Saturn Devouring One of His Sons

Francisco de Goya, Saturn Devouring One of His Sons, 1819-1823
By CARLY HOFMANN

Francisco de Goya's work defies any standard stylistic classification. His art cannot be separated from the conflicting social and political upheavals of late eighteenth century Spain. Goya assumed the role of a moralist and believed that his art could censure society's vices even more forcefully than any form of eloquence or poetry. He understood art as an opportunity to expose the eye of the viewer to thoughts and attitudes previously hidden within impassioned and unenlightened minds. He shared the enlightenment opposition to religious fanaticism, social injustice, and senseless cruelty. However, as with many others, his faith in the power of reason to solve human and artistic problems ended in disillusionment.

In January of 1890, Goya witnessed a liberal victory in Spain that forced Ferdinand VII to accept the constitution. Goya's response to constitutional freedom is demonstrated in the fourteen "Black Paintings" that he executed on the walls of his country home. In the paintings of his so-called black period, he explored the dark and terrifying world of the subconscious. It was understood that evil could no longer to be attributed to the devil, but to humanity itself.

In Saturn Devouring One of His Sons, Goya accentuates the blood and gore of ancient Roman myths as a cure for the glamor and opulence of neoclassicist idealism. Goya depicts Saturn feasting upon one of his sons, with the head and the right arm already consumed. As the titan looms from the darkness, the only brightness in the painting comes from the bulging eyes of Saturn, the sickly flesh and red blood on the child, and the white knuckles of Saturn as he clutches the body. There is evidence that this painting may have originally portrayed the titan with an erect penis. The feminine curvature of the corpse combined with this possibility denotes a disturbing sexuality. 

Various interpretations of the painting exist among critics. Some point to the conflict between youth and age, time as a devourer of all things, or the wrath of God. However, the most likely explanation of Goya's imagery is the painting as an allegory for the situation in Spain, where the fatherland has consumed its own children in wars and revolution.

Goya moved to France when the Spanish monarchy was reinstated and critics began to understand his works as projecting evils of a past when truth and reason ruled alone. This interpretation provided further evidence that if not formally a liberal, Goya believed in constitutional government and the freedoms it ensured. Goya famously said, "Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters, but united with her, she is the mother of the arts and source of their wonders."
  • 7:00 AM

The Monk by the Sea

Caspar David Friedrich, The Monk by the Sea, 1808
BY MOHAMMED CHAUDHRI

Friedrich is essentially the god of landscape paintings during the time of Romanticism. 
The power of the divine is the main motif in all of his pieces. The giant landscape, but small figure at the bottom of the canvas, humbles the viewer, because you realize that you are nothing compared to the beauty of nature. The water and sky feel cool, but there is a motion in the piece that helps viewers feel the power as well.

This piece influenced many others to create pieces with lone figures to show solitude as well as a sense of mystery. God can be found throughout his work, but the viewer must immerse themselves within nature.
  • 7:00 AM

The Raft of The Medusa

Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa, 1819
By NAYOUNG KWON

Theodore Gericault completed The Raft of the Medusa, which eventually became the icon of Romanticism, when he was only 27-years-old.  The painting itself portrays the tragic incident that happened in 1816. The story of the Raft of the Medusa is based on a French Royal Navy Frigate that sailed in 1816 to colonize Senegal. Due to the shortage of lifeboats, those who were left behind built a raft for 150 people who went to physical and mental extremes in order to survive. They were physically tired and hungry and to survive they had no choice but to slaughter the weak to feed those who are desperate to live.

Putting in intense amount of research and dedication, the painter drew his inspiration from who survivors of the Medusa. He carefully dissected the subject piece by piece, documenting and questioning the survivors their trauma of exact details of the ship and the environment that they had to go through. Also, he referenced the rotting bodies of the corpses from hospitals, carefully examining the wounds.

