Appreciation of Literature and Film

Hunger

I could hold you like this

forever,

Wrapped in your arms

That feel like oceans

I could swim in for years and

Never reach the other end.

I could trace the lines

Of your face with

My finger, caressing

mountains and canyons

That I will never see.

I kiss you fervently

As if I am a starving bird

And you are the only

source of food I can get.

I do starve for you,

Though I do not know you.

I call you my lover

And embrace you as such,

Yet I will never truly

Know who you are.

I love you.

The artwork I decided to base my poem on is a painting titled “The Lovers.” What intrigued me the most about this piece of art was the relationship between distance and intimacy. I did not intentionally draw inspiration from any poet or poem, but possibly subconsciously borrowed a few poetic techniques. I did not attempt to explain the art but used it as a starting point to describe the feelings it left me with. There’s a sense of longing that I feel when I look at the painting. The lovers are intertwined in an intimate embrace but cannot see each other at all. It leaves me wondering how intimate this experience can really be. I chose to use these very short lines to mimic the fleeting nature of intimate moments. The imagery I used reflects how one can feel incredibly connected and essentially unknowable to the other person. Despite their physical closeness to one another, they will never fully understand each other.

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                                                        Moments of Perfection

                                                          By: Caroline Schieck

She stands dazzling in the sunlight,

In the mindset of the street 

Everything was perfect, head to toe.

Her beauty instantly blurs the city, 

Her presence alarms others without even trying. 

Perfection was her only thought .

Her eyes widen through her dimmed sunglasses,

She instantly froze at the image in front of her .

Flashy and bright, the window attracts from inside out

How can something be so perfect ? 

Disregarding her duties she drops her arms free, 

Her heart trembles while her body stays still.

Unable to find the words,

A smile comes off her face.

She walks away consumed 

Though everything else is still frozen.

Poem Explanation: 

I based my poem off of a picture taken from the movie, Breakfast At Tiffanys. Audrey Hepburn is the main focus of this photograph and I wanted to express how she feels personally, while also conveying the impact she makes on others. I explained the piece by creating a picture for the reader. I wanted them to feel like they were experiencing this moment by embracing imagery through emotions and senses. Each line is strategically cut at a certain point. Every line possesses their own thought, emotion and feeling. I purposely used words like, “dazzling”, “Perfection” and “Flashy and bright” to describe the overall image without actually revealing the photo . This image takes place in the midst of a busy city, therefore I thought the best way to make Audrey stand out is to incorporate a “blurring” component. I focused on using her beauty as a way to dim the background. Overall, I did not emulate a specific poem or poet, I rather took the language from past poems I have read and composed it into my own explanation of this picture. 

Kyra Thompson

Lowcountry Waterway 

Tall marsh grass swaying in the breeze 

Tide rising and falling through the day 

Many creatures coming in from the seas 

The views take your breath away 

The trees are almost mystic 

The way they curve out and grow 

It makes it look artistic 

Providing shade for those below 

Peaceful places taken for granted

Beautiful views that few will see 

It almost feels enchanted 

So close to the sea 

But we don’t want to share 

We don’t it want to be ruin 

Too many people pollute the air 

But they are just being human 

Keep the creeks quiet 

Don’t make a sudden move 

These places are very private 

To spend a quiet afternoon 

I decided to keep my lines shorter, but not too short, enough length to form thoughts. I did not have a particular poet that we read in mind but many did the same thing. I decided to subtly rhyme  or close to it every other sentence. I wanted to explain the painting but also how I felt looking at it. As well as my associations with the painting and what I think about when I see marshes. Growing up in Charleston I have grown to love marshes and find them very fascinating. Which is why I decided to use this picture. I focused primarily on the art itself and my thoughts on the nature of the painting. I had a few word choices like to say ruin instead of ruined to make it closer to rhyme with human. As well as using sea to rhyme with see. I wanted to have words that sounded similar to each other in every other line, so most of my lines were constructed around the last word specifically. 

Samantha Wilson

László Mednyánszky, Old Man’s Death, 1890

Oh, the Old Man’s Death! 

His life had been long, but the end was a fight. 

His body weak, his spirit strong.  

His words at lost, his eyes full of sorrow.  

