This morning we looked at the painting from Demuth. I was impressed, you guessed pretty well what the painting was about. Then, we commented how to prepare our celebration of book day. Last year you did a great job with your book posters. Molly did a great job too with her description of “book”. Do you remember? This year I hope this poster will inspire you to make your own poster to illustrate your cinquain or haiku.
I have cut and pasted the post I had prepared for first year ESO to your blog. This way you will not need to move to find what to do.
Sometimes, painters have turned to poetry or literature for inspiration and sometimes poets have found inspiration in paintings.
So, I would like to show you two examples of two poems by a famous American poet, William Carlos Williams.
- The first poem was inspired by a painting from Pieter Brueghel, Children’s Games (1560)
In Brueghel’s painting, there are more than 250 children playing all kind of games. Some of the games have not changed much in four centuries. I know the quality of the pic is not so good and the charachters are tiny, but you might recognise some of the games that are still played in the 21st century. No consoles on the horizon.
Have you ever had a Where’s Wally book? Well, if you look carefully at this painting you’ll see that there are many things going on as in Wally’s books.
This is William Carlos Williams’ poem
Children’s Games
William Carlos Williams
I
This is a schoolyard
crowded
with children
of all ages near a village
on a small stream
meandering by
where some boys
are swimming
bare-ass
or climbing a tree in leaf
everything
is motion
elder women are looking
after the small
fry
a play wedding a
christening
nearby one leans
hollering
into
an empty hogshead
II
Little girls
whirling their skirts about
until they stand out flat
tops pinwheels
to run in the wind with
or a toy in 3 tiers to spin
with a piece
of twine to make it go
blindman’s-buff follow the
leader stilts
high and low tipcat jacks
bowls hanging by the knees
standing on your head
run the gauntlet
a dozen on their backs
feet together kicking
through which a boy must pass
roll the hoop or a
construction
made of bricks
some mason has abandoned
III
The desperate toys
of children
their
imagination equilibrium
and rocks
which are to be
found
everywhere
and games to drag
the other down
blindfold
to make use of
a swinging
weight
with which
at random
to bash in the
heads about
them
Brueghel saw it all
and with his grim
humor faithfully
recorded
it
- The second poem of William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) is much shorter and is full of onomatopoeias. This time, the poet did not get inspiration from a painting. It was the other way around. An American painter, Charles Demuth (1883-1935), who was born the same year as the poet was inspired by William Carlos William’s poem The great figure to paint this work.

- Does it look like a detailed photo?
- Is it an abstract painting?
- Does it look like a poster?
- Are details important , as in Children’s games?
- What about colours?
It seems William Carlos Williams wrote The great figure after watching a fire engine streak past him on a rainy Manhattan street.
This is the poem:
The Great Figure
Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
fire truck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city
Try to imagine the sound made by the fire engine passing by, at full speed.
Which instruments would you use to imitate the sounds?
gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling |
Have a look at some pics of fire trucks.
 
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