30 Making a Poetry Portfolio
Would you like to make a poetry portfolio?
“Always be a poet, even in prose.”
Let’s Begin
Have you been writing? By now, if you have followed this series from day one, you should have seven types of poems. Why not put them together in your very own poetry portfolio. Here’s how:
Questions
Do you like reading or writing poetry?
Do you have a favorite poem?
Have you considered how benefit poetry is to your body, mind, and soul?
29 How to Write an I Am Poem
Would you like to write an I Am poem?
“The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.”
Let’s begin:
The I am poem can be written in any style and any format. The first to write, wrote it as a sonnet, and then had another, longer version which was the most popular version.
Pick your Subject
So, you might think that the subject is the obvious choice. An “I Am” poem should be about the one creating the poem. However, many people use the idea and structure of this type to explore perspective - to cultivate empathy. If you have read some of my previous blogs, you might have noticed that I use this a lot. I am a rock; I am Mandela. As a high school English teacher, I often assign the “I Am” poem to students. I give this a graphic organizer and ask them to write as if they were a specific character.
Click here to view that organizer.
Put pen to paper:
After selecting your topic. Let your words fly. Keep them praising. Keep them lofty. Open your heart to your purpose and let all of the good thoughts fill and overflow. And write. Write write. Let the words fly.
Revise and rewrite:
After exhausting your flow of ideas. Review your work. Revise if you feel you need to change. Rewrite if you notice a hinge.
Edit:
After reviewing for needed changes, it always go to go over your work again. Correct any details in spelling and grammar that stand out to you.
Celebrate:
Reread your poem again and enjoy it! Taking the time to celebrate the work of your hands and heart is important.
Share:
Also, please share your I AM poem in the comments below. I would love to read it!
My I Am Poem : I Am Nothing
Today - I am Nothing
I am the long exhale
I listen
And I hear Everything - in the silence
I want - for nothing
I am placid
Free - and exactly where I need-to-be
I touch the fabric of emptiness
Clothed in majesty, I feel--grace
I am comfortable - content - grounded
Clear of worry - doubt - fear --
I have let - Everything -- go
I am full ---
of nothingness
--- the life force of a flower
-at dawnQuestions
How many lines are in this poem?
Do you see any repeating words or phrase?
What imagery stands out to you?
Does the writer employ figurative language? If so, explain.
What is your interpretation of this poem?
How do the words make you feel?
Does this work inspire you in any way?
28 An I AM Poem to Consider
Do you have a favorite I Am poem?
An I Am Poem to Consider:
“Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)”
The First I Am Poem:
I Am!
BY JOHN CLARE
I am—yet what I am none cares or knows;
My friends forsake me like a memory lost:
I am the self-consumer of my woes—
They rise and vanish in oblivious host,
Like shadows in love’s frenzied stifled throes
And yet I am, and live—like vapours tossed
Into the nothingness of scorn and noise,
Into the living sea of waking dreams,
Where there is neither sense of life or joys,
But the vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems;
Even the dearest that I loved the best
Are strange—nay, rather, stranger than the rest.
I long for scenes where man hath never trod
A place where woman never smiled or wept
There to abide with my Creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie
The grass below—above the vaulted sky.I Am, a Sonnet
I feel I am — I only know I am,
And plod upon the earth, as dull and void:
Earth's prison chilled my body with its dram
Of dullness, and my soaring thoughts destroyed,
I fled to solitudes from passions dream,
But strife persued — I only know, I am.
I was a being created in the race
Of men disdaining bounds of place and time:
A spirit that could travel o'er the space
Of earth and heaven — like a thought sublime,
Tracing creation, like my maker, free —
A soul unshackled — like eternity,
Spurning earth's vain and soul debasing thrall
But now I only know I am — that's all.Reflection:
When these poems were written, Clare was a patient at Northampton General Lunatic Asylum. In what was then referred to as the “insane asylum.” The institution itself was seen as a form of treatment: to “help” patients, they were socially isolated. In addition to isolation, the other methods to treat the mentally insane at that time involved Freudian therapeutic techniques, such as the “talking cure,” electroshock, antipsychotic drugs and other medications, and lobotomy and other forms of psychosurgery. And this was not his first stay in such a place.
In his I Am poems, Clare talks about isolation and loss of memory. He writes, "My friends forsake me like a memory lost" [(l.2)]However, in the poem, his voice is resolute as he proclaims his existence. As a writer, memory is so very important. How traumatic to have it wiped! In time, treatments like the lobotomy were viewed as morally wrong and psychosurgery methods were abandoned.
Other I Am examples:
Questions
How many lines are in this poem?
How many stanzas ?
How many lines are in each stanza?
What is the rhy scheme of this poem?
Do you see any repeating words or phrases?
What imagery stands out to you?
Does the writer employ figurative language? If so, explain.
What is your interpretation of this poem?
How do the words make you feel?
Does this work inspire you in any way?
27 The I Amist: Walt Whitman
Who is your favorite writer of the I Am poems?
Naples National Archaeological Museum, public domain.
“I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”
The I Amist
A voice over rooftops - free - abandoned - worthy to be heard - the I am
Walt Whitman
Called The Father of American Poetry, The Father of Free Verse, and America’s World Poet, Walt Whitman, started writing at a young age. And, even though he left school when he was eleven and was basically self taught, at seventeen years of age, he became a school teacher. He published his first signed article in a newspaper in 1834; he was 15. By 1842, when he was 23, he had published his first novel (a temperance novel that he later denounced) which became a best-seller, Franklin Evans; or The Inebriate. He spent a good part of his life working with various newspapers serving in several roles: printer, writer, editor, owner.
In the early 50’s Whitman began to experiment with poetry - shifting away from conventions of rhyme and meter and pushing the form into free expression. Abandoning the known and inventing free verse, in revelatory ways, Whitman wrote about anything and everything with free abandon. Denoting the shift, he also dropped the “ter” in his name and began to sign as “Walt.” A few lines from his Song of Myself, basically summarizes this: “What is known I strip away, I launch all men and women forward with me into the Unknown.”
As he continued to work and publish, he became popular around the world, and many people traveled to meet him. Notable writers such such as Oscar Wilde and Alfred, Lord Tennyson showed great appreciation. There was mixed reaction from fellow American poets. It has been said that upon receiving Whitman’s work, poet Greenleaf Whittier threw it into the fire, while, in contrast the Father of Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, congratulated him on his grand achievements.
