The
ancient Greeks used the term ‘ekphrasis’ for the skill of describing a thing
with vivid detail. One of the earliest examples of ekphrasis can be found in
Homer’s The Iliad in which the
speaker describes elaborately the shield of Achilles in nearly 150 lines.
Ekphrastic poetry has now come to be defined as poems written about works of art. Along with this, it usually includes how the speaker is impacted by his or her experience with the work.
A
good example is Keats’s Ode on a GrecianUrn.
And sometimes reactions to works of art can be life altering. French artist Jean-François Millet’s painting Man with a Hoe inspired the American poet Edwin Markham to write the poem “The Manwith the Hoe” and it started a national debate about labor rights.
Ekphrastic Poetry is today’s theme. Here are some Ekphrastic poems for your inspiration.
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| Man with a Hoe : Jean-François Millet (1860-1862) |
Anne
Sexton’s “The Starry Night” inspired by Van Gogh’s painting:
U.A.
Fanthorpe’s “Not My Best Side” based on Paolo Uccello’s Saint George and the
Dragon
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| Paolo Uccello’s Saint George and the Dragon (1470) |
William Carlos Williams’ “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” written on Bruegel’s famous painting with the same title.
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| Landscape with The Fall of Icarus (1590-95) |
So, use an artwork of your choice for your inspiration. You might also like to use the paintings used by the poets given here. Now let’s see how words meet the visual art.