Before starting on the painting, he created multiple sketches and created wax models to lay out many possible compositions. The final composition of the painting is played out in two pyramids overlaying each other in the center.  The style of the painting was inspired by the style that Caravaggio's practiced known as chiaroscuro. The style uses strong tonal contrasts between light and dark to show three-dimensional forms and display dramatic effects.
  • 7:00 AM

Stonehenge

John Constable, Stonehenge, 1835
by ANTHONY MADISON

John Constable painted this picture of the Stonehenge in 1835, only two years before he passed away. During the time Constable painted this, he was going through some of the saddest hardships of his life. His wife, Maria, had recently died and his best friend, John Fisher, closely followed Maria. These deaths would explain why the backgrounds colors are darker. The colors make the painting feel sad and take away from the beauty of the Stonehenge. The brush strokes in the background also seem to be shorter and quick, which creates more of an impression rather than an actual detailed painting of the Stonehenge. 
  • 7:00 AM

Winter Landscape

Caspar David Friedrich, Winter Landscape, 1811

By RUOLING "LINDA" XU

Here I am in this white world. I can't feel my body because of the cold wind. But the main reason is because of my legs. My legs are not mine, they are not connected by veins. I am using two crutches to walk in the deep snow. My footprints doesn't last as the snow covers it. I cannot be found, I am alone. My friend told me that I can find the meaning of life in snow, so I came.

The walk is long, and I discovered nothing. The whole world is white, except me. I am the only color in the world. The vast white buries other colors. The walk continues, I see a green spot in front of me. And when I get closer, the green amplifies. It is some evergreen trees that light up the white world. Among them, is a crucifix. I stand, to confirm that it was real. I shake and couldn't hold my crutches. I run towards the green spots. My legs tried its best to move and finally stop under the crucifix. I lean on the rock and begin to pray. I wish god can hear my voice, comfort my pain, and take away the cold. If life is suffering, then I hope I can have a better life after death.
  • 7:00 AM

Neapolitan Fisher Boy Playing with a Tortoise

Francois Rude, Neapolitan Fisher Boy Playing with a Tortoise, 1833

By MILES KNIGHT

Francois Rude was one of the most prominent Romantic period sculptors. He worked on many statues ranging from a relief on L'Arc De Triumph to smaller pieces like the one above. While Rude may not have the same level of talent as someone like Antonio Canova, he did push the boundaries of sculpting at the time. 

Neapolitan Fisher Boy Playing with a Tortoise is a great example of Rude's experimentation. This sculpture was a total departure from the normal and surprised many people. At the time most art critics considered fictional scenes like this one unworthy of a life-size marble sculpture. Rude didn't do what others wanted but instead what he liked. 

The sculpture depicts an Italian boy playing with (and seemingly strangling) a turtle. The boy is happy and carefree. He doesn't wear clothes but his body isn't idealized and made perfect. The focus of the statue isn't so much to tell a story but to convey emotion. In fact, Rude never even traveled to Italy, so the scene is entirely based off what he saw in art and read in stories.
  • 7:00 AM

Ploughing in the Nivernais

Rosa Bonheur, Ploughing in the Nivermais, 1850
By MISSY ROSENTHAL 


Rosa Bonheur was arguably one of the main leaders in the romantic era of art. Bonheur received the majority of her training from her father, Raymond Bonheur. Saint Simonian also encouraged her artistic career and independence. At the young age of fourteen she started making copies at the Louvre in Paris. Her own works were greatly influenced as well as fascinated by trends in natural history including the theories of Etienne Goeggroy Saint-Hilaire. 

She kept a menagerie, frequented a slaughterhouse and dissected animals to gain a greater knowledge of their anatomy. Many of her works include exotic as well as non-exotic animals Bonheur attracted notice in 1845 from Theophile Thore's salon with her works: Goats and Sheep and Rabbits Nibbling Carrots, which won third prize. As a result of her success at this salon she was commissioned by the state to create Ploughing in the Nivernais

