| Concrete
Poem
A concrete poem is a collage of
words, letters or symbols that creates meaning both by what it says and by how
it looks. As early as the 17th
century, poets experimented with concrete poems. George Herbert, an English poet,
wrote "Easter
Wings," for instance, which looks like a pair of wings
on the page. Some concrete poems do not use words; instead, pictorial symbols
are arranged to be "read."
Here are two concrete poems:
Bird #3
by
Don J. Carlson
Poe's
raven told
him nothing
nevermore
and Vincent's circling
crows were a threat to destroy
sunlight. Now I saw a bird, black with a yellow
beak, orange rubber legs
pecking to kill the
lawn, storm bird
hates with claw,
evil beak,
s
u
n
and eye
Swan and Shadow
by John Hollander
Dusk
Above the
water hang the
loud
flies
Here
O so
gray
then
What A
pale signal will appear
When Soon before its shadow
fades
Where Here in this pool of opened eye
In us No Upon us As at the very edges
of where we take shape in the dark air
this object bares its image awakening
ripples of recognition that will
brush darkness up into light
even after this bird this hour both drift by atop the perfect sad instant now
already passing out of sight
toward yet-untroubled reflection
this image bears its object darkening
into memorial shades Scattered bits of
light No of water Or something across
water Breaking up No Being regathered
soon Yet by then a swan will
have
gone Yes
out of mind into what
vast
pale
hush
of a
place
past
sudden dark as
if a swan
sang
page last
updated on 08 February 2003
|