"The Starry Night" by poet Anne
Sexton is a poem that analyzes the painting "The Starry Night"
by painter Vincent Van Gogh. Her visual analysis implies that “the
black-haired tree” (a cypress) represents death, the final release,
which in turn leads to the stars which are souls burning brightly in
the sky. The clouds are the unseen serpent swallowing the eleven
stars. The unusual color of the moon is orange, and the author
explains that this is because the sky is hot, boiling. Perhaps this
relates to the idea that souls are ascending from the town below, to
the stars to burn up, and eventually be swallowed by the serpent of
the night sky. I think that this poem is confusing because the author
states that the poem was written in a letter from Van Gogh to his
brother, when in fact, she is the author of the poem. The poem does
not explain itself, however, "The Starry Nigh"t is a well known and
popular painting, so many readers will understand what she is referencing. After I understood this I realized that this poem
was an ode to the painting itself. The poet's first stanza, the
introduction implies that the author has found salvation through the
painting's colors and meaning similar to that found in religion.
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ReplyDeleteTo sum it up in one sentence, the greatest thing about Sexton's poem "The Starry Night" is how, using only her words and the language, she is able to describe Van Gogh's work in a such a way that tips its hat to the aspect of contrasting imagery already present in the painting (such as calm vs. wild, simplicity vs. complexity, the bright moon in a dark sky, etc.) while still giving the reader a first-hand account of her own relationship with the piece by adding original personification of some objects and a personal interpretation of their meaning ( for instance, as you mentioned "...one black-haired tree slips / up like a drowned woman...", or my favorite "Even the moon bulges in its orange irons / to push children, like a god, from its eye.").
ReplyDelete*takes a breath*
Basically, the poem accents the painting by giving the reader a description of the work, as well as Sexton's own interpretation of the images, which is a really beautiful if not somewhat morbid one.
Starry Night 2: The Sexton. This time it's personal.
Anne Sexton basically repaints Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night”. She describes the poem in her own way and own words but keeps the same themes of life, death, fire, color, and power. She also uses personification of the objects to portray to the reader her interpretation of the work. Sexton has a unique way of writing. Her poem sounds somewhat vulgar but yet still has a sense of beauty to it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all of your outlooks on The Starry Night. My favorite aspect was the imagery and how she uses all sorts of other things to represent fire. Death is very prevalent throughout the poem. "I want to die." and many other instances throughout the poem reveal a sort of fixation she has with death. This fixation comes out very apparently in Sylvia's death. That trend shows a lot about Anne herself and where her mind is when it comes to life and happiness.
ReplyDeleteIts great to see such a talented poet like Anne Sexton put into words such a great painting that The Starry Night is. It really helps us as the readers look at how deep a painting can be. She helps us put these images of serpents and burning souls in to our heads when we look at this painting. I think this is cool and should be done with other paintings. This can help people who have a hard time understanding a painting and give them a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem "The Starry Night" by Anne Sexton, I personally enjoyed the poem. I think it gives great imagery and helps the reader visualize the actual painting. Overall, I liked it and thought it was pleasant. This poem is something that I would really like reading on a regular bases, and I liked the way she wrote. I am not really the type of person that really likes poetry but i did like this one. It was really cool to have a poem to read after being familiar with the painting "The Starry Night".
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