Bonheur brilliantly illustrates the rural landscape of the French province of Nivernais in central France. The piece is inspired by George Sand's novel, La Mare au Diable. The open space of the piece shows Bonheur's own longing for freedom in a world dominated by men. While the cattle ranchers (men) and cattle (women) themselves represent the view that women were meant to be subservient to men. The piece follows a strict linear composition meaning that the ideology of gender performance was viewed as unescapable. Bonheur paints a realistic rendering including vibrant blues in the sky, deep browns and beiges shown on the cattle and luscious greens in the grass. Bonheur’s stunning work portrays not only the beautiful landscape of rural France, but the social landscape lived by French women.
  • 7:00 AM

Portrait Of A Negress, Marie-Guillemine Benoist,  1800
BY KAELYN ROSS

Critics and the public adored Marie-Guillemine Benoist's Portrait Of A Negress when originally shown because of its unique subject. The subject, a black woman, is shown with draped fabrics to cover herself yet leaves her breast exposed. Despite the more plain background, the chair and accessories, such as her earrings, indicate a somewhat wealthy setting.

The praise also came because the painter was a woman, which was unusual for the time. When a painter (male) paints a black female, it is seen as a type of objectification. However, Benoist depicts a genuine relationship between the subject and painter because their bond over their gender and struggles because of it which in a way overrule their differences in race and wealth. This rare relationship probably derived from Benoist's opinions, which developed from her childhood as the daughter of a civil servant in Paris.

Benoist married a public supporter of royalist causes, creating problems with judgement from critics and the public. At the height of her popularity, she resigned to focus on advocating for women's rights especially during the rise of conservatism in Europe.

This painting reminds me of "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou. Every line applies, however most preeminent are "You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies... Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes," "Does my sexiness upset you?...Still, I rise."
  • 9:31 AM

Rain, Steam and Speed: The Great Western Railway

J. M. W. Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed: The Great Western Railway, 1884
BY ZOE BROUS

The Industrial Revolution abruptly conquers England. The great western railway in England ran it's first trains in 1838. The powerful train started in Bristol and ran until Exeter. The enormous speed and power of this railway sparked Turner's inspiration. A common pastime for people in England was to watch trains pass. Turner hopes to display the rapid empowerment of the Industrial Revolution.

The railway transforms and separate the landscape. On both sides of the canvas I notice natural and peaceful scenes. On the left, a fisherman attempts to catch his prey. On the right,  I see a man plowing a field. The industrialization and steam on the train captivates the viewers. The intense and forceful train overpowers the field and pond. Nature and natural landscapes act as the background, and the train's the subject. The train's dark elements contrasts with the light and playful colors in the river.

Industrialization swept over Britain quickly. The speed of the train displays the rapid transformation to industrialization. Rain, ateam, and speed act as three components to hinder vision. Turner conveys the unrecognizable transformation of technology Britain faced during the industrial revolution. The forceful motion of the train looks as if it's about to burst out of the canvas and onto the viewer. I am captivated by the movement and energy of the train. This painting summarizes the speed and the awakening of the Industrial Revolution.
  • 7:00 AM

Cleopatra and The Peasant

Image result for eugene delacroix famous paintings
Delacroix, Cleopatra and The Peasant, 1838
BY REMY JACOBS

Eugene Delacroix was one of the leading painters of the Romanticism Era. What makes this so appealing to the human eye is the vibrant colors and the emotion shown on the faces. 

For inspiration for the painting, Delacroix drew from William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. When first looking at the painting, most people instantly avert their eyes to Cleopatra's illuminated white face, the luxurious jewelry, and the silky-looking clothes.  

Delacroix is trying to depict life and death. The reasoning for her sad face is because Augustus Ceaser has just killed her lover. Because her lover is dead and she has been captured, she thinks that there is no point in life anymore. She contemplates suicide so that she can be at peace with her lover. 

When looking at the peasant on her right, you can see the snake, figs and animal skin. Supposedly she wants the snake to bite her so that the poison will inevitably killer her. The animal skin is just more flaunting of her wealth. 
  • 7:00 AM

The Bay of Baiae, with Apollo and the Sibyl

The Bay of Baiae, with Apollo and the Sibyl, J.W. Turner, 1823
By FRANCESCA MAURO

Turner's mid-career painting provides an excellent example of the artist's fixation on both natural and human phenomena. Many consider Turner the first artist to legitimize landscape painting as a serious genre. Turner creates a stunning landscape with the Bay of Baiae in the background, framed by gently rolling mountains. A pair of intricately detailed trees rise up dramatically in the foreground and draw attention away from the two figures in the bottom right corner. The rolling peaks of the mountains align with the dramatic shadowing. The shadows create a triangular shape leading the eye to the bay in the background.