Sensual and often considered scandalous, his new style of writing did challenge many mainstream standards. Regardless of what people said of him, having harsh critics, admirers, and even fans, his text, Leaves of Grass, became his focus for the rest of his life. From 1855 to 1892, he published six - nine (there is a debate on this depending on what one classifies as a “new edition”) different poetry collections under this title. The first edition had only 12 poems. In his final edition, often referred to as the “Deathbed edition,”, which he finished right before his death in 1892, the collection had grown to nearly four hundred poems as well as an essay!
In Song of Myself, Whitman take the I AM poem to a new level. Celebrating life, he is all. He sings, "Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am . . . the foolish as much as the wise . . . the wicked just the same as the righteous . . . Southerner as soon as a Northerner . . . I exist as I am, that is enough . . .” He continues, “I am large, I contain multitudes.”
To Read Song of Myself - Please click here.
Resources
Barney, Brett. “Whitman, Walt.” Encyclopedia of American Literature, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2013. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=28452. Accessed 23 Sept. 2021.
Bloom, Harold. “Whitman, Walt.” Walt Whitman, Chelsea House, 2021. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=5448. Accessed 23 Sept. 2021.
Sowder, Michael. “Whitman, Walt.” Student's Encyclopedia of Great American Writers, Volume 2, Facts On File, 2010. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=475092. Accessed 23 Sept. 2021.
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Penguin Classics, 2017.
Questions
What do you know about Walt Whitman?
Have you ever read or listened to anything written by Walt Whitman?
Do you have a favorite poem by Whitman?
26 The I Am Poem: History and Form
What do you know about I Am poems?
“I exist as I am, that is enough.”
The I Am
Free - unique - individual - expressive - the I Am
The I Am Poem: The History and the Form
Though not as rooted in history as the haiku, the ballad, or the villanelle nor as recognized as the sonnet, the I Am poem is regarded as a form unto itself. From what I could gather, the first I Am poem was published in 1848 by the English writer, John Clare. In my research, I discovered that Clare actually wrote two I Am poems. One, is in the format of an English sonnet. The other is longer. Though I am not completely clear on this, I think the longer one was the most talked about, was the first one published, and was re-published in 1865 by Frederick Martin in his biography of Clare, Life of Clare. From 1841 until 1864, while a patient at Northampton General Lunatic Asylum, Clare wrote these poems. What is ironic is that during this time, he struggled with self identity - brought on by memory loss - and so these poems seem to be a personal reaching of self awareness.
There is no real set structure. While one follows the sonnet, the longer poem consists of three six-line stanzas all written in in iambic pentameter with an ababab rhyme scheme in the first stanza and ababcc in the second second and third stanzas. The I am poem is not standardized. The basis of the poem is a declaration of self - and is at times autobiographical and at times, metaphorical.
The I am poem is often assigned today in school settings, challenging students to write from the perspective of another. In this way this form of writing, is a wonderful way to explore creativity and cultivate empathy.
Reading Clare’s works, reminded me of Walt Whitman, and so, I doubled checked - and yes - Clare’s first I Am poem was published before Leaves of Grass which was published July 4, 1855- and was the debut of the celebrated Song of Myself. Perhaps it was the inspiration?
I will posts both of Clare’s works in a few days; so, make sure you come back again for those examples.
Resources
Charise, Andrea. “‘I Am.’” Encyclopedia of Literary Romanticism, Second Edition, Facts On File, 2014. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=36184. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.
Flesch, William. “‘I Am.’” The Facts On File Companion to British Poetry, 19th Century, Facts On File, 2009. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=11595. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.
Questions
What do you know about the I Am poem?
Have you ever read or listened to an I Am poem?
Do you have a favorite I Am poem?
Have you ever written an I Am poem?
If you were to write an I Am poem, would it be biographical or metaphorical
25 How to Write a Ballad
Would you like to write a ballad?
“True popular ballads are the spontaneous products of nature.”
Let’s begin:
Consider the Ballad:
A ballad is a rhyming poem that tells a story in short stanzas. The form of a ballad varies from country to country. Ballads are poems of the people sung by the people. Keep it simple.
Traditionally, the English ballad is divided into quatrains (4 line stanzas) with a typical rhyme scheme being ABAB or ABCB. For the meter, the first and third line of the stanza is in iambic tetrameter, and the second and last line is iambic trimeter.
Iambic refers to the stress of the syllables. Every second syllable is accented. Tetrameter is a line pattern of four beats equaling 8 syllables. Trimeter, a line pattern of three beats equaling 6 syllables.
You can use this format when you write. However, you do not have to do so. You can just stick with the basics: Tell a short story in short stanzas and rhyme. So to rhyme, if you are using the ABAB rhyming pattern, every other word at the end of each line, sounds the same.
Here is a simple example:
Hear the fuzz buzz; there is a bee
O my way - way up high
Can you see her in the pine tree
Golden is her disguiseThink of Your Story:
When writing a ballad, you need a story to tell. It can be as simple or as grand a story as you would like to tell. It can be a story about you or someone or something else. Perhaps you have a family story? Something that has happened to you or someone in your family that you have heard or have told.
As you think of your story, you may want to use a graphic organizer to help you to organize your thoughts. This step and the elements I am suggesting here are not required for ballads; however, if you are new to writing ballads, you may find this organizer helpful. Click here to open the organizer. To use, just print the doc out or, make a copy and use it digitally.
Write
You may just want to write it out in prose first, being as detailed as you can. If you used the graphic organizer, pull ideas from that to integrate imagery and figurative language into your text. Then after you have it written down, render it into a poem by eliminating a third of the words in your story and creating a rhythm and rhyme.
Personally, I just start writing short lines and pay attention to the rhymes - I just let it flow.
Revise and rewrite:
When you come to a sense of completion, it’s time to review your work. Revise and rewrite if you feel you need to change anything. If you are trying to get the traditional meter, count the beats - 8, 6, 8, 6. Review your rhymes.
Edit:
After reviewing for needed changes, it always go to go over your work again. Correct any details in spelling and grammar that stand out to you.
Celebrate:
Reread your work when you finish writing, and enjoy it! The creative process and product is something to celebrate.
Share:
Make sure to share your ballad in the comments below! I would love to read it!
