Ekphrasis

The Challenge

To translate a painting into a poem—the visual into the verbal—usually begins with assembling a description of the canvas’ various parts. But if it ends there, touching only the surface, the poem feels flat, even mechanical.

To my mind, the poet has a greater responsibility: to help the reader forget s/he is viewing one work of art about a second—in other words, is not just at one, but now at two removes from the artist’s original impulse. Ideally, as the Poetry Foundation suggests, the writing should “amplify and expand” the painting’s meaning, whether it be how the writer reimagines the artist’s experience, or is the poet’s own reflective or emotional response. Doing so means looking closer, digging deeper, immersing oneself.

To study and enjoy a rich variety of ekphrastic poems, an excellent website is The Ekphrastic Review.