In class today, we are going to read “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso and compare it to “Crocuses” by Ruth Fainlight and “Building with Its Face Blown Off” by Billy Collins.
For homework, if you choose, write a 200-word comment comparing one of these poems to the painting.
Introduction to Poetry:
Envisioning Poetry
ENG 2003, section 1248
Prof Jody R. Rosen
Spring 2012
W 6:00-8:30
Office Hours:
W 4:00-6:00
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In my personal oppionion, I believe that this poem “Building with face blown off”by Billy Collins, relates more the “Guernica” painting. In this poem it talks about where it states “How the blue and the white striped wallpaper”, it where in the painting has the writing of like a newspaper of some sort. “In a bombed-out city” is like the body parts that are dismembered all over the painting and where it say “of the second story bedroom is now exposed to the lightly falling snow, as if the room had answered the explosion”, I relate to this in the picture there’s like a little window on the top as if it’s the second story floor and it’s the light of hope. Hope of some help.
It is very interesting you were able to pick this out. I read that poem and was not able to get any vivid image of the words. Your connection was well thought out. I went back and try to pick out what you wrote and your right there is a very strong connection between them.
Poetry is an art form in writing that brings out the thoughts of the Poet in a very profound way in stimulating the minds of his/her audience. These thoughts are mostly so inspiring that the Poet is emotionally moved to become very passionate in his writings at times to the point of being in a dream like world. These emotional heights are mostly caused by some kind of an event that tends to excites his senses in a very dramatic way and his thoughts starts to flow ceaselessly into words that captures his imagination in a romantic way at times creating art work of immense greatness. These types of writings has been used since our great past in producing great writings that caused man since, to ponder upon the hidden or assumed meanings in these writings, more so in our many different religions. As it is said, Poets are one of the three kind madness of the world.
Sorry about this posting in the wrong place. It was mistakenly done.
Both poems and painting are very similar because they are both about evil experiences in different time periods. The most similar poem to the painting in my opinion is “Crocuses” by Ruth Fainlight because both painting and this poem show pain, death, suffrage, and much more. Poem “Crocuses” by Ruth Fainlight has a lot of power to it. It is about a very cold time where people had to suffer. It looks like a war time sometimes during WWII because people were naked, hungry, and trucks were waiting for them to send them somewhere ether to die or to suffer. When we look at the painting “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso we can also see how people were suffering. We can also see that people on the painting have hope. On the painting there is a little window with light it shows in my opinion hope that even though people are suffering there is still always little window of hope. Both poem and painting is basically about dark days that people were experiencing during their time, all the confusion that people were experiencing during their existence. Basically both artists were expressing themselves on the paper to show other how they feel.
“Guernica”
Both poems (“Crocuses” and “Building With It’s Face Blown Off”) elicit similar emotions of despair, disgust, sadness, fear, terror, grief, rage, pain and of course much more, in comparison to “Guernica”. However, I would like to focus on “Crocuses” because I had a harder time with this poem.
As mentioned in class “Guernica” represented some form of struggle. Pablo Picasso depicts this struggle with images of naked people and what appears to be animals. Similarly in “Crocuses” the images of the Crocuses-plants? (these crocuses are appalling: pale, bare, tender stems rising through the muddy winter-faded turf) in lines 1-3, along with the people with frightened faces and naked bodies in the second stanza seems to represent some form of struggle. Both authors illustrate this message with descriptive images. In “Guernica” the expression on the people frightened faces, death of what appears to be a baby, and dismembered bodies carries out that message pretty well. In “Crocuses” use of strong adjectives carries out a similar message. One that caught my attention was in stanza 2. Take a look… shivering petals the almost luminous mauve of lurid bruises on the frightened faces. I can be wrong but the emotion that I get from luminous mauve is a positive one (A bright, brilliant color). But when used in the same context of lurid bruises on faces paints an ugly picture! Very contradicting.
Well lastly, in each piece of art the author illustrates hope despite the struggle. In “Guerica”, Picasso paints a person reaching up towards a little window of light which suggests that there is hope, or something better on the other side. Likewise, In “Crocuses” the last stanza…… herded into a forest clearing OR towards a siding where a train has halted and the trucks are waiting, may suggests two outcomes or pathways possibly one better than the other… who knows…. THIS was my interpretation on the poem and how certain things struck out similar to the painting. Any suggestions???????
“Guernica”
Both poems (“Crocuses” and “Building With It’s Face Blown Off”) elicit similar emotions of despair, disgust, sadness, fear, terror, grief, rage, pain and of course much more, in comparison to “Guernica”. However, I would like to focus on “Crocuses” because I had a harder time with this poem.