This painting portrays a Roman myth in which Sibyl asks the Roman god Apollo to grant her a longer life. He promises to give her many years as the number of grains of sand she can hold in her hands. Unfortunately, Sibyl forgets to add any stipulation for eternal youth and quickly regrets her request for an extended life when her youth fades rapidly.

The colors used by Turner, along with the crumbling cityscape in the background, create the sense of decay and aging. The golden light cast over the entire scene evokes a sense of the impending sunset and nighttime. Turner's commentary on aging and decay comes as a response to the futile effort made by Romantic art to preserve and idolize political and cultural figures and ideals. Many political figures sought to immortalize themselves in stone and on canvas. These attempts to last forever often proved as ineffective and disastrous as Sibyl's deal with Apollo.


  • 7:00 AM

The Third of May 1808

Francisco de Goya, The Third of May 1808, 1814
by ELISE FINN

Francisco de Goya is described as a Romantic artist, yet his work almost defies stylistic classification. His early work was rococo-like as he painted many Spanish royal studio portraits. He opposed religious fanaticism, so many of his works criticized the church. He transitioned into what is known as his "black period," where he explored the dark and terrifying subconscious world. Goya thinks that evil isn't attributed to the devil, but to humanity itself.

The Third of May 1808 is the witnessed suffering of Spanish countrymen during Napoleon's invasion of Spain. This was painted after Spain regained its independence, but it shows there's no positive parts to war, only bloodshed. There is no excuse for it. Your attention is directed towards the defenseless civilians with their hands raised and covering themselves. This is when people were rounded up randomly to avenge an attack that had been taken on French forces the day before. The painting shows the French's violent response and memorializes the ones lost in the conflict. It's filled with savagery.

The lantern that divides the two forces represents the Enlightenment. It's supposed to bring reason and order to society, yet it's what separates the two sides. The Church and the crucifixion-like posture of the man represent Christianity. Religion is supposed to be the unity of humankind, so here, it's an innocence that's faced with cruelty. The brightly shining white shirt man exposes the struggle of human martyrdom.

I appreciate Goya's attempt at painting innocence versus violence. You can see the terror in the civilians eyes and the cowardice of the gun-wielding men who face away from the viewer. The lighting is my favorite part. The lantern shines against the men, almost like shining a spotlight on the injustice of the situation. In this painting, Goya uses arts as a means to not only express talent, but also portray history in an emotional way.
  • 7:00 AM

Medea (Louvre)

Eugene Delacroix, Medea (Louvre), 1838
BY JENNY ZHU

Even though Eugene Delacroix is one of the most renowned painters in the world of art history, Medea (Louvre) would not be considered his best work by most people. However, I am in love with the painting. It might sound twisted, but one of the main reasons why I love this painting is because of its extremely messed up back story.

The women in the painting is Medea, who madly fell in love with a guy named Jason. And by mad, I mean pretty insane. Her father did not approve of their love and therefore decided to chase after the run-away couple using his ship. To slow slow down her father, Medea dismembered her brother and threw his body parts on an island knowing that her father would stop to pick up his son's pieces to give him a proper burial. Now, do you mean what I mean by crazy?

But hold on, there's more.

After getting rid of the father, Medea and Jason ran to an island, but shortly after their arrival, Jason became engaged to the princess of the island. Abandoning the girl who just killed her brother to be with you? Not the best idea Jason, not the best idea. Medea, filled with jealousy and hatred, gave the princess a crown and a gown as "wedding presents," but here's the twist, they were poisoned. The new princess died. To complete her ultimate revenge, Medea killed Jason's twins (also her own) right in front of him. Crazy.