My Ballad
Ballad of a Butterfly
On a branch in the wood it hung
On a new spring morn, cold
A woven silken tent it strung
And so the story goes
And then there came a rustling
And then there came a stir
And out of the tent with a tussling
Mighty wings a blur
And here a flit and there a flit
And suddenly a flutter
And here a flap and there a flap
And then O- the color -
-the flight -is nigh
beautiful butterfly Questions
Have you ever written a ballad?
Would you like to write a ballad?
What would you like to write your ballad about?
What mood would you like to convey?
24 A Ballad to Consider
Do you have a favorite ballad?
A Ballad to Consider:
“I have a passion for ballad. . . . They are the gypsy children of song, born under green hedgerows in the leafy lanes and bypaths of literature,—in the genial Summertime.”
For the poem click here
Through the Lane it Lay by Emily Dickinson
Through lane it lay—thro' bramble—
Through clearing and thro' wood—
Banditti often passed us
Upon the lonely road.
The wolf came peering curious—
The owl looked puzzled down—
The serpent's satin figure
Gild stealthily along—
The tempests touched our garments—
The lightning's poniards gleamed—
Fierce from the Crag above us
The hungry Vulture screamed—
The satyrs fingers beckoned—
The valley murmured "Come"—
These were the mates—
This was the road
Those children fluttered home.
Reflection
A narrative - suitable to be sung, using slant rhyme. I love pitting the sound road with wood. Simple silhouettes sung in simplicity - the voice shifts from first person collective (look at the “us” repeated throughout) to an omnipresent narrator. Fascinating. Unhinging - really. Why does Dickinson make such a shift? And what with the fluttering? The children morph into baby birds returning to their nest as they slowly make their way along a perilous road. I like how the intensity of this poem increases - a clearing with brambles - a quiet owl - merely puzzled - a curious wolf and then the hungry screeching Vulture with a capital "V"! The intensity is also pushed by this poet with the move from the slant to the full rhymes of “gleamed” and “screamed.” I love it!!! I take the journey into these woods - The road is lonely - and I feel small. There are robbers, and an owl, and a wolf. There is a snake with satin skin slithering stealthily. There is rain, and lightning, and thunder. And a satyr. Even the valley is personified, almost as a tempter whispering ”Come” I find it fascinating that the “V” is capitalized in Vulture and not with valley. That hungry Vulture clearly is the climax of this piece - that notion - coupled with the term “home” at the end - gives a little light to this otherwise dark journey. With this story, which no doubt allegorically represents our journey through life, Dickinson suggests that -though the times be tough and the “mates” that join us may be rough - this passage is something that we pass through - and that ultimately, we will alight safely - home.
Questions
How many lines are in this poem?
Do you see any repeating words or phrases?
What imagery stands out to you?
Does the writer employ figurative language? If so, explain.
What is your interpretation of this poem?
How do the words make you feel?
Does this work inspire you in any way?
23 The Ballad and the Balladeer
Who is your favorite balladeer?
Naples National Archaeological Museum, public domain.
“How does the meadow flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and in that freedom bold.”
“You can’t imagine parlor ballads drifting out of high-rise multi-towered buildings. That kind of music existed in a more timeless state of life.”
The Balladeer:
Singing a soulful song - recounting a tale - simple verse in simple seasons - the balladeer ~
William Wordsworth
Born on April 7 in 1770 in England, poet-philosopher William Wordsworth is an important figure in literary history. In 1798, Wordsworth, working with with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, published Lyrical Ballads igniting the literary Romantic movement in England.
About his work, he suggested that of all forms the ballad is to be esteemed. Simple lives, simple voices, simple subjects are the finest gold for the poet. And critics have said that of all his works, his ballad "Tintern Abbey" is the most significant. While returning to an important place in his life and revisiting through memory, with an authentic individual imagination, he describes the natural world and the human experience. Poetry, he suggests, links people to Earth. He says any experience is worth celebrating freely, emotionally, lyrically.
With the preface of this one book, he ignited a debate regarding the purpose of the poetic form, challenging the lofty ideals of non-emotive Neoclassical poetry. While many supported his values, others, such as William Blake and Mary Shelley, highly criticized his work.
Wordsworth’s life was not an easy one. He lost his mother when he was 7 and his father 13. Orphed, and left in the care of his uncles, he was sent away to school. In 1791, he graduated from St. John's College at Cambridge with a B.A. From there, he traveled. While on walking tour in France, he met Anne Vallon, and they were together for a year. But, due to the French Revolutionary Wars, he returned to England and focused on writing poetry. It was at this time he met and befriended, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In France, Anne had their daughter, Wordsworth’s first child, Caroline and raised her alone. During the short-lived Treaty of Amiens, Wordsworth returned to France, and met Caroline for the first time; she was nine. Though he financially supported them throughout his life, he never married Anne. In 1802, Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson, his childhood friend, and together they had five children.
Wordsworth published many books. He was not only a revolutionist, but a revisionist. In his later years, he spent a lot of time tinkering with his earlier poems. He was well-respected and was awarded honorary degrees from Durham and Oxford Universities, a government pension, and the title of poet laureate. Wordsworth died on April 23, 1850. The Prelude, his final work, was published by his wife the year he died.
Resources
Elmes, Melissa A. “Wordsworth, William.” Encyclopedia of Literary Romanticism, Second Edition, Facts On File, 2014. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=36432. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.
Robinson, Daniel. “Lyrical Ballads, With A Few Other Poems.” Encyclopedia of Literary Romanticism, Second Edition, Facts On File, 2014. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=36308. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.
"William Wordsworth." Britannica Library, Encyclopædia Britannica, 17 Dec. 2020. library-eb-com.scsl.idm.oclc.org/levels/referencecenter/article/William-Wordsworth/77470. Accessed 16 Sep. 2021.
Questions
What do you know about Wordsworth?
Have you ever read or listened to a a poem by Wordsworth?
Do you have a favorite Poem by this writer?
If you could ask Wordsworth anything, what would it be?
22 The Ballad: History and Form
What do you know about ballads?
“A well-composed song strikes the mind and softens the feelings, and produces a greater effect than a moral work, which convinces our reason, but does not warm our feelings, nor effect the slightest alteration in our habits.”
The Ballad
From music for dance to words to music again -
The Ballad: The History and the Form
With its roots in old Latin ballare, meaning to dance, the term "ballad" - from what I have been able to gather - appeared first in the thirteenth century in the Old French as ballade, meaning dancing song. The ballad was originally a song sung to accompany a dance, and in time, in the seventeenth century, came to refer to a short narrative poem suitable for singing. The ballad is considered as narrative as well as lyrical.