As mentioned in class “Guernica” represented some form of struggle. Pablo Picasso depicts this struggle with images of naked people and what appears to be animals. Similarly in “Crocuses” the images of the Crocuses-plants? (these crocuses are appalling: pale, bare, tender stems rising through the muddy winter-faded turf) in lines 1-3, along with the people with frightened faces and naked bodies in the second stanza seems to represent some form of struggle. Both authors illustrate this message with descriptive images. In “Guernica” the expression on the people frightened faces, death of what appears to be a baby, and dismembered bodies carries out that message pretty well. In “Crocuses” use of strong adjectives carries out a similar message. One that caught my attention was in stanza 2. Take a look… shivering petals the almost luminous mauve of lurid bruises on the frightened faces. I can be wrong but the emotion that I get from luminous mauve is a positive one (A bright, brilliant color). But when used in the same context of lurid bruises on faces paints an ugly picture! Very contradicting.
Well lastly, in each piece of art the author illustrates hope despite the struggle. In “Guerica”, Picasso paints a person reaching up towards a little window of light which suggests that there is hope, or something better on the other side. Likewise, In “Crocuses” the last stanza…… herded into a forest clearing OR towards a siding where a train has halted and the trucks are waiting, may suggests two outcomes or pathways possibly one better than the other… who knows…. THIS was my interpretation on the poem and how certain things struck out similar to the painting. Any suggestions???????
The painting Guernica” by Pablo Picasso speak volumes of the horror of war. It shows a very chaotic scene with destruction everywhere. This painting depicts the destruction wantonly inflicted on the Spanish nation by the Germans during the Spanish Civil War.
The painting shows the destruction of the ordinary man, woman, and children, innocence people being killed. The way of life is destroyed, the horse, which is man’s best friend and defender in war, his chariot to defend his cause, his people, his country is in total anguish and bewilderment. The word is broken, one is through the horse’s mouth, shows the security of the people and their way of life is destroyed. They become helpless and displaced, having to live in a world of darkness and the dark room shows, trapped in it, with a glimpse of hopes in the people hopes and not on their stark reality.
This painting shows the damages of war, no one wins but destruction, broken bones, broken hearts, and broken hopes dashed against the walls of doom.
I believe that both poems can easily be seen as being related to Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” for various reasons, but I think “Building With Its Face Blown Off” shows readers the same thing the painting shows us. Billy Collins poem describes the inside of buildings one wouldn’t usually see and the painting does also. The visualization that I’m getting from the poem reminds me of Picasso painting. Both works are showing us that “dollhouse” view that Collins mentions. I get the message that both poems are trying to stress which is the tragedy that wars causes, but Collins poem along with the painting helps me see the destruction in a way I would not usually get to see.
When analyzing the poem “Crocuses” by Ruth Fainlight and the painting “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso we can find various similarities between them. I believe both pieces of art express the suffering and agony of a group of people facing death. In the poem “Crocuses” the author gives these beautiful flowers a deadly connotation; she symbolizes the people’s suffering and their agonizing state through the flowers. In the first stanza he calls them appalling which means horror, she also uses other words such as “lurid”, “shivering”, and “ tender” to express a revolting and helpless condition. All these characteristics are shown in “Guernica” as well. I believe that the poem could be use as a description to the scene in the painting because it shows, in words, the horrors people went through during this tragic period. The picture shows ‘naked bodies of men, women and children’ as mentioned in the poem. Their faces ‘Pale, bare, tender stems rising’ show the agony they are going through as well. Both the color of the flowers and the body parts, displayed in the poem and paint, symbolize the theme of death. In the poem Fainlight uses the color mauve, this is a pale bluish purple, and the same color dead bodies have. On the other hand Picasso symbolizes death thought body parts in the painting. As you can see both “Crocuses” and “Guernica” are so alike that one could think them to be from the same author.
Very interesting!! Its amazing how many people can look at a piece of art and have different yet similar interpretations! I certainly agree that one may think that both works were by the same author. But what I enjoyed most, was your interpretation on the expression ………. “the almost luminous mauve
of lurid bruises on the frightened faces”. I interpreted the expression as a style of writing in which the author creatively used and mixed positive and negative adjectives to express the theme of the poem. However you took it a step further noting that the definition of mauve (pale bluish purple) can be compared to the color that dead bodies have. You are so right, I didn’t look at it that way! I guess that brings back to the question what is poetry? An art of writing that promotes freedom of expression/ interpretation.
Reading both poems and observing the painting, Crocuses fits better with the images in the painting. When I read the poem out loud I was able to feel the hurt and visualize the actions. The line “shivering petals the almost luminous mauve of lurid bruises on the frightened faces and naked bodies of men, women, children” from Crocuses was the connection for me to the painting. This line speaks of fear and pain and how people appeared from what was going at the time. The painting demonstrates those same things. The individuals in the painting seem to be screaming and they look scared for their lives. You also see someone laying with their eyes close my initial thoughts of that was this person is dead. This painting represent a very much horrible time for these people. They are in need of change for a better life.