Young Woman Powdering Herself

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BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Young Woman Powdering Herself

#1 Post by BobBradshaw » 08 Sep 2021, 01:26

v2:

Young Woman Powdering Herself


Seurat didn’t need the study of optics
to tell him what his eyes saw,

the softness of a woman, whose love
Georges carried everywhere

--secretly, like a small sketch
in his coat’s inner pocket.

In the painting her breasts rise like clouds
from the thin horizon

of a lacy neckline. Madeleine
is not a Botticelli beauty,

with a long neck like a cello’s.
She owns a short round one,

as kissable as her petite mouth
and round face. How can she know

that within a year Georges
will be dead? At the time

she will be carrying
their second child.

Heartbroken--
like a burst pipe, sobbing

long into the night
she will remain grateful

for Georges’ life, brief as it was,
like a fading blush.



v1:
Young Woman Powdering Herself


Seurat didn’t need the study of optics
to tell him what his eyes saw,

the softness of a woman, whose love
Georges carried everywhere

--secretly, like a small sketch
in his coat’s inner pocket.

In the painting her breasts rise like clouds
from the thin horizon

of a lacy neckline. Madeleine
is not a Botticelli beauty,

with a long neck like a cello’s.
She owns a short round one,

as kissable as her petite mouth
and round face. Delicately

she holds a powder puff
in her right hand, as if studying

a chrysanthemum. A pink powder
dusts her white cheeks,

set off by the soft bluish light
of the wall behind her. Georges

will be dead within a year,
Only two days before he dies,

he will introduce his love
to his parents. Will they too observe

how an ordinary woman and man
are changed by being

paired together—the way distinct
but separate colors resonate

a shared beauty, and bond?
What were Georges’ last thoughts?

Was he grateful for his life
and love—brief as they were,

and meant to last longer
than a fading blush?


Link to the painting: https://neoimpressionism.net/neoimpress ... dering.jpg

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: Young Woman Powdering Herself

#2 Post by BobBradshaw » 12 Sep 2021, 09:19

Simplified.

Michael (MV)
Posts: 2154
Joined: 18 Apr 2005, 04:57

Re: Young Woman Powdering Herself

#3 Post by Michael (MV) » 14 Sep 2021, 04:50

 
Hi Bob,

Your ekphrasis took me back to one that was an early model for me -

https://sites.google.com/a/g.clemson.ed ... g-her-neck

Thanks for the ekphrastic memory,

Michael (MV)

BobBradshaw wrote:
08 Sep 2021, 01:26
v2:

Young Woman Powdering Herself


Seurat didn’t need the study of optics
to tell him what his eyes saw,

the softness of a woman, whose love
Georges carried everywhere

--secretly, like a small sketch
in his coat’s inner pocket.

In the painting her breasts rise like clouds
from the thin horizon

of a lacy neckline. Madeleine
is not a Botticelli beauty,

with a long neck like a cello’s.
She owns a short round one,

as kissable as her petite mouth
and round face. How can she know

that within a year Georges
will be dead? At the time

she will be carrying
their second child.

Heartbroken--
like a burst pipe, sobbing

long into the night
she will remain grateful

for Georges’ life, brief as it was,
like a fading blush.



v1:
Young Woman Powdering Herself


Seurat didn’t need the study of optics
to tell him what his eyes saw,

the softness of a woman, whose love
Georges carried everywhere

--secretly, like a small sketch
in his coat’s inner pocket.

In the painting her breasts rise like clouds
from the thin horizon

of a lacy neckline. Madeleine
is not a Botticelli beauty,

with a long neck like a cello’s.
She owns a short round one,

as kissable as her petite mouth
and round face. Delicately

she holds a powder puff
in her right hand, as if studying

a chrysanthemum. A pink powder
dusts her white cheeks,

set off by the soft bluish light
of the wall behind her. Georges

will be dead within a year,
Only two days before he dies,

he will introduce his love
to his parents. Will they too observe

how an ordinary woman and man
are changed by being

paired together—the way distinct
but separate colors resonate

a shared beauty, and bond?
What were Georges’ last thoughts?

Was he grateful for his life
and love—brief as they were,

and meant to last longer
than a fading blush?


Link to the painting: https://neoimpressionism.net/neoimpress ... dering.jpg

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: Young Woman Powdering Herself

#4 Post by BobBradshaw » 14 Sep 2021, 06:17

Yes, a gorgeous poem! I've loved that poem since I saw it in Cathy Song's first book....thx for sharing it ....wow, stunning piece

FranktheFrank
Posts: 1983
Joined: 02 Mar 2016, 18:07
Location: Between the mountains and the sea

Re: Young Woman Powdering Herself

#5 Post by FranktheFrank » 14 Sep 2021, 11:42

I much prefer the poem to the painting.

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