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| Oil on canvas, approximately 34 inches x 61 inches. Museo e Gallerie Nazionali de Capodimonte, Naples. |
This horrible but superb painting
the parable of the blind
without a red
in the composition shows a group
of beggars leading
each other diagonally downward
across the canvas
from one side
to stumble finally into a bog
where the picture
and the composition ends back
of which no seeing man
is represented the unshaven
features of the des-
titute with their few
pitiful possessions a basin
to wash in a peasant
cottage is seen and a church spire
the faces are raised
as toward the light
there is no detail extraneous
to the composition one
follows the others stick in
hand triumphant to disaster
Response: I don't particularly like the simply descriptive method that this poem is written in. i think it is too straight forward and lacks the depth and mystery of other poems that i read. I feel like I am reading a technical description of the painting, and I don't think the wording in any way reflects the tone of the painting in emotion. The dryness of this poem does not resonate with me.