His life becomes a memory as he sinks into the bed. 

A single candlelight of hope, 

Lighting up the show behind the curtains.  

Where do we go when the time comes?  

Across the sea, under sunset, or into the darkness with our fears? 

The cloak of darkness, creeping in the shadows  

A silent comfort, a thief who whispers of the end. 

Gazing upon those he claims his own.  

Holding your fate between the curtains.  

Is he a friend or an enemy?  

A guide to the unknown,  

to the next adventure, 

Where fear and sorrow fade 

Where peace is embraced. 

He will know the right passage. 

He looks onto all of us.  

Coming with no mercy and no bargaining. 

Let go of your worries and fear.  

Accept his embrace. 

We must all go and find that final place.  

Under the sunset or behind the darkness. 

Oh, the Old Man’s Death! 

I didn’t try to emulate a certain poem or poet, but I think that there are certain points in the poem that I emulated some of the poems we have read for the class. For example, when I added the question at the end of some of the verses. When I first saw this painting all I could see was death but as I looked at it more, I noticed that patch of sunlight that was behind the curtain. For me I was trying to elaborate on the subject matter and explain the art by talking about death and afterlife by paying attention to the reaper, old man, the candlelight, and the setting. I focused more on the art than on the artist. I did do some research about the artist but when I wrote the poem it was based on the artwork not who the artist was. I broke the verses up where I did because it seems to flow better, and I broke up the lines like I did because I felt like it brought more meaning to the message. Like to break the lines let go of your worries and fear/ accept his embrace. It felt more dramatic and powerful than if it was one sentence. There were key words I wanted to use such as the title of the poem, “cloak of darkness”, and “behind the curtains” because it related to the artwork. But some of my other word choices were made to bring a certain feeling and affect to the painting/poem.  

In shadows deep, a monarch’s gaze does fall,

Upon his son, a scene of dread and woe.

In art’s embrace, their story does enthrall,

A tale of power, anguish, and sorrow’s flow.

Ivan, the Terrible, his name a shroud,

In crimson cloak, a tyrant’s guise displayed.

Beside him, his own flesh and blood, unbowed,

Yet in their eyes, a haunting tale conveyed.

Upon the canvas, whispers of the past,

A father’s fury, a son’s silent plea.

In strokes of pain, a legacy amassed,

A dynasty’s descent into history.

O artist, with your brush, you capture well,

The weight of deeds that time can’t erase.

In hues of anguish, sorrow starts to swell,

A tragedy immortalized with grace.

Let this tableau serve as a solemn vow,

To heed the lessons history imparts.

Lest we forget, beneath power’s proud brow,

Lies the fragility of human hearts.

Explanation: In crafting this poem in response to the painting of Ivan the Terrible and his son, I drew inspiration from some of the poems we have read in class. While I didn’t aim to emulate a specific poet or poem, I tried to echo the emotional depth and vivid imagery found in Romantic poetry, as well as the contemplative tone usually found in ekphrastic poetry.

My primary goal was to encapsulate the distressing narrative depicted in the painting and tried to evoke a visceral response from the reader. I aimed to balanced between describing the artwork and delving into its emotion, allowing the imagery to speak for itself while also combining it with my own interpretation of the subject.

By breaking the lines at certain points, I aimed to emphasize certain themes and moments within the painting, such as the contrast between power and vulnerability, the weight of history, and the human tragedy apparent in the scene. Some key word choices, like “shadows,” “anguish,” “tyrant,” and “legacy” were selected to produce specific emotions and contribute to the overall atmosphere of the poem.

Ultimately, I tried to focus on conveying the relationship between father and soon, as well as broader themes of power, mortality, and vulnerability and heartbreak. Through certain word choice and attention to language, structure, and imagery, I attempted to create a poem that not only pays homage to the artwork, but also invites reflection on the universally shared human experience of our own mortality and how it is the ultimate equalizer, no matter who you may be.

Hayes Peterson

February 18, 2024

“Cafe Terrace at Night”

It is getting late now I should be closing soon,

I work again tomorrow and the day after, 

And yet still tomorrow and the day after, 

The stars will shine and the souls will laugh,

Is it really work after all? 

