Today I would like to share the second poem inspired by my trip to the Lady Lever art gallery, pictured above. Wandering around this building, soaking up the art sparked memories of taking 'Greek classics' in college many moons ago. So much art is based on classical Greek mythology, and today's choice is no exception.
I don't want to talk too much about the gallery though, if you would like to learn more about the history of this place check out my post from a few days ago, The Lady Lever Art Gallery - Icarus' Lament.
I will briefly touch on the history of poetry inspired by art which is known as Ekphrastic Poetry.
Ekphrastic Poetry can be defined as a vivid poetic description of a work of art or even a photograph. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the scenes depicted in a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning. This form of poetry is ancient in origin, stretching back to ancient Greece.
One of the earliest and most commonly cited forms of ekphrasis occurs in The Iliad, when Homer provides a long and discursive account of the elaborate scenes embossed on the shield of Achilles. It should be no surprise, then, that the term ekphrasis derives from Greek, where it literally means "description" and was formed by combining the prefix ex- ("out") with the verb "phrazein" ("to point out or explain"). "Ekphrasis" first appeared in English in the early 18th century.
Source
As touched upon in my last Ekphrastic poem Icarus' Lament the legend, or allegory, behind a piece of art can spark modern day comparison. Highlighting the timeless connection between humankind's storytelling, or hint at the cyclic nature of history.
The act of creating Ekphrastic Poetry - especially when combined with research - can truly open new doors to the imagination.
As I'm primarily a free-verse poet, I decided to challenge myself by writing an English (or Shakespearean) sonnet reflecting aspects of the mythology of the three Hesperides. this form of poetry comprises 14 lines of three quatrains and a concluding couplet, with a rhyme scheme of ABABCDCDEFEFGG. Check out the results below and see if you can identify the rhyme scheme.
Dance of the Hesperides
Aurora flash in her silver hair
glinting like shale-washed pearls
as she serenades the sun's flare.
lavender clouds shroud empyrean chapel,
her Elysium song illuminates molten
petals of shinning sacred apples.
in the mingled melody of the spheres
lulling Helios to a slumbering sigh
in eternal rhythm down the years.
day ebbs to night in heavenly tides.
I will be sharing further poems over the next 4-5 days that I wrote in response to art at the Lady Lever gallery.
Thanks for reading, and if you have enjoyed this poem be sure to check back in over the next week for more of the same 📜🙂
All images in this post are my own, taken at the Lady Lever art gallery. If you have enjoyed this poetry/art post please check out my homepage @raj808 for similar content.
Research sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperides
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empyrean
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Helios-Greek-god
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Elysium-Greek-mythology
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ekphrasis
Click banner to visit the community page
Find us on twitter by clicking the banner above.
Interested in trading, buying or selling crypto?
Sign up to Bittrex here.
Sign up to Coinbase here.
Sign up to Swissborg app to instantly buy crypto here.
Use my referral link to sign up for Crypto.com and we both get $25 USD.
If You Have Found Value From this Post and Want to tip extra, Crypto Donations Are Welcomed:
►Donate Ether and ERC20 Tokens: 0x32321615174AF3Da6074Cf79DED8269cA7a8eB24
►Donate Bitcoin: bc1q8wutj8u6ush7s8mucphfxf7gzrexeywmuqm8g3
►Donate Bitcoin Cash: qzt7c0czw0q988h93jvcz2rq5gy0s3h9pg2pk700ev
►Donate Litecoin: Lfsnz3pbT5V9N6WWGRaBsgKs9EvFeqzcPm
►Donate BNB: bnb1xeu94exteel9w3g8g44e6g595kvrqlgzm0crq4
►Donate Monero: 49PovXGcM9Y7JYeRJ35W9xZGrdivvLaMbVtGc3WDv6amCm5wqA854SvJNWxaEqjTz18K5YVPj5D6619C3bvNHsrG7oD1whb
►Donate Tezos: tz1SJUkpeznKE6bEhbX81YFdUQS5BprA4ot8
►Donate XRP: r35quYTThThN7yNvkJxyhLFAPyju3tsT35
Hi @raj808,
Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content.
For more information visit our discord https://discord.gg/8CVx2Am
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the person sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
How do you do that? :)
I had a friend once, a great poet, who used to write verse in sometimes archaic forms--just to challenge herself. It's hard enough for most of us to find the words that express our thoughts. You, and may friend, add another layer of difficulty. True artists. You keep stretching limits, testing boundaries, insisting on creative growth.
The poem, by the way, is lovely. I also appreciated learning about Ekphrastic Poetry.
Hi agmoore
Ha ha, well... the answer is with difficulty. I spent the best part of three hours on that poem, using rhyming dictionary and thesaurus to improve the choice of words, especially verbs. Not to mention all the research as I was unaware of the mythology behind the Hesperides.
Thank you for your feedback & lovely compliment for my writing. I'm always happy when someone reads and enjoys my poems 🙂
P.s. thank you for the tip. Very kind, and much appreciated 🙂
Keep up the good work 💪🏻💯
Thanks temitopemichael.
Will do 🙂
💪🏻💯
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
Excellent poem as always and very good story I learned a little more, keep it up
Thanks a lot Jose. I'm glad these poetry posts spreading some of the history of the ancient myths and how they are reflected in art. I am learning with every post also through the research process 🙂
Your poem is very good and tells a great story. Thanks for sharing.