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  #1  
Unread 05-04-2008, 08:19 PM
Richard Wilbur Richard Wilbur is offline
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Barcelona

Above Placa Real the palm trees nod
like caged giraffes. Pubescent prostitutes,
dressed-up in ra-ra skirts and Lurex boots
patrol their pitch. As evening falls an odd
pink light pervades the patched Baroque arcade.
A girl steps from the shadows, face aglow,
like some doomed saint by Caravaggio;
her sallow beauty mocks the drab parade.
Across the faded square a duo plays
upon accordion and clarinet,
up-beat and strangely phrased, 'Those Were the Days'.
Fooled by the atmosphere of veiled regret,
we quietly deny what we became,
pretending yet, 'our dreams are still the same.'

blank
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"Barcelona" is a Baudelairean city sonnet, which begins with a striking image of palms as caged giraffes. The "caged" aspect of that image leads on to other negatives like patched, drab, and faded, but there are also pink light, beauty, and music. The atmosphere is tawdry, sad, exotic, and romantic. This well-executed sonnet is a bit confusing as to point-of-view. The opening lines are generalizing and observational. Then we have a close-up of a beautiful girl, and must decide whether she is one of the patrolling prostitutes: line 8 perhaps says that, though she is pale and sickly, her beauty contrasts with the other hookers passing by. Then the sestet gives us music -- the forced gaiety of a Beatles tune -- and the speaker is no longer an observer but part of an inclusive "we." Is the speaker now to be seen as one of the parade, or as one of their customers, or simply as a deluded member of humanity?


[This message has been edited by Richard Wilbur (edited May 12, 2008).]
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  #2  
Unread 05-04-2008, 08:21 PM
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Rose Kelleher Rose Kelleher is offline
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There were several contenders for the sixth spot: "Food," "I'll Call Him Art," "Finale," and "A Coat, a Hat and a Gun" – all of which I'll comment on later (I know, small consolation, sorry). In the end I chose this one because I first read it several years ago, and I've never forgotten it. Its memorability is proven. Those giraffes, but especially that line, "like some doomed saint by Caravaggio," have stuck with me since I first read this sonnet in 2003.

I still have no idea what a ra-ra skirt is, or Lurex, but somehow the specificity makes the picture more vivid for me, even though I'm making up some of the details in my mind's eye.
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  #3  
Unread 05-04-2008, 08:50 PM
Janet Kenny Janet Kenny is offline
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This is nice. Quaint and glitzy at first then graceful and introspective and beautiful. Like a distant tango. Marvellous metrical seduction and suave rhyme.
Just great.
Janet


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Unread 05-04-2008, 09:17 PM
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Rick Mullin Rick Mullin is offline
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This is memorable, with the Caravaggio girl and the music and song lyrics at the end. And the giraffes. It moves fluently through a lot of beautiful language, none of it wasted, as it paints a scene and sets a mood. Nice pick.

RM
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Unread 05-04-2008, 09:30 PM
Simon Hunt Simon Hunt is offline
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Great poem, yes, but a couple questions:

1) Am I the only one who wants to know a little more about the "we" in the last few lines?

2) How does the first line scan? My ear wants to make it start with two anapests (and therefore a foot short). Is it in fact iamb trochee iamb? Or is Placa accented on its second syllable (if so, wouldn't it call for an accento escrito [sp?]?), thus making the whole poem regularly iambic? (And if it is as regular as that, is that a problem?)

Questioningly yours, --Simon
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  #6  
Unread 05-04-2008, 09:53 PM
John Hutchcraft John Hutchcraft is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Simon Hunt:
How does the first line scan?
I think the poet intends: iamb, trochee, iamb, iamb, iamb (just as in L6).

I think I share Simon's second question. I too would've liked a little more story to go with the atmospherics, but the "atmosphere of veiled regret" is terrifically well-captured. It's a very fun read.
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Unread 05-04-2008, 09:57 PM
Simon Hunt Simon Hunt is offline
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Quick follow-up to John's: I hear line 6 (as the whole poem, bar perhaps line 1) as regular IP.
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Unread 05-04-2008, 10:38 PM
John Hutchcraft John Hutchcraft is offline
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Huh, really? Well, hell, Simon. I can't hear "from" taking more stress than "steps" - and I thought that it was an expressive substitution, the second beat's coming more suddenly than expecting mimicking the girl's suddenly stepping out from the shadows.

Tomayto, tomahto!
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Unread 05-04-2008, 11:08 PM
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Mary Meriam Mary Meriam is offline
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Can't say how I'd scan L1, since I don't know how Placa Real is pronounced. L6 has a delicate spondee-ish feeling in the second foot. L12 starts nicely with a trochee. Otherwise, I hear iambs throughout. I don't mind wondering who "we" are. The poem is like a dream or a Fellini movie. I think the secret of the couple is hidden in the preceeding descriptions, like dream interpretation.
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  #10  
Unread 05-04-2008, 11:19 PM
Janet Kenny Janet Kenny is offline
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aBOVE PLAca reAL the PALM trees NOD
is how I assumed it was stressed. A luminous poem I think. Those caged giraffes! Just wonderful.
It's a shame that moment when the girl steps from the shadows didn't coincide with the quatrain's beginning but that's not a serious matter. I love it.
Janet
(edited out "lunimous" but isn't that a good word?)

[This message has been edited by Janet Kenny (edited May 04, 2008).]
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