The tables clear out, the buzzing dies down,

The music from down the street echoes, 

Braiding with the conversations of the remaining guests,

Is it really work after all?

The kitchen is closed now,

My drowsiness grows,

Yet my smile remains,

Is it really work after all?

I should be closing now it is getting late, 

But please do not hurry, 

for the night sky dances and the streets sing, 

Is it really work after all?

“Cafe Terrace at Night” by Vincent Van Gogh

While looking for paintings to do for this blog, I stumbled upon this painting by Van Gogh and instantly knew I wanted to do it. The painting gave a very calm feeling as soon as I looked at it. Since the waitress in the cafe seems to be the main focus of the painting I revolved my poem around her. Looking at her reminded me of my years of work experience, and the times when work was very peaceful and didn’t feel like work. The painting makes you feel like you are in a restaurant late at night. And combining this with Van Gogh’s calming night sky brings the viewer peace. Looking at the painting I felt like I could hear the whispers of the remaining guests and the buzzing of a late night street so I also incorporated that into my poem as well. I have worked in a restaurant and a garden nursery so I felt like I could relate to being outdoors while working as well as working late at night. Both of these, I feel, are calming experiences so I tried to stress this in my poem.

From Up There, 2023, watercolor and oil on canvas by Warner Westbury

“Memory Suspended”

• by Camryn Dunlap

As I am tossed in every direction,

As life sends one wave after the next

This is what I remember.

This is what I long for.

This moment is frozen.

A piece of time bobbing forth from the depths of my mind

So small, so insignificant,

but then again, it is those moments we miss the most

running with a friend,

jumping on a trampoline,

the sounds of bare feet hitting the ground and birds chirping

I miss the feeling of the sun on my skin,

and the smell of carefree play.

These moments of seemingly endless contentment

are suspended in time,

like corks on the surface,

but washed away with every wave.

Explanation:

The painting I chose to write my ekphrastic poem about is called, “From Up There” by Warner Westbury, a college of Charleston Student. I chose this painting because it gave me a feeling that it wasn’t just a picture of a girl on a swing, but a childhood memory. The reason I felt this way about the painting was because of the artist’s use of watercolor for the background and oil paints for the image of the swing set and child. For me, memories of childhood are often not entirely clear, but flashes of moments and events. For this reason, I chose to focus on the idea of childhood memories and how we remember them as we grow up. I conveyed how I felt about memories from childhood, and how I often long for the simplicity and carelessness of childhood. I focused more on the art than the artist. I chose to relate waves to memory and how it can be recalled and washed away quickly, but also be a bit murky. I chose this comparison based on the use of watercolor as the background in the painting, but the moment of the girl on the swing is clear.  I chose the location of my line breaks for emphasis on certain words and phrases, specifically the ones detailing the smells, sounds, and feeling of memory.

Don’t be Aphrodite. Be Athena 

By Megan Laack

how did i get here? 

naked and standing on a shell

please. 

i was in Love crazy, stupid-

Love 

so when my boyfriend asked me to pose for him 

i thought? whats the harm its not like anyone will see 

and here i am hanging in the Uffizi 

for all the tourists and complaining 

children to see 

and whats worse is he painted my hair 

*longer* 

just like he always wanted me to do

just like HER hair

my friends warned me 

but what do they know? their love lives are worse than mine

hes a dirty liar. not once did he buy me flowers 

and yet he shows me showered in them 

disgraced 

humiliated 

haunted 

by him and the women he hid from me 

frozen in paint and canvas 

for all of eternity

  I chose the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli because I was enamored by the painting when I saw it for the first time. What struck me- and what I referenced in the poem was the amount of people that were gathered around it that did not seem to understand or care. They took their pictures and moved on. In a way I wrote the poem in the way that Not My Best Side was written: from the point of view of the subject in the painting. However, I chose to focus on the point of view of Venus. I decided to show how many women are so vulnerable and giving when they are in love just to be stabbed in the back. I went completely off script of how the painting “should be” interpreted because I felt that the art itself looked very symbolic of how modern relationships play out. I used breaks in the poem to separate ideas and thoughts. Telling a complete story in the way that stories unfold in real life. In pieces, pieces that individually are not tremendous- but when put together- they mean a great deal.