Ekphrastic Poems

The word ekphrasis (or, ecphrasis) comes from the Greek, literally meaning "speak out." The magnetism between literary and visual art speaks to our desire as poets to evoke the visual, as well as the painter's desire to evoke the textual. Writing an ekphrastic poem, or a poem that responds to a work of visual art (usually painting), is like having a conversation. For my part, I would ask the painting "how do you do it?!"

For this class, I brought in William Carlos Williams' "The Great Figure," along with its inspiration, Charles Demuth's "I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold." On a side note, I wish I'd had the time to share this multimedia feast of figure fives! However, we did discuss some of the similarities and dissimilarities between the two pieces, and what was effective about both the painting and the poem.

For the students' own poems, I brought around thirty print-outs of paintings, spanning many styles and centuries, from realistic landscapes and portraits to modern works with fantastic elements and abstractions. It was quite exciting to see their reactions to the paintings! I asked them to describe what they saw, but also to go further and tell the "story" of their painting. Their reactions to this prompt were broad and imaginative - it was real pleasure to read them!

Mr. K., Rm. 205
3rd Grade

Hokusai, The Great Wave
David C.

Waves splashing in deep water,
woosh woosh, happening at
sunset. People struggling to survive.
I feel a little sad if they
die. The colors are white, blue, yellow.
The author drew this picture
to show how people traveled on
water.


Marla Olmstead, Fairy Map
Reymundo A.

The painting of
love. I would hear a whisper
of the wind and birds chirping.
It is in a magical wonderland
full of clouds, yellow rain, some hearts
and a blue person or monster,
and a snake shaped like an
S, also a firefighter hat. The
artist painted it because he
wanted people to find certain
things. It makes me feel calm.
The colors are red, black, purple,
white, dark purple, forest green,
yellow and blue.


Jackson Pollack, [Title Unknown]
Virgen S.

Fall because
of the crunchy leaves. The leaves
would make crunchy leaves. It
is in fall on the ground.
It happens in fall. They are
leaves that live on the
ground. He painted it to be
created. It makes me feel
happy. Gray, blue, red, black, orange,
yellow, tan.

***

Ms. Sandoval-Johnson, Rm. 001
3rd Grade

Jane Frank, Dorado No. 2
Alejandra I.

I see a green and black
dress blowing in the air. The
dress is blown away from
a mountain. I see a horse
And I see a small lake. The
dress has a pocket. And a sandy
place. And water.


Manet, Boating
Brenda B.

I see a man and a woman and a dog sitting in a
boat.
I see the water back and forth.
I see a dog wearing people clothes.
The old lady is crying.
The man is trying to
catch fish.
The dog is wearing
a life jacket.
The old lady's
dress looks like
a big fish.
And lady's
hat looks
like a
garbage.


Mary Cassatt, Woman with Red Zinnia
Samuel P.

A tree and a person
sad sitting
all alone
on the bench
grabbing a
flower just
her no one
in back
of her
only a lot
of trees
in the
sunny
day
nothing moves
and the
grass said
Mary Cassatt
and she is
red like
a tomato
is black
on the
other
side
and
so green
on the
other
side
she
is
looking
down
so down
way down
down
ya down
uh down

***

Mrs. Marfise, Rm. 002
3rd Grade

Magritte, Golconda
Myriam R.

A lot of men coming
down from space
They are coming down to work
beacuse they work at a factory
to get more money. To buy
a house. Because they need to
so they can live. And because
they lost a job. And because
they gave people days off when
the boss said not to give people
a no work day and that is why
they are coming here.

Picasso, The Bullfight
Jose C.

They will go
to Rome they will
fight and who
ever wins gets
the trust.

One day a man said
that he was better
than any other man
then along came another
man and said you want
to fight? So
they went to Rome then
the fight started.
And the men were very
scared, the fight was
on and the man
that said he's
better died.

Jean-Francois Millet, Man with a Hoe
You Are Strong
Shalynn S.

Below the sun like a bird
steaming hot like a running bath
the ground is like an almond
no green grass.
You are strong, don't give up
or else you'll feel like a
piece of dust.

***

Ms. McCormick, Rm. 214
3rd Grade

Jane Frank, Dorado No. 2
Isabel C.