Ballads are found all over the word, and their form and style vary from country to country. Passed from one generation to the next orally, the traditional ballads are not tied to any one poet but told and retold by commoners. Basically a ballad is a poem, often sung as a song, to tell a story of someone or something.
The typical English ballad stanza is a quatrain with a rhyme scheme of abcb. The meter alternates in pattern: iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. Most ballads have a refrain. The development of plot is central to this form. A single event is introduced and moves through a series of events like a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Ballads are often told with a third person narrator with an observational, impersonal voice. However, the balladeer and express any range of emotion from joy to anger to sadness. Sometimes dialogue is used to move the story along. Popular themes are centered around common domestic life and highlight love, bravery, and supernatural beings.
With the invention of the printing press, more and more of these originally oral works were written down and were prized for entertainment. First published as broadsides, they also appeared in pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers. During the 18th century, these ballads were collected and studied by scholars as historical artifacts. In 1765, Bishop Percy published a collection of ballads called Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. Later, in the late 19th century, Francis Child published a five volume set entitled The English and Scottish Popular Ballads which contains over three hundred different ballads dating from 1200 to 1700 in their various versions. While scholars gained insight into the working class of the Middle Ages through study of these collections, poets were also inspired by them, and with the publication of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, ballads were used to usher in the Romantic age of literature.
Resources
Berkin, Carol, and Susan Clair Imbarrato. “Ballad.” Encyclopedia of American Literature, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2013. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=28085. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.
Boucquey, Thierry. “English Ballad.” Encyclopedia of World Writers, 14th through 18th Centuries, Facts On File, 2005. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=44254. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.
Greentree, Rosemary. “Middle English Lyrics and Ballads.” The Facts On File Companion to British Poetry before 1600, Facts On File, 2008. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=10315. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.
Ruud, Jay. “Ballad.” Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature, Second Edition, Facts On File, 2014. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=43886. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.
Questions
What do you know about ballads?
Have you ever read or listened to a ballad?
Do you have a favorite ballad?
Have you ever written a ballad?
If you were to write a ballad, what or who would be your subject?
21 How to Write a Haiku
Would you like to write a haiku?
“Without the bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone, how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance to the whole world?”
Let’s begin:
Writing a Haiku is an act of breathing. Breathing in, you inhale the information from the outside world, breathing out - you exhale your response.
Get Outside
Though not a requirement for the modern haiku, which can be about anything - I highly recommend an excursion into the natural world. The haiku is a response to an experience - a dialogue with the natural world. When out - open up your senses. See, hear, touch, taste, smell! Breath in - and when you exhale — release the words of your poem. Just breath in - and release!
Consider the Haiku:
As you release, you count. Count the beats: 5 in the first breath out - line one, 7 in the next - line 2, and 5 to complete - line 3. Haikus usually reference time and place - an occasion, felt in a moment.
There are technical elements tied to the haiku: the kireji, cutting word, the 17 syllables, and the kigo, reference to a season. In English, each phase of the 5 7 5 count is written as one line. The season could be fall, winter, spring, or summer. Or it could be a seasonal event, like apple picking or a fall festival.
The kireji cuts the haiku into two parts and is placed at the end of one of the phases - if placed at the end of the poem, it links the reader back to the beginning of the poem- creating a circular flow. When used in the middle of a verse, it cuts the thought, pausing the poem before offering a new thought independent of the first. There is no equivalent of kireji in English. A dash could be used -
Revise and rewrite:
I’m not sure if the haiku lends itself to a rewrite. Personally, I think it is like a breath exhaled - once out - you can not take it back. Keep it in its rawness - as an instant authentic expression. Perhaps though - the masters did write and rewrite. I think if you are not totally happy with it, just breath in your subject, and exhale another.
Edit:
After reviewing for needed changes, it always go to go over your work again. Correct any details in spelling and grammar that stand out to you.
Celebrate:
Reread your poem aloud, and celebrate your creation!
Share:
Don’t forget to share your haiku in the comments!
My Haiku
Golden on the pine
Reaching in the eastern sky
September sunrise!
Questions
If you were to write a haiku, what would be your subject?
Do you like to count syllables?
How would you define the “cutting word”?
20 A Haiku to Consider
Do you have a favorite haiku?
A Haiku to Consider:
“When composing a verse let there not be a hair’s breath separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy.”
早く咲け 九日も近し 菊の花
Hayaku sake Kunichi mo chikashi Kiku no hana
<
Translation into English
Bloom quickly.
The ninth day is very soon.
The chrysanthemum.
Reflection
I love the voice of the poet in this poem, communicating to the little flower. It’s time - bloom! Connecting with the seasons, alluding to an important day of festivity.
This poem alludes to the the Cho (doubled) yo (activeness) or Kiku no Sekku (the Chrysanthemum Festival) which held traditionally on September 9th, the season of the chrysanthemum, each year.
This day was set aside to celebrate because of an ideology of numbers which suggests that because odd numbers are active numbers, the dual 9, 9 being the ultimate number, would lead to extremely negative energy. The festival activities would counter that negativity.
On this day, in order to dispel negative energy and achieve long life, people would decorate their houses and their sake with the flower of the season, chrysanthemums. They would also cleanse their bodies with cotton swabs imbued with chrysanthemums and climb to great heights to enjoy views while picnicking.
Basho wrote several poems alluding to this time of year. Here are two additional ones:
Kusa no to ya, higurete kuresi, kiku no sake
Sunset beyond the grassy doors of my hut, a great spot to sip chrysanthemum sake
Yamanaka ya, kiku wa taoranu, yu no nioi
With chrysanthemum unplucked, breathes fragrance of a hot spring at Yamanaka spa
Questions
What type of ode is this?
How many lines are in this poem?
Do you see any repeating words or phrase?
What imagery stands out to you?
Does the writer employ figurative language? If so, explain.
What is your interpretation of this poem?
How do the words make you feel?
Does this work inspire you in any way?
19 The Haiku and Haijin
Who is your favorite haijin?
Naples National Archaeological Museum, public domain.
“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”
The Haijin:
Basho - the poet
Pondering, penning - afoot
Your journey, and mine.
Basho
Master of the haiku and Japan's most popular poet, Basho was born in 1644 in Ueno, Japan as Matsuo Kinsakin.
