http://www.writers-online.co.uk DECEMBER 2018^75POETRY WORKSHOP
A
t times one has to spur inspiration into life.
Tackle this by picking up a small shell. If no
shell is handy find a pebble. You might have
one that you collected from a walk or a holiday; if not
you will have to rely on a picture or possibly simply
from imagination.
Let’s begin with your shell or pebble. Place this
object in front of you, then in your notebook or on
your laptop make three columns. In the first column
put the word ‘description’. In the second column put
the word ‘when’ and in last column put the word
‘how’. Underneath these columns start the lines of
what just might turn into a poem. For instance, under
the heading ‘description’ simply describe the object –
the colour, shape, size. You will probably find as you
progress that you write more than one descriptive
word and possibly will create an image, as in the
example for a round pebble or shell you might say that
it is a ‘sphere’. Let these words happen – write with
the flow of ideas that are hopefully now arriving.
After writing a word or more under that first
heading now move on to the second heading which
is under the word ‘when’. Under this word simply
put when you first saw the object. This brings you to
that third word ‘how’. Underneath this put a word or
more of how you came to find the object. You could
say that you were searching for this particular item,
or you suddenly found it when you were looking for
something else. All of this will be an aid to the process
of your imagination.
Now try to start linking the three things about
this particular item: the description, the when, and
the how that you have briefly discussed. Let your
imagination run wild. The shell you are possibly
writing about, did you find it on a beach? Think of
the sand. Or was it a pebbly beach? Bring the picture
of that place into your poem.
If you are working from a picture of the item, think
where you got the picture. Did you buy it? Does it
hold a special memory?
Tune in to the three headings mentioned and use
them, for example: A small shell / one bright day / I
scooped from the sea.Stuck for words? Prompt a poem with
this exercise from Doris CortiPoetry
in practice
Exercises
- Put a well known object in front of you and
describe it in prose. - Using unrhymed or rhymed couplets write a
poem about the same object, describing it
through imagery.
MARCH 2020 75was directly inspired by Andrew
Graham-Dixon’s book and his 2010
documentary about Caravaggio’s
mysterious death in 1610. She
confesses, ‘I’m astounded that such
a man could paint religious pictures
of enormous spirituality alongside
scenes of the disreputable “low life”
of his daily acquaintance.’ This
comes through in the contrasts of
the poem’s content. He’s compared
with Mercutio and Tybalt. His
flick of the wrist serves / for both
sword and brush. His characters are
sacred / and profane. His version
of chiaroscuro shows darkness /
as tactile as velvet alongside the
exposure of merciless floodlight.
Corinne Lawrence explains the
thought processes that helped her to
find a form for her poem. ‘Although
the 16th and 17th centuries in
which he lived suggest that blank
verse, a sonnet or a villanelle might
be appropriate forms, I felt that this
wild and undisciplined character
might be best served in free verse.’
In order for the free verse to
work, it needs two attributes:
careful lineation, and multiple
examples of slant rhyme. The line
structure is impeccable. Lines end
at a point that makes perfect sense,
organising the phrasing of the
piece, or on powerful words that
take advantage of the tiny hiatus of
the enjambment to bestow a hint
more emphasis.
Near rhymes are easy to spot
when the poem is read aloud. To
look at some random examples,
there is consonance right from
the start with world/clothed/armed/
stained and blankets/realms, and later
in layers/nuances/darkness/merciless.
There’s alliteration in less/lovable and
Capulet’s/kin, in conceives/characters,
frailties/floodlight and commission/
caught. Assonance occurs in kin/him
and onomatopoeically in flick/wrist,
also in sacred/profane and vain/escape.
All of these combine to form a rich
web of recurring sounds, the total
contributing to the poetic ‘feel’ of
the piece.
The inclusion of the Shakespeare
references is interesting. The poet
immediately thought of Malvolio’s
imprisonment in Twelfth Night
when she heard about Caravaggio’s
incarceration in the eight-foot deep
prison cell situated in a Valletta side
street. This gave rise to the image of
stained blankets in midnight realms...
but thinking around the situation,
she felt that while there was a
Shakespearean undertone, Romeo
and Juliet provided more appropriate
comparisons, hence the references to
Tybalt and Mercutio.
When a poem is submitted for this
column, it is not always easy to tell
whether the poet feels it is completely
finished, or sends it knowing there
are some further tweaks to be
made. Corinne Lawrence leaves no
question about this poem’s stage of
development. ‘Perhaps it is indicative
of Caravaggio’s ‘mercurial’ character,
that the poem is eternally changing,’
she comments, and goes on to say,
‘I’ve made edits every time I’ve
opened it up since its “birth” in
2014.’
Luckily there is no limit to the
number of edits a single poem
requires, nor to the length of time it
takes to accomplish them. So when
she says: ‘I know that no poem is
ever truly “finished”, but this one
seems to be more fluid than most,
and I am open to all suggestions as
to how I can make it more effective!’
it is clear that this is a genuine
request for help.
In fact, there seems little more
work to be done. The title merits
some further thought, perhaps. The
artist’s name is not mentioned in
the text, so the title is a good place
to put it, but maybe the rider – His
Fugitive Spirit is not really needed.
There’s an occasional phrase that
has a prose-like quality, making it
read like an extract from a report,
that could perhaps be adjusted to
make it sound more poetic, such
as he chooses reality over artifice or
ambiguous sexuality.
These are small points. The
poem works well, and the closing
stanza is a masterly demonstration
of how to show factual information
to the reader rather than telling it.
We learn of the shocked expression
on the face of the decapitated
Goliath in a final painting, while
the last line reminds the reader
of one of the artist’s greatest skills
in his particular handling of the
chiaroscuro technique.
Caravaggio’s immortality lives on,
and is enhanced and celebrated just
a little bit more by this poem.