There once was a
desert, the sand was rushing
down very fast like a flute
playing lovely music. It is
like a tree covering a little
pond of water for a man and
his horse. There is a guy
that is Japanese. The man
is lost in the desert looking
for food and water. It is in
1962. There is yellow sand
as yellow as the sun burning
on somebody. The tree is
green as a man's pants and
overalls. The red is so red
it looks like a rose
shimmering very beautiful.


Diego Rivera, The Flower Vendor
Nancy M.

Picking flowers
look like hair
decorate flowers for her house
give to friends
the black looks like night
foot looks like a hexagon.



Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Marcelle Lender Dancing the Bolero in "Chilpéric"
The Dance
Nelly Q.

The lady dancing without a man,
The man just staring like he doesn't care
Music so soft like a cat
Midnight so dark and cold
Colors so dark, so sad and lonely
King and Queen looking at the lady
The man so handsome just staring there
Darkish colors black and white
The lady dancing merrily
The lady even worried, so sad.


Frida Kahlo, Roots
Kiara M.

Back in old Mexico
I love the view
I fall asleep
I find out I fell asleep for millions
of years
I'm wrapped up in leaves
They took my heart
It's gone forever
The vines are like ropes
I'm stuck
The leaves talk to me
They tell me I'm the queen
of grass, leaves, herbs, trees.
I'm the queen of nature
My nature is dying
I wonder why
I sing
They love how I sing.
My nature is alive once again.


Mary Cassatt, Woman with Red Zinnia
My Boyfriend Joe
Laura D.

I went to the park in the warm air.
My boyfriend Joe dumped me for
her. Nature is Joe, everything is Joe. I
feel sad and mad, mixed up in a blender.
I feel I'm trapped in a cube alone with
no one to share the space. My rose demands
me to go back to Joe. I feel part of me
is ripped up and thrown away.

***

Mrs. Rodriguez, Rm. 401
5th Grade


DeMorgan, The Prisoner
Andrea T.

The young beautiful princess
wearing a blue dress
looking outside the window
in a fall afternoon. She is
sad because her prince
has not come to free her
from her dark misery.

Vermeer, The Girl with the Pearl Earring
Sigitas A.

Loneliness
a lonely girl
in a dark room
who has nothing to cheer about
she has blond hair
with hazel eyes
a brown overcoat
rests on her shoulders
I can tell
she is saying "goodbye"

Monet, Waterlillies (1914)
Ryan V.

A large lake
a giant rainbow
full of lily pads
a frog's heaven
tulips in bloom
such a cheery pond

Nakamura Daizaburo, Woman Seated by a Stream
Jacqueline M.

Of a Japanese Mona Lisa
It's nature running on her
Like 2D figures.
It's making me feel
A lot of feelings
Right! so he could let his
feelings. A Japanese lady sitting
quietly.

Bracquemond, On the Terrace
The Wedding
Alexandra

A wedding
The sound is the song for the wedding
They are orange, brown, white and rectangles
It feels sad or happy
Yes, someone from your family is getting married
So it could be nice and colorful
People, somebody is getting married.

***

Ms. Breen, Rm. 201
3rd Grade

Bracquemond, On the Terrace
Diego L.

3 fancy people from the 1800s
they are making a deal
for a house the lowest it costs is
$20,001. I will take it. They are
in the backyard.

Mary Cassatt, Woman with Red Zinnia
A Guy in a Party Dress
Jocelyn M.

A boy in a dress
and a flower in her hand and he's
sitting on a bench waiting for a
bus and he's thinking if she
looks like a girl in a dancing
beauty dress in dress shoes.

Picasso, Three Musicians
Julie G.

3 musicians
2 instruments
an opening mouth
tiny hands
sounds like Mexican
music
music notes for you
and me to follow
forever

Paul Cezanne, L'Estaque
The Purple Lake
Jennifer F.

A big purple lake
is part of the big blue ocean
The lake has land lots and lots
of people travel in that purple lake.
Anyone who sails in the purple lake
never comes back to tell the story
so that's why people walk on land
to the other side
when they get there
a boat picks them up
after the sailor take them
around the purple lake
to where they want to go.

Picasso, The Old Guitarist
Jose V.

Man playing
guitar
laying down on the floor
looking straight
at his feet
man white hair
ripped shirt
with pants
old and sad
guitar

Marla Olmstead, Fairy Map
A Quilt
Cynthia M.

A quilt
with
lots
of
colors
flowers
white
necklace
green
person
white
blue
buttons
hats
watermelon
spine
birds
seahorse
eating
food
hearts
butterflies
seas