Thread: Annunciation
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Unread 03-17-2003, 10:52 AM
Rhina P. Espaillat Rhina P. Espaillat is offline
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There's so much to admire in this poem that it's hard to know where to begin: with the opening that compliments the reader by drawing on his memory, not only of this painting but of others to contrast with it; the vivid language to match startling images; the perfect choice of details; the contrast between the near-violence of the verbs in the octave and those quiet ones in the sestet; the narrowing of the focus at the end to the purely human look of the person confronting "the divine." And, of course, the meter, so like the loose, roving accentuals of Spanish! Nice innovation in the rhyme scheme of the octave, too.
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