[arioch]

"A wonderful thread. Here is a poem of mine due to appear in the Sewanee Review."

Dear Arioch,
This isn't the place to post your own work.
Post it to one of the critical forums, if you want feedback, or to Accomplished Members, if you want to have a bit of a brag.
Best regards,
David


Dear David,

I have no need to brag. I posted this because it deals with
a type of art work neglected in this thread. And I notice that while you removed my posting, you left the others that
also posted their own work intact. I guess I don't belong to the in crowd which is necessary in order to have one's transgressions overlooked. I can take a hint, and have.
arioch


[This message has been edited by arioch (edited September 09, 2003).]

[David Anthony]

Whoops!
Tracking back through the thread, I've just realised you're not the only perp. Apologies; I didn't mean to pick on you.
I'm surprised at the number of people who ought to know better, who've had the temerity to post their poems here as examples of Mastery.
Regards,
David

[Clive Watkins]

Hans Magnus Enzensberger’s fine sequence of poems “The Sinking of the Titanic” (1977) contains several sections which are ekphrastic in character, with titles such as “Apocalypse. Umbrian master , about 1490” and “The Rape of Suleika. Dutch, late 19th Century”.

His own very effective translation is available new from Carcanet Press (Manchester UK) and second-hand.

Clive Watkins

[Mark Blaeuer]

I noticed a classified ad in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers (page 97) for a magazine devoted to ekphrastic poetry. Their website: www.hometown.aol.com/ekphrasis1 . I haven't seen a copy of Ekphrasis, but it seemed worth a mention on this thread.

[This message has been edited by Mark Blaeuer (edited September 08, 2003).]

[RCL]

David and others concerned, here's a sentence from Alicia's intitial post:

I'm interested in what favorite ekphrastic poems folks here may have. Or any ekphrastic poems of your own? Any thoughts on this topic?

Cheers,

------------------
Ralph

[A. E. Stallings]

Sorry folks. I sneaked off for the weekend and wasn't here for this misunderstanding.

As this is a topic rather than a poet I don't mind--and explicitly invited--folks to post their own poems, particularly if they have any insight into the process or had any difficulties/concerns to share. Sorry about any confusion.

As for the title "Musing on Mastery," I find it limiting and potentially troublesome, as I think I've mentioned before. I see this principally (with occasional exceptions) as discussion of "third party" poetry, as opposed to a workshop forum. To limit this to universally-acknowledged masters (or mistresses) would potentially devolve into unfruitful discussions of who could or could not be included. What works--or what DOESN'T work--these are of equal interest to me. So the title "Musing on Mastery" is perhaps misleading.

Anyway, am continuing to enjoy these.

[Rhina P. Espaillat]

In response to Mark's mention of "Ekphrasis," yes, it's a fine magazine. The editors are Laverne and Carol Frith, and the address is 161236, Sacramento, CA 95816-1236. I've had poems in it several times, and have always been glad of the company in there with me.

[Susan Vaughan]

Just in case anyone didn't realize, some of us are also posting our own apprenticely ekphrastic attempts in the current thread in the fun-excise section and I'm sure would be interested in comments on what works or doesn't among them.

[robert mezey]

I'd intended, when I could find the time, to talk about Henri Coulette on this thread. He was, to my mind, one of the four or five best poets of his time; hell, come to that, he's one of the four or five best of our time. Here's an ekphrastic poem of his, a very early one:


INTAGLIO

I have a picture in my room in which
Four gawky children strike a pose and stare
Out at the world without a worldly care.
Three girls and a boy in a paper hat:
The one too much a mouse to be a bitch,
The bitch, the actress, and the acrobat.

The roles I give them, half suggested by
The poses that they took, are meaningless,
For they are playing games. It is recess
Or summer--we have interrupted them.
They pose for us, with Agile romping by
And dark-eyed Pensive plucking at her hem.

This is my family. I dust them now
And then, and they return the courtesy
By never growing up. Thus, irony
Becomes a kind of family likeness, treasured
Not for the casual sameness of a brow
But for the attitudes one's mind has measured.

I knew an Agile once. To prove himself
The nimbler one, he pushed his books aside,
And crossed to Europe and the war, and died,
And his agility, which I believed a power
Then, then was gone, and his books on my shelf
Harvest the sunlit dust, hour after hour.

And there was Pensive, too, and everything
She touched was touched with fear. She married well,
Her people said, but marriage proves a hell
For those who marry but the flesh alone.
Who would have known a turn of mind could bring
Such knowledge to a girl? Who would have known?

I think of her, the child with heavy heart,
Heavy with child, and, Child, I think of you
And all the follies you will journey through;
I know them as an author knows his book.
Action and thought are nothing if apart.
Love in a gesture, wisdom in a book--

These are the real births for which we die.
Outside, the neighbor children startle me,
Calling, Allee, alleeoutsinfree.
They cut for home. I hear a whirring skate
Fading through the darkness like a sigh.
I dust the frame and set the picture straight.

I think, despite a few small flaws, that this is very fine.
And speaking of ekphrastic poems, I've written a couple myself that are not altogether without virtue, "Evening Wind" and "Tea Dance at the Nautilus Hotel."

[Rhina P. Espaillat]

What a wonderful poem, this one by Henri Coulette! Everything about it works--the wry regret, the "family history," the sudden arousal from memory by the sound of living children. A beauty! Thank you for posting it.