His father, a samurai, served the ruling lord of Ueno. At a young age, Bashō moved into the Ueno Castle and became a study companion to lord’s heir, Yoshitada. The boys both were interested in poetry and studied it and wrote it. Then, suddenly, Yoshitada died. At the age of 22, Bashō left Ueno Castle and traveled around Japan. No one knows for certain exactly what he did during this time. Some suggest that he studied literature in Kyoto or Zen at a Kyoto monastery. He did keep beautiful travel logs, called haibun. He finally settled in Edo, which is called Tokyo today, where he continued his studies.
Writing, he began to become popular. In his life-time, he would teach over 2000 students. Taking a literary name, he first, in honor of the well-known Chinese poet Li Po, whose name means plum in white, called himself Tosei (桃青), unripe peach in blue. Students settled around him to learn from him. One story goes that in 1680, a student built a hut for him and called it the Basho-an (Banana-tree retreat). From this time, he became known as Basho (松尾芭蕉) another story says that the student gave him a banana tree and after planting it in his garden in Edo, it became his favorite tree.
Basho often traveled. In fact, he spent the last ten years of his life, traveling. As he walked, he wrote. He journaled and penned poems. As said before, the journals he created are known as haibun, a mix of poetry and prose. His haibun Narrow Road to the Interior is widely celebrated.
Basho collaborated with many poets to create rengas; but somehow shifted into only focusing on the opening three lines and began using those opening lines to the longer poem as a stand alone poem which is today known as the haiku. At the same time, he shifted the tone - pushing the haiku away from a more comic and bawdy style characterized by puns and parody to a more serious expression of the human experience with the natural world. Bashō developed the 5–7–5 syllable pattern used in haiku today. He influence is global.
He died in 1694, when he was 50, with stomach complications.
“The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.”
Resources
Boucquey, Thierry. “Bashō.” Encyclopedia of World Writers, 14th through 18th Centuries, Facts On File, 2005. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=40855. Accessed 15 Sept. 2021.
Cook, James Wyatt. “Bashō.” Encyclopedia of Renaissance Literature, Second Edition, Facts On File, 2014. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=37728. Accessed 15 Sept. 2021.
Questions
What do you know about Basho?
Have you ever read or listened to a haiku by Basho?
Do you have a favorite writing by Basho?
If you could ask Basho a question about his work, what would it be?
18 The Haiku: History and Form
What do you know about the haiku?
“Haiku is not a shriek, a howl, a sigh, or a yawn; rather, it is the deep breath of life.”
The Haiku
A “deep breath of life” - and inhale and an exhale, a gathering of feeling, a feeling from within thought in a moment - one - in dialogue - delight.
The Haiku: The History and the Form
Originally, a part of a longer style of Japanese poetic form composed between two writers, "haiku" is composed of two Japanese characters and means “little poem.” Often written in three lines, the traditional way to write it is in a single line, though in three distinct units sometimes referred to as phases. Each syllable is important to the haiku as well as the pattern in which they fall. The haiku has 17 syllables total, with a pattern of 5, 7, 5. Contained within this pattern is the kireji, "cutting word," and the kigo, “seasonal reference.” Though popular as early as the 17th century, this style was not called “haiku” until the 19th century when poet Masaoka Shiki established that name. Due to the structure of the haiku being tied to the count of the syllables, it is difficult to translate from one language into another. So, when you are reading translations, and are wondering why the syllables are not adding up, that is why: they were lost in translation.
I am fascinated in the historical details of this style, about how knowledge of this history deepens the meaning for me. The term haiku not only is two sounds, but is derived from two words related to renga: haikai and hokku. The renga is Japanese linked poetry in the form of a tanka or tankas with the first three lines composed by one person and the second two by another. Traditionally the full sequence is given in 100 stanzas all composed by several poets writing together. The haiku - once the opening three lines called the hokku, is born from the way of dialog and retains this essential aspect - being composed between at least two poets, the haiku also is a response to an experience and is used to express a poet’s emotional or spiritual connection with the earth - observing momentary events and responding to those events in the fewest possible words. What I’m trying to say is that the Earth speaks, and the haiku responds.
Working with the hokku (today, the haiku), the great poet Bashō elevated and popularized the form, moving it from mere existence as the opening lines of a comic style of poetry to a complete form unto itself.
Notable Writers
Basho
Kobayashi Issa
Kawahigashi Hekigotō
Buson
Masaoka Shiki
Takahama Kyoshi
Resources
Boucquey, Thierry. “Haiku.” Encyclopedia of World Writers, 14th through 18th Centuries, Facts On File, 2005. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=44259. Accessed 10 Sept. 2021.
Quinn, Edward. “Haiku.” A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition, Facts On File, 2006. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=101204&itemid=WE54&articleId=44781. Accessed 10 Sept. 2021.
Questions
What do you know about the haiku?
Have you ever read or listened to a haiku?
Do you have a favorite haiku?
Have you ever written a haiku?
If you were to write a haiku, what or who would be your subject?
17 How to Write a Shakespearean Sonnet
Would you like to write an English sonnet?
“Write till your ink be dry, and with your tears /Moist it again, and frame some feeling line/ That may discover such integrity.”
Let’s begin:
Consider the Shakespearean Sonnet:
When preparing to write a Shakespearean sonnet, it is good to first remember the form. The sonnet has many strict parameters. The poem is 14 lines long, divided into 3 quatrains and a closing couplet. It is written in iambic pentameter. It also has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. The sonnet are usually about love.
If you are new to writing sonnets, you may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer.
Consider the Meter:
When you are writing, think about the words and their syllables. With each word, each syllable is either spoken with a hard sound, which is called stressed, or with a soft sound, which is called unstressed. Stressed syllables are traditionally marked with a /, and unstressed are traditionally marked with U . One iambic foot consists of one unstressed and one stressed syllable in that order. This measure mimics the beat of the heart. An iambic pentameter consists of five iambic feet. In a sonnet, each line has a total of ten syllables repeating the pattern of “unstressed, stressed” five times : da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM.
Consider Your Topic:
Many times writing a sonnet is a message to someone, written from you to a person. However, sonnets can be about a single idea as well. When considering who or what to write about, just think on the peoplr or ideas you love and begin from there.
Put pen to paper:
After selecting your topic. Let your words fly. Stay true. Open your heart to your purpose and let all of the good thoughts fill and overflow. And write write - write. Let the words fly. As you write count - get the beats - remember - 10 per line in the pattern of the beating of the heart.
