The painting, Battle of the Lights, Coney Island (1913) was painted
right around the time Ridge was working on the Ghetto.... It might
be interesting to see if painters and poets shared anything in common
at this time... is the ghetto a place of darkness or light, according
to Ridge?
Lights go out...
And the great lovers linger in little groups, still passionately debating,
Or one may walk in silence, listening only to the still summons of Life -
Life making the great Demand...
Calling its new Christs...
Till tears come, blurring the stars
That grow tender and comforting like the eyes of comrades;
And the moon rolls behind the Battery
Like a word molten out of the mouth of God.
Lights go out...
And colors rush together,
Fusing and floating away...
Pale worn gold like the settings of old jewels...
Mauves, exquisite, tremulous, and luminous purples
And burning spires in aureoles of light
Like shimmering auras.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Images / Poets / Painters...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think this poem is saying that the city comes alive in the darkness. In the first stanza it talks of the continuing conversations of people huddled in their groups. They aren't adhering to the normal hours of the day in anymore. In Russia, when it became night people went home, that was the observed end of the work day. But the city never sleeps, it's always alive and a person can still walk though the streets at night and experience it in numerous ways. in the second stanza the author observes that their is no color in the darkness but his first stanza assures us that their is life. The ghetto is a place absent of color, but full of life(light)
ReplyDeleteI like what Aaron is saying.. I didn't think of it this way originally. I believe this poem was exposing the darkness in areas like the ghetto. However, after reading Aaron's response, I like the idea that the city comes alive in the darkness, as most cities do.
ReplyDeleteI too agree with what Aaron is saying. The lights dazzle in the darkness and lovers come out to spend time with each other and they can linger around passionately without getting scolded because their actions would be deemed as inappropriate for the daylight hours; the dimness of the lights set the mood for romance.In the "Ghetto", darkness seems to actually lighten the way of life then in the city because that's when the true hard workers came out to keep the city alive along with their families.
ReplyDelete