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| Samuel Palmer “Cornfield in the Mondenschein” Credit |
And proved to us how periods of art
Are less important than the personal
Worlds that each painter makes from mind and heart.
The first stanza introduces the personal ideas of the speaker about the similarities between these two artists. The persona addresses the two painters, Samuel Palmer and Chagall, and considers an imaginary situation: what kind of relationship would they have had if they had met? She believes that they would have been good friends, in spite of the fact that they lived in different centuries (Palmer in the 19th Century, Chagall in the 20th.) and thus painted in different styles. They would have got on well because both seem to share common views. This would prove that the personal worlds artists create are more important than the way in which their works reflect the context of production. By using the words "mind" and "heart", the persona is highlighting the importance of combining imagination and thoughts with feelings in artistic creations.
The greatest –Blake, Picasso – move about
The greatest –Blake, Picasso – move about
In many worlds. You only have one small
Yet perfect place.(...)
In the second stanza, the persona compares Palmer and Chagall to great artists, like Blake and Picasso, who were their contemporaries and influenced their work. In the speaker´s view, the difference between them is that whereas Blake and Picasso displayed a variety of subjects in their paintings (“move about in many worlds”), Chagall and Palmer seem to stick to recurrent themes ("have one small/yet perfect place"). Chagall included many elements from his childhood in a Russian village (fiddlers, animals, couples) in each of his pictures while Palmer painted the rural areas of Shoreham, in the west of Kent, in an idyllic way and under different lights. The antitheses between on the one hand, "many" and "one", and on the other hand, between "world" and " small place" suggest the different scope of their subject matters. However, the fact that they do not belong to the group of "the greatest" and that their themes seem limited is not perceived as a flaw. Conversely, the adjective "perfect", which alliterates with "place", presents the subjects they paint as ideal. The following sentence explains exactly what makes Chagall and Palmer´s scenes perfect, according to the speaker:
(...) In it, there is no doubt,
(...) In it, there is no doubt,
And no deception can exist at all.
Their ideal nature is related to the absence of negative qualities like "doubt" and "deception". In Chagall and Palmer´s pictures, these qualities are completely absent, as the phrase "at all" suggests.
Great qualities make such art possible,
Their ideal nature is related to the absence of negative qualities like "doubt" and "deception". In Chagall and Palmer´s pictures, these qualities are completely absent, as the phrase "at all" suggests.
Great qualities make such art possible,
A sense of TRUTH, integrity, a view
Of man that fits into a world that’s whole,
Those moons, those marriages, that dark, that blue.
The third stanza moves from the analysis of the pictures to the description of the principles that the artists honoured, which allowed them to create their works. All the qualities that the persona assigns to these painters suggest a belief in consistency, unity and order. On the one hand, “thruth” and “integrity” contrast with the words “doubt” and “deception” from the second stanza. On the other hand, the words "fit" and “whole” suggest that these painters believed in a single, coherent world, which explains why they insisted on painting the same themes. The last line of the stanza makes reference to the recurrent elements that appear on the paintings: dark and blue shades, moons and marriages. The repetition of the pronouns “those” and “that” emphasises the admiration the persona feels for the painters, a feeling which is also conveyed by the determiner "such".
I feel a quiet in it all although
The subject and the scenes are always strange.
Chagall´s paintings include many surrealistic elements and have a dreamlike atmosphere; Palmer´s works depict idyllic rural landscapes at night. Both break away from everyday subjects and scenes. However, in spite of their “strange” quality, the pictures convey a feeling of peacefulness (“a quiet”) to the speaker. This feeling seems to be related to the way in which the persona perceives there is “order” in them:
I think it is that order pushes through
Your images, (...)
In our opinion, this “order” may refer to the pattern that combines the images into a coherent whole, which is also related to the artist´s qualities that were mentioned in the previous stanza.
The repetition of the first person pronoun and a verb that expresses opinion at the beginning of two lines in this stanza (” I feel”, “ I think”) emphasises the fact that the persona is expressing a personal interpretation of these artists´ works.
The repetition of the first person pronoun and a verb that expresses opinion at the beginning of two lines in this stanza (” I feel”, “ I think”) emphasises the fact that the persona is expressing a personal interpretation of these artists´ works.
(...) and so you can arrange
And make the wildest, darkest dream serene;
This stanza suggests that the speaker is able to find serenity in Palmer and Chagall's wild and dark scenes. The use of sounds reinforces the idea that dark dreams can be peaceful in the persona´s view: dream is phonetically related on the one hand to the adjective "darkest" by means of the alliteration, and on the other hand to the word "serene" through the use of assonance. Besides, the adjective “serene” repeats the idea expressed by the phrase “I feel a quiet in it all”, which appears in the previous stanza.
The second line of this stanza describes the landscapes these artists paint with a paradoxical simile. The landscapes are like still-lives, and therefore, static, but are at the same time they seem to be full of life and movement. This description expresses the admiration of the speaker for them.
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Marc Chagall, ‘Le Cirque Bleu’ - 1950.Credit: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/chagall-the-blue-circus-n06136
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The moon and the sun shine out of the same scene-
The third line seems to refer to Chagall’s pictures where both the moon and the sun are present. The sibilance suggests their coexistence is not discordant. .
The third line seems to refer to Chagall’s pictures where both the moon and the sun are present. The sibilance suggests their coexistence is not discordant. .
The word “fantastic” in the last line means that those “worlds” are not real because they are portrayed in the way the artists perceive them, but also that they are incredible and unique. They are built from love because they are inspired by the passion the artists feel for their topics. The speaker´s admiration is present all along the line.
To sum up, the speaker presents her personal view of the works of Samuel Palmer and Chagall in this poem. In spite of the striking differences between these two painters and their paintings, the persona is able to see their similarities. In her view, their pictures convey a sense of peacefulness and the artists share a similar obsession with their themes. She also praises their works because she considers them an expression of the painters´ valuable qualities.
To sum up, the speaker presents her personal view of the works of Samuel Palmer and Chagall in this poem. In spite of the striking differences between these two painters and their paintings, the persona is able to see their similarities. In her view, their pictures convey a sense of peacefulness and the artists share a similar obsession with their themes. She also praises their works because she considers them an expression of the painters´ valuable qualities.
Antonella Carlotto, Lucila Torres, Micaela Ferreyra, Natasha Wodovosoff, Sophia Wazzani O’Connor, Tomás Casarino, Adriana Chen, Iara Ceriale, Sol Lindon, Rodrigo, Catalina Humphreys, Wendy Hortis.
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