Revise and rewrite:
After exhausting your flow of ideas. Review your work. Revise if you feel you need to change. Rewrite if you notice a hinge.
Edit:
After reviewing for needed changes, it always go to go over your work again. Correct any details in spelling and grammar that stand out to you.
Celebrate:
Reread your work and enjoy it. Celebrate your beautiful creation.
Share:
Sonnets are the perfect kind of poem to share, especially if you have written about someone you love, that person will cherish your words forever.
My Sonnet :
Sweet man, my husband, with you I join
With your kisses and happiness, I stand.
Breathe in your goodness, I exhale this poem
Residing in your love, I take your hand.
Into your world--you lead me--I sing
Into color-and sound-and texture too
Greens and golds--warbles and roughs--all to bring
All my mind, to stillness and depth with you.
And it’s with each bird song with you I think
With each laughing smile, I too, smile on
Weeks, and days, and hours pass in a blink
But so constant is my admiration
With all my heart--from my head to my feet
I live the life I love with you--my sweet.
Questions
What type of ode is this?
How many lines are in this poem?
Do you see any repeating words or phrase?
What imagery stands out to you?
Does the writer employ figurative language? If so, explain.
What is your interpretation of this poem?
How do the words make you feel?
Does this work inspire you in any way?
16 A Sonnet to Consider
Do you have a favorite sonnet?
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
Sonnet 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Reflection
I love this sonnet. I love Shakespeare! I remember exactly when I fell in love with Shakespeare. I was in kindergarten, and it was our first trip to the library. We were told to look around and select a book or two. So interested, I was all over the small library, looking at every shelf, my eyes racing across all of the spines of all of the beautifully lined books. It was as I was looking up at one of the tallest selves beside the tallest window that I had ever seen, when I saw a set of books all green with gold lettering and sparkling in the sun that was filtering that window. They were on the top shelf, and my heart skipped a beat. I went over to ask the librarian to help me. She followed me over, and I showed her my interest and asked her what those books were all about. She laughed and said, those books are the writings of Shakespeare. And she said that I wouldn’t be able to read them and then took me back to the short shelves to the fairy tales. I wound up going home with a picture book of Beauty and the Beast (which I loved) and the name Shakespeare. I told mom about Shakespeare, and she got me his whole collection. I have been reading Shakespeare ever since.
This sonnet is one of my favorites. I love the line “ . . . it is an ever-fixed mark,” I love the metaphor - that love is a star - a compass - and that in the midst of a moving world, it is permanent.
Questions
What type of sonnet is this?
How many lines are in this poem?
Do you see any repeating words or phrases?
What imagery stands out to you?
Does the writer employ figurative language? If so, explain.
What is your interpretation of this poem?
How do the words make you feel?
Does this work inspire you in any way?
15 The Sonnet and the Sonneteer
Who is your favorite sonneteer?
Naples National Archaeological Museum, public domain.
“He was not of an age, but for all time!”
The Sonneteer:
To express his great love, Petrarch. To sing out to the word, Shakespeare. To Speak to one, Browning - all sonneteers ~
Petrarch
Writing in the 1300s, Petrarch developed the sonnet as he expressed his great love for Laura, the wife of another man.
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare, known lovingly as The Bard, was born on April 23 in 1564, and died at the age of 52, on April 23, 1616. We all know him as a playwright and poet, but Shakespeare was also a businessman and an actor. Shakespeare was born and grew up in Stratford-on-Avon in England, he married a woman from Stratford, and it was in Stratford where he had property and where his family lived , but he worked in London.
The story of why Shakespeare moved to London to work or how he got involved in theater and writing is not known. In fact much of his life is a mystery. For example, even his birthdate is debated. We do know that he was writing between the years 1585 and 1613, and that he wrote 39 plays, 154 sonnets, 3 narrative poems, and a few poems of various styles.
Shakespeare’s legacy is his work. Today, popular worldwide, his plays have been translated into every known living language and have been dramatized and talked about and studied more than any others. Many of the sayings coined by Shakespeare have permeated our culture. For example, did you know that Shakespeare was the first to say, “All that glitters is not gold”?
By 1616, half of Shakespeare’s plays had been published as quartos, one play editions. In 1623, the first collection of his work was published as the First Folio. Then in 1709, Nicholas Rowe edited the plays adding lists of characters and divisions in act and scene.
Shakespeare’s Sonnets are a collection of reflective poems that celebrate the many facets and feelings of love. In the strict pattern he shaped himself, the poet’s voice is a voice of assurance and confidence.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Writing to the man she would soon marry, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote from her heart, of the developing relationship she was experiencing. As her love and intimacy grew, the content of the writings changes to reflect that growth. Hesitant to publish due to the personal nature of the poems, she decided to publish these poems with the idea that they were simply translations of the writings of others.
Resources
Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare’s Life, Folger Shakespeare Library, September 10, 2021. https://shakespeare.folger.edu
Questions
What do you know about Shakespeare?
Have you ever read or listened to something that was written by Shakespeare?
Do you have a favorite Shakespearean sonnet?
14 The Sonnet: History and Form
What do you know about sonnets?
“Sonnet is about movement in a form.”
The Sonnet
Beating wildly, beating constantly, beating truly, the sonnet peals and love proclaimed. In 14 lines, rapidly, soothingly, a letter is written from the heart - in a pattern of being - the sonnet.
The Sonnet: The History and the Form
Originating in Italy, the word sonnet is derived from the Italian sonetto, which means “little song.” Though in use before, it was the Italian poet Petrarch who, in the 1300s, developed the form that is today known as the Italian sonnet or after him, the Petrarchan sonnet. I have heard this story about Petrarch and his sonnet: One day, on the 6th of April in 1327 to be exact, while at church in Avignon, Petrarch looked across the sacred space and saw this woman, Laura. She was so beautiful. She was like an angel. For him, it was love at first sight. Upon further inquiry though, he discovered she was already married. Despite this fact, his heart was hers, and he wrote to her. He wrote sonnets to her. He wrote 317 of them. The style of these sonnets reflects the tension of his one-sided relationship.
The Petrarchan sonnet is composed of 14 lines broken up into two stanzas, an octave and a sestet with a signature turn, known as the volta, between the two. The poem is written in iambic pentameter. For the octave, the rhyme scheme is always abba abba. For the sestet, the scheme varies. The original patterns for this were cde cde or cdc cdc. In time, other variants appeared such as cdc dcd. What I love the most about the Petrarchan sonnet, is the volta. As I mentioned, this style reflects the tension felt by the man who developed it, and it is the volta that depicts that tension. Writing to a woman who is married to another man, Petrarch grapples with his feelings. In the octave, a question may be posed, a desire expressed, or doubt and conflict articulated. The sestet works in response to those lines and often in contrast. Sometimes, a simple change in thought or subject matter occurs.
