I was very struck by this poem which Lorenzo quoted in his comment on my Cornflower Blue post recently - so I reproduce it here.
Words to Accompany a Bunch of Cornflowers
Those beads of lapis, even the classical
Blues of dawn, are dimmed by comparison.
When I hand you this bunch of cornflowers
The only other color in the room
Illumines your eyes as you arrange them.
They are the blue reflection of whatever
Moves in you, serene as cool water tipped
Into crystal, oddly enough the willing bride
To a cloudy head of melancholy
So deeply blue it could prove musical.
This is the blue John Lee Hooker’s gravelly
Voice in the sundown field was looking for.
This is the unrequited dream of an iris.
Ice blue, spruce blue, little periwinkle blue—
Nothing else that dies is exactly so blue.
Blues of dawn, are dimmed by comparison.
When I hand you this bunch of cornflowers
The only other color in the room
Illumines your eyes as you arrange them.
They are the blue reflection of whatever
Moves in you, serene as cool water tipped
Into crystal, oddly enough the willing bride
To a cloudy head of melancholy
So deeply blue it could prove musical.
This is the blue John Lee Hooker’s gravelly
Voice in the sundown field was looking for.
This is the unrequited dream of an iris.
Ice blue, spruce blue, little periwinkle blue—
Nothing else that dies is exactly so blue.
GIBBONS RUARK
(This poem immediately brought to mind the 'Blaue Blume', the 'Blue Flower' symbol of German Romanticism, emblem of love, desire and impossible longing. I remember being strongly affected by this motif when reading Novalis, von Eichendorff and Goethe in the sixth-form at school - and later when studying German Literature at university.)
4 comments:
What really catches me in this poem is that colour can be so intense that it is audible.
By the by, I've started to write some entries on my own blog. When I get the technical details sorted out I hope to offer tea or coffe to those who stop by but currently (as with most other things in life) I'll have to stick to the basics.
My sojurns into nature are currently not so ambitious but necessary to maintain some balance....Tramp
Hi, SW. The intense blue in the photo makes it a great image to post with the beautiful poem by Gibbons Ruark. Thanks for the link.
Kiewslowski's masterpiece film always comes to mind when I think about the sensations of blue - capturing the sensation and not just the perception of colour.
Tramp, best of luck with your blog. I've already visited as you know...
... yes, the sensations of colour, the intensities of colour...
... Synaesthesia's an interesting phenomenon. Don't some people see numbers and musical notes as colours? Moods are colours, and people have different-coloured auras, according to some...
I just hadn't thought of the connection with Kieslowski's film, Gleaner - thanks for making it. (Of the trilogy, which do you like best? I like Red, followed by Blue...)
Also - recalling right now Lawrence's poem 'Bavarian Gentians' with that haunting repetition of the word 'blue'...
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