Of Poems and Art

Greetings,

The following task will require the following:

• your brain (lots of thinking)
• research (books, internet, etc)
• note taking
• lots of patience
• reading
• writing
• a partner (choose wisely) or alone

Observe the following painting below and read the information below it:

Explanation:

Van Gogh’s painting conveys both a sense of furious motion and an atmosphere of serenity: stars radiate in a turbulent sky, yet the town below, whose existence Sexton negates in the first line, appears calm and empty. Sexton, who committed suicide in 1974, longs for the oblivion of death, as if death were but to disappear  “into that rushing beast of night / sucked up by that great green dragon”.  The poem is not so much a howl of pain, but rather an urgent expression of an all-consuming desire – the irrepressible desire to be overpowered by a force greater than oneself.

The Poem:

The Starry Night, Anne Sexton (1961)

The town does not exist
except where one black-haired tree slips
up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.
The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars.
Oh starry starry night! This is how
I want to die. 

It moves. They are all alive.
Even the moon bulges in its orange irons
to push children, like a god, from its eye.
The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.
Oh starry starry night! This is how
I want to die: 

into that rushing beast of the night,
sucked up by that great dragon, to split
from my life with no flag,
no belly,
no cry.

Your Task: 

Just like the poem about the "Starry Night" above by Van Gogh, you and your partner must read and decipher the following poem.  The purpose of this is for you to find clues and references that associate the poem with a mystery painting.  You must be clever in finding key words and phrases that will help you to identify many clues such as the artist and title of the painting.  Use annotating when deciphering the poem.  You and your partner will be responsible for emailing me a 1-page response explaining using text-based evidence and research why your chosen painting is the one that the poem is referring to.  Include and image and title of the painting.  This is due on Friday May 9th by 12:00am.  This is a formative assessment so please be diligent, and put forth 100% effort into this assignment.

Within your writing, please use sentence starters such as: 

"Within this painting there are several key points that ..."

"According to the poem, it states that ...."

"In line 5 of the poem, it states that ... and this proves that..."

"The painting clearly shows that ... and this is similar to the poem in line..."


Feel free to email me if you have any questions.


jesus.martinez@animo.org

The Poem: 

The over-all picture is winter
icy mountains
in the background the return 

from the hunt it is toward evening
from the left
sturdy hunters lead in 

their pack the inn-sign
hanging from a
broken hinge is a stag a crucifix 

between his antlers the cold
inn yard is
deserted but for a huge bonfire 

that flares wind-driven tended by
women who cluster
about it to the right beyond 

the hill is a pattern of skaters
Brueghel the painter
concerned with it all has chosen 

a winter-struck bush for his
foreground to
complete the picture