Poetry About Works of Art, Ekphrastic Poetry
Ekphrastic poetry, or poetry about works of art, dates back to the Greek poet, Homer. Homer wrote a passage about a shield in The Iliad, not referring to an actual shield, and “critics have commented that no actual shield in the real world would be able to contain the disparate elements mentioned.” (20) Although most ekphrastic poems are about specific works of art, the same that was said about Homer’s poem can be said about other poems about works of art. An ekphrastic poem can provide new perspectives on visual art. It can devise conversations between subjects in a work of art and it can defy the boundaries of time to which works of art are confined by reimagining the work of art in a kind of verbal college. Art has been used as a form of self-expression, empowerment, freedom and activism. Allowing students to analyze and create their own ekphrastic poems will allow them to write narratives for pieces of art which will encourage them to use their voice in a way they haven’t before to create change.
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