Ceci n'est pas une - This is not a poem.
Still green, the apple contemplates the man.
Le fils de l'homme, il contemple la pomme.
Les hommes en chapeaux fall like summer rain.
Still green, the apple contemplates the man.
The artist paints a portrait of an egg.
Les hommes en chapeaux fall like summer rain.
Across a grove of leaves, a rider's fled.
The artist paints a portrait of an egg.
A verdant apple rises in the east.
Across a grove of leaves, a rider's fled.
The seraph turns his back upon the beast.
A verdant apple rises in the east.
A horse and rider shutter through the woods.
The seraph turns his back upon the beast.
Two lovers kiss, their faces wrapped in shrouds.
A horse and rider shutter through the woods.
A doorway opens in a twilit tree.
Two lovers kiss, their faces wrapped in shrouds.
A train emerges from the fireplace deep.
A doorway opens in a twilit tree.
Un parasol, des fleurs, a woman's loves.
A train emerges from the fireplace deep.
Le thérapeute encages two white doves.
Un parasol, des fleurs, a woman's loves.
Dusk falls to home from empires of the day.
Le thérapeute encages two white doves.
Un château levitates above a bay.
Dusk falls to home from empires of the day.
Three men precess a waning crescent moon.
Un château levitates above a bay.
The fragile rose has grown to fill the room.
Three men precess a waning crescent moon.
Les hommes en chapeaux fall like summer rain.
The fragile rose has grown to fill the room.
Still green, the apple contemplates the man.
Les hommes en chapeaux fall like summer rain.
Le fils de l'homme, il contemple la pomme.
Still green, the apple contemplates the man.
Ceci n'est pas une - This is not a poem.
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Short link - http://bit.ly/s4magritte
ReplyDeleteah but it IS. I like this very much. Actually "le ronde" makes it one of my favorites. So musical, so sad, so clear and confusing like Magritte. delicious. You smoked me on this one!!
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia: "The pantoum is a form of poetry similar to a villanelle. It is composed of a series of quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next... The pantoum is derived from the pantun, a Malay verse form - specifically from the pantun berkait, a series of interwoven quatrains."
ReplyDeleteYes I notice the repeated lines. I thought it was a villanelle. I've read 3 villanelle so far. I'll now look up "pantoum" (never heard of this form b4) Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI've been experimenting with pantoum, although rather unsuccesfully yet. Stunning imagery here, thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteChaque ligne est une peinture, cela me plaît beaucoup!
ReplyDeleteOui, vous l'entendez! Chaque ligne est une peinture de Magritte, une image. Le poème met l'ensemble de ces peintures, ces images, dans un rêve.
ReplyDeleteMerci à tous, pour les aimables paroles!
Magnifique! I will have to experiment with thw pantoum form...
ReplyDeleteI would like to thank the editors of 'Metazen' literary magazine, which selected this poem for publication.
ReplyDeletedude...serious jealousy at how you work form...the repetition in this works really well and makes for a nice progression and loop back through...nah this aint a poem...its a masterpiece...smiles.
ReplyDeletec'est un poème et une peinture... very cool..the repetitions are almost like brush strokes, bringing another shade of color to the reader's mind by focussing on it again...love how you paint with words maitre...
ReplyDeleteSo what have we got:
ReplyDeleteScene 1. Father and son looking a little green apple, signifying....? Nothing?
Scene 2. A 'cat in a hat' [ or two or more], dropping down from a tree or the sky something up high.
Scene 3. A man in a black beret [ my version :-)] at an easle int he orchard [my embellishment] doing something modern in oils on canvas.
Scene 4. One of the chaps took off on horseback.
Scene 5. Some happenings in the background: green apples on the move and afe mythological creatures doing something unspeakable or otherwise.
Scene 6. That chap on horseback again riding through clearings where the light filters.
Scene 7. A couple hiding their illicit love affair
Scene 8. Eyore in his treehouse is taking a look outside
Scene 9.The embers glow under the railway jutting out from the hearth.
A touch of the Lucy in the sky with diamonds??
Do malay poems have a chorus or is that your addition? This would sound great in two voices.
DeleteIt certainly set up some drama wrapped in cellophane in my head. I often wrap some of my paintings in imaginary cellophane.
Please feel free to remove the above comment once read.
Shows you how hard my mind worked before I googled Magritte.
DeleteOh Sam...thank you for acquainting me with this artis: never heard of him before, but just love his work. Please get rid of all thes comments. I just wanted to talk to you.
DeleteI love seeing how readers' minds work when they encounter my poem... So thanks for working to 'get' this!