Many of Delacroix's paintings appear chaotic and heroic. Medea (Louvre) at first glance does not seem so chaotic for the fact that there's only three people drawn on the canvas, but that I find interesting is the picture outside of it. I imagine Jason chasing Medea down with an army of troops thinking it was the last of her -- only to witness the brutal death of his own sons. The beauties behind tragic and chaos are unspeakable. Medea (Louvre) depicted a powerful scene of a mother killing her own sons, but at the same time you can also feel her despair, her anger, and her agony as a murderer and a victim of love.

  • 7:00 AM

The Third Of May 1808


The Third Of May 1808, Francisco de Goya, 1814
Still I Rise
By Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection. 
  • 7:00 AM

The Death of Harmonia


Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre, The Death of Harmonia, 1741 

When I am Dead, My Dearest
By CHRISTINA ROSSETTI 

When I am dead, my dearest, 
Sing no sad songs for me; 
Plant thou no roses at my head, 
Nor shady cypress tree: 
Be the green grass above me 
With showers and dewdrops wet; 
And if thou wilt, remember, 
And if thou wilt, forget. 

I shall not see the shadows, 
I shall not feel the rain; 
I shall not hear the nightingale 
Sing on, as if in pain: 
And dreaming through the twilight 
That doth not rise nor set, 
Haply I may remember, 
And haply may forget. 

Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection. 
  • 7:00 AM

The Love Letter

Jean Honoré Fragonard, The Love Letter, 1780
Coy Mistress
By ANNIE FINCH

Sir, I am not a bird of prey:
a Lady does not seize the day.
I trust that brief Time will unfold
our youth, before he makes us old.
How could we two write lines of rhyme
were we not fond of numbered Time
and grateful to the vast and sweet
trials his days will make us meet?
The Grave's not just the body's curse;
no skeleton can pen a verse!
So while this numbered World we see,
let's sweeten Time with poetry,
and Time, in turn, may sweeten Love
and give us time our love to prove.
You've praised my eyes, forehead, breast;
you've all our lives to praise the rest.

- 1997

Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection.



  • 7:00 AM

The Menaced Assassin



The Menaced Assassin, René Magritte, 1927

Beasts Bounding Through Time
By CHARLES BUKOWSKI

Van Gogh writing his brother for paints
Hemingway testing his shotgun
Celine going broke as a doctor of medicine
the impossibility of being human
Villon expelled from Paris for being a thief
Faulkner drunk in the gutters of his town
the impossibility of being human
Burroughs killing his wife with a gun
Mailer stabbing his
the impossibility of being human
Maupassant going mad in a rowboat
Dostoyevsky lined up against a wall to be shot
Crane off the back of a boat into the propeller
the impossibility
Sylvia with her head in the oven like a baked potato
Harry Crosby leaping into that Black Sun
Lorca murdered in the road by Spanish troops
the impossibility
Artaud sitting on a madhouse bench
Chatterton drinking rat poison
Shakespeare a plagiarist
Beethoven with a horn stuck into his head against deafness
the impossibility the impossibility
Nietzsche gone totally mad
the impossibility of being human
all too human
this breathing
in and out
out and in
these punks
these cowards
these champions
these mad dogs of glory
moving this little bit of light toward us
impossibly. 

Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection. 
  • 7:00 AM

In The Car-

Roy Lichtenstein, In the Car, 1963

Debt
By SARA TEASDALE

What do I owe to you
Who loved me deep and long?
You never gave my spirit wings
Nor gave my heart a song.

But oh, to him I loved,
Who loved me not at all,
I owe the little open gate
That led through heaven's Wall.

Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection.
 


  • 7:00 AM

Solitude

Andy Warhol, Big Electric Chair, 1967

Solitude
By Ella Wheeler

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air;
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go;
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.

Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all,—
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a large and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection.


