In one of David Henderson’s poem, Poem for Painters, the link between urban places along with a
number of iconic places and how they interact with nature were shown. In the first two stanzas the tree was
presented as a character:
that's my tree/ says joe
we take care of each other
it grows with me
the tree (29)
It made it seem as if the tree and Joe had a mutual
symbiotic relationship, making the tree part of the community. On the second
stanza, it was acknowledged that the tree with its leaves could show more color
than a television. The leaves can be used to tell what’s to come as it changes
with the season, in this case the leaves “shimmers” showing that it’s summer.
In
the 3rd stanza the U.S. capital was the chosen location, the people there were
described as wild animals, when they scrambled when it started to rain in a
blink of an eye. Then the trees now reappeared in this stanza from the news
outside
the leaves of the tree
ripples ancient signs/ psyches
painters
of the tree (29)
The leaves of the trees were again telling the news that
it’s raining. As the rain drops from the sky the leaves dances and it “psyches
painters” who in this case are people with connection with jazz artists such as
Bob Thompson, Ellsworth Ausby, Jack Whitten and many more who are mentioned.
In
part two the trees were mentioned yet again.
the leaves of
the breeze
/ripple in the trees
/upon the off-white walls
A man who is assumed to be joe is
in the embrace of the tree "grows electric leaves." I assume that It
is Christmas the lights are put around the tree from reading "grows
electric leaves" which means it’s Christmas and it is a new season and the
leaves change.
In part 3's first stanza, joe's
tree made another appearance. "a look out the window thru the trees of
joe's loft" then the description, condition, and history of the surrounded
place. I feel like this poem is similar to Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn
Ferry” As the tree is there, but much like the ferry, people before and people
after the present will witness the tree and will change with the tree. The poem
had no constant beat per line, and there were not much rhyme. It was more of a
narrative poem rather than a descriptive poem, much like Whitman’s poem.
2 comments:
I didn't write my post about this poem but you seem to do a great job analyzing it. I am now able to understand it better and I do agree that it did not not have the same beat per line. The poet does great job making it into a narrative instead of a descriptive poem.
I like the way you wrote your post. You giving a good example of how the poem was written without even going back to the poem. And your quotes were good.
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