Two hundred years after first appeared in Italy, it appeared in England with the writer Thomas Wyatt. It was later fully redeveloped by William Shakespeare who popularized the form in the English language so much so that we call this form of the sonnet the English sonnet, or, after him, the Shakespearean sonnet.
The Shakespearean sonnet is composed of 14 lines broken up into four stanzas, 3 quatrains and a couplet. While the volta is not employed in every Shakespearien sonnet, sometimes it does occur sometimes between the second and 3rd stanzas or between the quatrains and the couplet. However, the volta is not as significant to this style as it is in the Petrarchan. This style is also written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is almost always abab cdcd efef gg. The couplet is the signature of this form.
In the 1800’s, Elizabeth Barret Browning revived the Petrarchan style. Between the years 1845 and 1846, Browning wrote forty-five love sonnets to the love of her life, Robert Barret Browning and published them in 1850 as a collection. Due to the personal nature of the poems, she published them as if they were translations and named the collection, Sonnets from the Portuguese. To check a few of these out, click here.
Resources
Bloom, Harold. The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer Through Frost. First, Harper Collins, 2004.
Boland, Eavan, and Mark Strand. The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. Reprint, W. W. Norton & Company, 2001.
Morris, Roderick Conway., International Herald Tribune. “Petrarch, the first humanist.” The New York Times. May 29, 2004, Assessed 9 September 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/29/style/petrarch-the-first-humanist.html
Poetic Meter and Poetic Form by Fussell (1-Jan-1979) Paperback. Revised, McGraw-Hill Higher Education; Revised edition edition (1 Jan. 1979), 1979.
Questions
What do you know about sonnets?
Have you ever read or listened to a sonnet?
Do you have a favorite sonnet?
Have you ever written a sonnet?
If you were to write a sonnet, what or who would be your subject?
13 How to Write an Ekphrastic Poem
Would you like to write an ekphrastic poem?
“Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. ”
Let’s begin:
Consider the Ekphrasis:
When preparing to write an ephrastic poem, first remember the form. The word “ekphrasis” is derived from Greek words that sum up the meaning “description.” An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a work of art. As the poet engages with the art, the meaning or the piece is explored and amplified. While it is true that the first ekphrastic poets produced detailed descriptions of the art, modern writers of this form not only interpret the work on a visual level, but also confront and even inhabit the piece, in dialog with the artist and even the art itself. And so, again, the ekphrasis is all about describing something someone has created: a painting, a sculpture, a dance, a pot. That’s it! Your poem can take any form. You can rhyme, but you do not have to rhyme. All you have to do is to make your choice of what to observe and your choices of perspective and form, and then simply observe the piece, interact with it, and describe the art: make your choices, interact, and respond!
Here is a chart that I have created that may be helpful as you begin this process of writing an ekphrastic poem. Just click here to bring up the Google Doc.
Step One - Choose the Art:
Find a work of art like a painting or a sculpture that you find fascinating. You can view the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art , the MoMA, the National Gallery of Art online, and this Google search on famous paintings is a nice tool to use too. After you make your choice, list the details of the piece and a few notes regarding your initial reaction to this work. As you make your first observations, you may want to ask questions such as:
How does this artwork make me feel?
What are the first things I notice about this?
What is my experience as I look at this work?
Does the work remind me of anything: are any memories triggered?
Is there something that I can compare to this work?
Step Two - Choose Your Perspective and Your Tone:
There are several ways you can interact with the art before you- yes, and a number of perspectives you can take when describing art. You may choose to write as the viewer and just straight out, describe the scene that you observe. If you do this, you would note the colors, objects, and the placement of the composition. Maybe when you are looking at the art, your thoughts go more towards the creator of the piece. If this is the case, then, you may choose to take the perspective of the artist as you would think that person felt as they created the work. Just imagine a story about how that creator produced the art itself, taking the voice of the artist at work. Or, you may enjoy taking the perspective of one of the images inside the work. When I think of this, I think of all of the moving paintings in Hogwarts. If you do not know what I am talking about, it’s no big deal, just Google it to learn more, or move on.
Your poem could be your experience you have talking with the people or simply enjoying the landscape. If there are people involved in what you are viewing, you may like to think about what activities they are doing or - what they did after the moment they were captured in the painting or sculpture. Consider, when they moved from that spot depicted in the piece, where did they go? Or, perhaps, you would like to imagine a conversation that they are having. You may like to join them - walk into the piece, and get involved.
The tone, your attitude towards the subject, is your choice too. While the ode is all about praise and certainty, with the ekphrastic poem, your are free to be matter-of-fact, celebratory, solemn, inquisitive, or disdainful. Again, the choice is all yours.
Step Three - Choose Your Form:
Choose the writing format you will use. For ekphrastic writing in general, any genre works: a letter, a song, a story, a poem. But for this class, we are focusing on the poetic response. Even so, with this again, you have choices. You can select any type of poetic writing that you want to choose: the sonnet, the villanelle, the ode, an acrostic. Acrostics are fun with this because you can write the title down vertically, and for each letter write something that comes to mind about the artwork you are viewing. You may just want to write in free verse with no parameters whatsoever. It’s your choice, and so make it.
Step Four - Observe Closely and Write:
Observe the art. Engage with it. Interact with your selection, and write your ekphrastic poem utilizing all of the choices you’ve made in subject perspective, and form. Don’t forget to breathe and enjoy the process.
Step Five - Revise and Rewrite:
When you feel that you have written all that you can and have that sense of closure, review your work. Revise if you feel you need to change. Rewrite if you notice something out of place.
Step Six - Edit:
After reviewing for needed changes, it always go to go over your work again on more detailed level. Correct any errors in spelling and grammar that stand out to you.
Step Seven - Celebrate:
Reread it through again, and enjoy the flow. Celebrate your work! This that you now hold in your hands is something you have created - how wonderfully beautiful!
Step Eight - Share:
Do not forget to share your poem. Place it in the comments below; I would love to read it!
My Ekphrastic Poem:
My Inspiration: The Great Wave or simply The Wave, a woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai.
