Snapshot inspiration

Much like the very first prompt I used to write an ekphrastic poem, we were given a series of photographs from which to draw inspiration. The photograph which caught my eye was one of a snowy sidewalk.

 

Winter Morning

 

Silence surrounds me

As I follow frozen footsteps

To nowhere

 

Where will these foredreamers lead me

Under these comforting trees,

Along this frosty path of wonder?

 

My steamy breath does not answer me,

Nor does the sky

Or the mist,

 

But crunching footsteps

Echo in my ears,

Leading me towards the unknown

Deeper into my curiosity.

 

Andrea Vermaak





My first attempt...

The 'early bird' prompt was to write a ekphrastic poem, a poem inspired or about a work of art. Now, I know that the word 'art' alludes to many different forms, but I decided to let inspiration flow from what the layman would call art: a painting.

I chose to draw inspiration from The Lady of Shalott, an 1888 oil painting by English Pre-Raphaelite painter John William Waterhouse (1888). The work, in turn, as I soon found out, is a representation of a scene from Lord Alfred Tennyson’s 1832 poem of the same name. The young woman described is based on Elaine of Astolat in the Arthurian legend, a story I hold very dear to my heart.

I attempted to write my poem, pretending not to know any of the above. I think you will find my interpretation of the image rather different to Waterhouse’s interpretation of Tennyson’s poem. Either way, I find it rather thrilling that my poem is based on a work of art which is based on a poem. I tend to do this somehow...

The Lady of Shallot by John William Waterhouse

Futile Escape

With a heavy heart,

Fair maiden fled

From anguish and despair,

Hope and love had faded,

Leaving only disappointment

To guide her through darkness;

The tapestry of her life

Lay forlorn and forgotten;

Soaked in her tears;

Her dimmed eyes

Darkened as light faded

From her heart;

She lay down to sleep

To dream no more

On her lonely journey

  

By Andrea Vermaak