  • 7:00 AM

When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be

Caspar David Friedrick, The Abbey in the Oakwood, 1810
When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be
By John Keats

When I have fears that I may cease to be 
   Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain, 
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery, 
   Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain; 
When I behold, upon the night’s starred face, 
   Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, 
And think that I may never live to trace 
   Their shadows with the magic hand of chance; 
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, 
   That I shall never look upon thee more, 
Never have relish in the faery power 
   Of unreflecting love—then on the shore 
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think 
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection. 
  • 7:00 AM

Ode to Nightingale

Caspar David Friederich, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, 1818
Ode to Nightingale
John Keats

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains 
         My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, 
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains 
         One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: 
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, 
         But being too happy in thine happiness,— 
                That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees 
                        In some melodious plot 
         Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, 
                Singest of summer in full-throated ease. 

O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been 
         Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth, 
Tasting of Flora and the country green, 
         Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth! 
O for a beaker full of the warm South, 
         Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, 
                With beaded bubbles winking at the brim, 
                        And purple-stained mouth; 
         That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, 
                And with thee fade away into the forest dim: 

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget 
         What thou among the leaves hast never known, 
The weariness, the fever, and the fret 
         Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; 
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs, 
         Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies; 
                Where but to think is to be full of sorrow 
                        And leaden-eyed despairs, 
         Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, 
                Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow. 

Away! away! for I will fly to thee, 
         Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, 
But on the viewless wings of Poesy, 
         Though the dull brain perplexes and retards: 
Already with thee! tender is the night, 
         And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne, 
                Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays; 
                        But here there is no light, 
         Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown 
                Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways. 

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, 
         Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs, 
But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet 
         Wherewith the seasonable month endows 
The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild; 
         White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine; 
                Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves; 
                        And mid-May's eldest child, 
         The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine, 
                The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves. 

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time 
         I have been half in love with easeful Death, 
Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme, 
         To take into the air my quiet breath; 
                Now more than ever seems it rich to die, 
         To cease upon the midnight with no pain, 
                While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad 
                        In such an ecstasy! 
         Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain— 
                   To thy high requiem become a sod. 

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! 
         No hungry generations tread thee down; 
The voice I hear this passing night was heard 
         In ancient days by emperor and clown: 
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path 
         Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, 
                She stood in tears amid the alien corn; 
                        The same that oft-times hath 
         Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam 
                Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn. 

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell 
         To toll me back from thee to my sole self! 
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well 
         As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf. 
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades 
         Past the near meadows, over the still stream, 
                Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep 
                        In the next valley-glades: 
         Was it a vision, or a waking dream? 
                Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?

Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection. 
  • 7:00 AM

The Moon and Sleep

The Moon and Sleep, Simeon Solomon, 1894
BY JENNY ZHU

Moon Festival
By Bei Dao

Lovers holding pits in their mouths
make vows and delight in each other
till the underwater infant
periscopes his parents
and is born

an uninvited guest knocks at my
door, determined to go deep
into the interior of things

the trees applaud

wait a minute, the full moon
and this plan are making me nervous
my hand fluttering
over the obscure implications of the letter
let me sit in the dark
a while longer, like
sitting on a friend's heart

the city a burning deck
on the frozen sea
can it be saved? it must be saved
the faucet drip-drop drip-drop
mourns the reservoir

中秋节

北岛

含果核的情人
许愿,互相愉悦
直到从水下
潜望父母的婴儿
诞生

那不速之客敲我的
门,带着深入
事物内部的决心

树在鼓掌

喂,请等等,满月
和计划让我烦恼
我的手翻飞在
含义不明的信上
让我在黑暗里
多坐一会儿,好像
坐在朋友的心中

这城市如冰海上
燃烧的甲板
得救?是的,得救
水龙头一滴一滴
哀悼着源泉


Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection. 
  • 7:00 AM

A Dream

NightFerdinand Hodler, 1890

A Dream
By EDGAR ALLEN POE

In visions of the dark night
I have dreamed of joy departed
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken-Hearted.
Ah! what is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him with a ray
Turned back upon the past?
That holy dream- that holy dream,
While all the world were chiding,
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam
A lovnely spirit guiding.
What tough that light, thro' storm and night,
So trembled from afar
What could there be more purely bright
In Truth's day-star?


Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection. 



  • 11:01 AM