DeleteIt's a montage, with every line describing a different Magritte painting. It's half in French because it has to be, to echo Magritte's famous "Ceci n'est pas une pipe".
The images melting into each other evoke the sudden, inexplicable scene changes in a dream.
The scene changes in a dream - this poem spoke volumes to me, because that is how I often dream moitié français, moitié anglais. I didn't look for the paintings, I simply let the joy of language flow over me.
Deletea lovely poem, rhythm and perspectives
ReplyDeleteI really do find this marvelously musical, riddling, surreal. The Magritte references are wryly worked into the framework so arftfully, so magically that I am carried along by the sheer sound of the piece, though the images glint off the surface of my mind's eye so precisely. I could gaze into this crystal for a while!
ReplyDeleteI can hear this being sung, like a lullaby it is soo soothing and I love the jaunty mix d'anglais et francais. Mon dieu, c'est manifique.
ReplyDeleteHappy Bastille day.
ReplyDelete'Ceci n'est pas une pipe' was the original Margritte title.
There is a double entendre ..the joke will not be understood by non French speakers.Needless to say c'est est tres impoli:)
Oh these addictive pantoums. This one was more tarter than a Granny Smith, more delicious than a Golden. Magritte and men in bowlers fill the sky. I turn green with envy. You are a master of words, dear Sam. And I loved it!
ReplyDeletehttp://hollyheir.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/poetry-in-motion/
dude...this is like watching a movie...each scene blends into the next...great visual storytelling....you rock the form....
ReplyDeleteA mystical poem. So much taking place, and so many details to connect. I love especially the apple rising in the east and the rose that has grown to fill the room. I love the SOUNDS of your chosen words as well.
ReplyDeleteClever use of form that echo the real and the image that is real
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful--the subject matches the form seamlessly.
ReplyDeletegreat to read it again sam...you're such an artist with words.. love how masterful you play that difficult form and i say play because it seems you do it with such ease..
ReplyDeleteSam, I really enjoyed this, even though it made me have to think very hard back to college French class (which was way too long ago.) Peace, Linda
ReplyDeleteI wonder if I would have known this was a pile of Magritte if you hadn't told me. Maybe by the word "chapeau" . . . Reading the poem through this knowledge I see a surreal landscape for sure as if I were reading an exhibit through a powerful peripheral vision. I haven't tried the form yet, but I think it might work best with alternate realities like being in love, hallucinations, expressionism, etc. Maybe I'll try mixing disco and rock, like in the 1970s.
ReplyDeleteLovely images expressing the Magritte paintings. Actually, there is something in it that reminded me of E.E. Cummings' "all in green went my love riding"
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, well-crafted!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the prompt, the nudge out of the nest, and the fine example you have written. Excellente work and an inspiration for me to improve.
ReplyDeleteVery much suits the style of Magritte and surrealists in general. (I feel like he's counted among them.) Especially in clipped lines. Very clever. k.
ReplyDeleteYours looks even better now that I have tried to write one myself. And the source makes it so interesting. Not a form that trips off the tongue.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this poem, and for challenging us to try to write one. I learned alot today. I appreciate this group so much.
ReplyDeleteEven before I put the name Magritte together with the images (had to go look it up), I actually pictured those precise paintings... Scary! Really, really beautiful, and I love it, but my mind kept asking me how something like this would work with a language other than French... Thank you so much for reminding me of how much I love the pantoum, and for sharing this beautiful piece. *smile*
ReplyDeleteoutstanding piece Sam, love the blending of language and it works perfectly here in the pantoum. Thanks for hosting D'Verse and presenting a definite favorite form of mine. Thanks
ReplyDeleteYou show us how the form can further a poems meaning and take it from a fascinating form to a way to structure your poem's message. Thank you for introducing me to the pantoum and then showing me how to really use it. I love the surreal images in this.
ReplyDeleteAs an absolute beginner to this form, I am in awe of your poetry ~ great prompt, thank you
ReplyDeleteWow, this is so delicate and dreamlike, Samuel. I love "the apple contemplates the man", I see images of early actions and the men with the waning moon, forcing the rotation of a rigid form. Your rhythmic flow took me right out of the form, which was so casually fitting. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wonderful presentation, I'm glad that I joined along. :)
This is absolutely amazing. Magritte is one of my favorite artists and your words brought the paintings to the forefront of my mind so beautifully... You are a master. Great post on the pantoum. I'm not familiar with it and loved the challenge. There's something about it that resonates with me.
ReplyDeletebeautifully composed and deliciously lyrical. "Two lovers kiss, their faces wrapped in shrouds" does something, i think, to unite the english and french languages used. this is a lovely piece of art.
ReplyDelete