Okinami
Okinami – mighty in the open ocean
off Kanagawa—Two fishermen's boats climb
The mountain, Fuji .
Blue and blue and blue and white
Rowing, reeling, rising roar
Okinami – mighty in the open ocean
Centered solid permanent
Wall of water
The mountain, Fuji.
Beautiful
Ominous
Okinami – mighty in the open ocean
Capped in white
And a white spray
The mountain, Fuji.
Rising cloud in pinkish sky
The guard whispers,
“Closing time.”
Okinami – mighty in the open ocean
The mountain, Fuji.
Questions
What is the title of the art pice you have selected as your subject, and who created it?
Why did you select this particular art piece to write about?
How many lines are in your poem?
What do you like most about your poem?
How did you engage with the art?
12 An Ekphrastic Poem to Consider
Do you have a favorite ekphrastic poem?
An Ekphrastic Poem to Consider:
“Dissonance / (if you are interested) / leads to discovery.”
The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams:
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
In Greece, aside from Homer’s use of the form when describing the shield of Achilles’ in his epic The Illiad, the ekphrasis was used in schools as an educative tool. Scenes were set up, like still life sets are for visual artists, and students were asked to write vivid descriptions of what they observed. It was fascinating for me to read this because, when I first began teaching, I used to do the same for my students. I think I will do that again! Who knew I was working in the parameters of ancient Grecian thought!
Today, so often we think of a ekphrasis as solely reserved to describe fine art; however, depending on how it is described, any object will do. Take this wheelbarrow in William Carlos Williams’ The Red Wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow is such a common object. With one wheel on the ground, it is pushed around here and there, bearing various weights: dirt, manure, stones. Here, its weight is described in its worth. “So much depends” Williams writes, “upon the red wheel/barrow.”
Everything about the poem communicates this theme of the importance of the lowly wheelbarrow and just how extraordinary the ordinary can be. By using the wheelbarrow as the subject of a poem, the object is instantly elevated. The wheelbarrow itself is an object “glazed” - a word often used to describe finely crafted pottery. Here, nature itself, has provided the glaze: rain. The structure of the poems also expresses the importances of what is small. There is an economy of word use and selection. The lines move in a pattern from three words to one. All of the words are simple and all are kept small - written in the lowercase. In this economy, the word “wheel” is written to stand alone. This rounded shape together with the colors “red” and “white” pop out from the poem, as if it were a painter’s canvas. Also, in keeping wheel out - again we think on that one aspect of the wheel barrow - meditate on the significance on the wheel for a while, it is the same concept. Just think of the human relationship with the wheel. How very important in making our lives easier is that one simple invention.
Questions
What type of ekphrasis is this?
How many lines are in this poem?
Do you see any repeating words or phrases?
What imagery stands out to you?
Does the writer employ figurative language? If so, explain.
What is your interpretation of this poem?
How do the words make you feel?
Does this work inspire you in any way?
11 Homer and the Ekphrasis
Who is your favorite writer of ekphrastic poetry?
Naples National Archaeological Museum, public domain.
“Sing, O muse, of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.”
The Writers Ekphrastic
Eking out a description, seeping out of its shape - lucid and vividly describing something made - a thing of inspiration - a dance, a song, a box on a wall - even a wheelbarrow - red by the chickens - Writers - observing - dialoging - reading and responding - all ~
Homer
Living in the 9th or 8th center BCE, Homer was born in Ionia. Most known for the epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, his literary feats have been influencing writers for ages. Because his poems were used widely for educative purposes, he was highly influential in shaping Western culture with ideals connected with unity and heroism. Throughout time, Homeric phraseology, meter, as well as content has provided structure for various thinkers and writers alike.
It is well known that the Homeric tradition originated as an oral one. Poetry - in its very beginnings was fashioned to be proclaimed and passed down by word of mouth from one generation to another. The reciter and the responder, were each important to the continuous cycle of learning and valuing of words and sound and story. Without writing - the words lived like fire - burning down and and being rekindled by the great poets of old. For Homer, the poet is aoidos, “singer.” Poets of his works such as Phemius and Demodocus in the Odyssey sang both for the nobles and for the commoners too. Unlike Homer’s epics, these poems were short, for singular occasions.
Today, I highlight Homer because I am in the middle of my study regarding the ekphrasis, and his name came up. Homer is recognized as being the first to write an ekphrasis. In Book 18 of the Illiad from lines 478 to 608, Homer sings of the shield of Achilles - the shield used in battle between Achilles and Hector. He writes, and words describe image, illuminating the object.
There is a story that goes with this shield. It is brand new, fashioned by Hephaestus, the smith-god of the underworld, at the request of Thetis, a sea-nymph and the young Achilles’ mother. When Achilles receives the shield, Homer stops the narrative nature of his poem, and moves into minute detail. He describes the weight of this shield and the shape of it: it is round and heavy. He talks about the shine of it and the design of it. The shield is shining and glittering and has folds. After this basic introduction to the object, the poet speaks of what this god modeled into the metal: the world including the sky and the seas. The cosmos too: the sun, the moon, stars and their constellations. And two cities are depicted, one a city at war and one at peace.
I am amazed at the length of these poems The Illiad and The Odyssey especially in light of the fact that they were composed during the time of oral poetry. They could not easy be recited at one sitting. I suppose they were told in sequences, and perhaps are collections of a life time of this important poet, Homer.
Resources
Brouwers, Josho. “The shield of Achilles.” Ancient World Magazine. 27 July 2015. https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/the-shield-of-achilles/ Assessed 10 September 2021.
James A. W. Heffernan. “Ekphrasis and Representation.” <i>New Literary History</i>, vol. 22, no. 2, 1991, pp. 297–316. <i>JSTOR</i>, www.jstor.org/stable/469040. Accessed 6 Sept. 2021.
Heffernan, James A. W. Museum of Words: The Poetics of Ekphrasis from Homer to Ashbery. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2008. Print.
"Homer." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 14 Nov. 2019. school-eb-com.scsl.idm.oclc.org/levels/high/article/Homer/106285. Accessed 6 Sep. 2021.
Homer, The Iliad. https://flamingo-aqua-klf6.squarespace.com/config/pages/606efa9c796b2013faf0dcd7 Assessed 6 Sept. 2021
Williams, Julie A. “Homer.” Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2021. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=88258768&site=eds-live.
Questions
What do you know about Homer?
Have you ever read or listened to anything written by Homer?
Does Homer inspire you?