3an $ogh 2sem,
Amsterdam, Vincent 3an $ogh 8ondation4-
Pane 8landers
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
7dwin Ioman.o 7lmer, Mourning Picture, &+)E, oil on can3as, 2+ ,J in4 N'&4& )&45 cm4O %9mith
>ollege 2sem of Art, Dorthampton, 2assachsetts4 Prchased &)5,4-
Adrienne Iich
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
Litagawa Ktamaro,T ,wo Women @ressing ,heir ;air, late &+th centry4 %Print collection, 2iriam and Ira
#4 5allach #i3ision of Art, Prints, and Photographs, The Dew ;ork Pblic ?ibrary, Astor, ?eno= and
Tilden 8ondations4-
TLitagawa Ktamaro %&'5(*&+EJ- li3ed in 7do %now called Tokyo-4 He speciali.ed in designing pictres of
cortesans and actors that were then sed to make woodblock prints4 6rothels and the theater were
important parts of what was called the 8loating 5orldMthat is, the world of transient pleasre4
>athy 9ong
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
7doard 2anet, @IJeuner sur l+;erbe, &+J,, oil on can3as, JF)G +F&EG4 %2s:e d"/rsay, Paris, 8rance4-
>arl Phillips
!" A#$a%&a an ancient region in $reece, traditionally associated in art and literatre with the simple,
pastoral life, a $olden Age of nfailing romantic lo3e4
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
Vincent 3an $ogh, ,he -tarry 'ight, &++), oil on can3as, 2) ,J &@( in4 N',4' )24& cm4O %The
2sem of 2odern Art, Dew ;ork4 Ac!ired throgh the ?illie P4 6liss 6e!est4-
Anne 9e=ton
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
Pieter 6reghel the 7lder, 6andsca$e with the Fall o" :carus, c4 &55+4 %2s:es Ioya= des 6ea=BArts,
6rssels4-
54 H4 Aden
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
2arcel #champ, 'ude @escending a -taircase, 'o% /, &)&2, oil on can3as, 5+ ,5 in4 %Philadelphia
2sem of Art: The ?oise and 5alter Arensberg >ollection4-
U4 P4 Lennedy
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
9keet 2cAley, 'avaJo Monument Halley ,ribal -chool near >oulding, !tah, &)+54
9herman Ale=ie
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
Pablo Picasso, >irl Be"ore a Mirror, &),2, oil on can3as, J( 5& &@( in4 %2sem of 2odern Art, Dew
;ork4 $ift of 2rs4 9imon $ggenheim4-
Pohn Kpdike
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings
Pohn Pames Adbon4 &merican Flamingo, c4 &+,E, handBcolored print4 %>ortesy 5illiam 94 Ieese4-
$reg Pape
' A(%()*+ Pohn Pames Adbon, American ornithologist and artist %&'+5*&+5&-, athor of the
mlti3olme Birds o" &merica %&+2'*&+,+-4 ,' R*)e#- Pe++ Wa##e+ American poet, no3elist, and
literary critic %&)E5*&)+)-4 ./ H&a0ea1 city in sotheast 8lorida, site of Hialeah Park racetrack4
>hapter 25 @ Variations on Themes: Poems and Paintings