Poem "The Starry Night" By Anne Sexton

The Starry Night
By Anne Sexton

"That does not keep me from having a terrible need of-shall I say the word-religion. Then I go out at night to paint the stars." Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to his brother.

The town does not exist
except where a black hair tree slips
up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.
The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars.
Oh starry night this is how
I want to die.

It moves. They are alive.
Even the moon bulges in it's orange irons
to push children, like a god from it's eye
The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.
Oh starry starry night! This is how
I want to die:

into that rushing beast of the night
sucked up by the great dragon, to split
from my life with no flag,
no belly,
no cry.

When I read this poem I felt that it was really different from other poems I've read. I doesn't really have a rhyming scheme to it. It has six lines in the first two stanzas then in the last stanza there is only 5 lines. This poem is an Ekphrasis poem and a Confessional poem. A ekphrasis poem is a poem that describes a mute work of visual art. A confessional poem is a detailed poem about a poet's personal life. It's a mix of both.

The first stanza is a description of Van Gogh painting. Like the cypress tree as a drowning woman into the hot night sky. It also says that the night boils with eleven stars, those are the eleven stars in the painting. It also says that the town doesn't exist, it is silent, that's the town painted on Van Gogh's painting.

The second stanza is to describe how the night sky felt to either the poet or the painter himself. It says it moves they are all alive. I think that means the sky and everything in it are all alive. Then it says "like a god from its eye", I think this was to show the religious side of him that he felt he so desperately needed.

The last stanza is to show and express how it is that he wants to die. "Into that rushing beast of the night" I think he wanted to be one with the sky. He wanted to be sucked up by that great dragon, the beast of the night. "To split from life with no flag, no belly, no cry," he was letting himself die and let go, relax into the deep sleep which would be death for him.

First Sonnet Draft

This is a poem about a special someone out there who loves me dearly.

To see how bright I am I wish she'd see,
I work so hard to try and get her love,
If only she could be that proud of me,
No things would matter not the stars above.
I tell her the truth but it only makes her mad,
She thinks my friends are what make me this way,
To see her so pissed, it just makes me sad,
I wisk I could take a rest for a day.

But everday's hard I try and I try,
To show her I'm smart, as smart as can be,
No need, her love level for me is high,
I'm her kid, she loves me just cuz I'm me.

She pushes me to try to be my best,
So it's alright now that I can take a rest.

Christ Redeemer Poem - El Greco

Christ redeemer,
sitting straight and stiff,
silent and still,
some say he is a myth.

Holy and all powerful,
yet humble and befriending,
peaceful and kind,
soon to the heavens you'll be accending.

He is know for his miracles,
all across the land,
and he shows his holiness,
with the bible in his hand.

What happens to love?

Does it grow beautiful pedals of joy?
Or does it grow thorns of hatred?

Does it fight until the end?
Or does it give up half-way through?

Does it mend the soul of the brokenhearted?
Or does it beat them down until they scream for mercy?

What is love? and why does it hurt so much?

What Is Poetry?

Poetry is.................
emotion,
feeling,
a story being told,
ancient,
love,
a way to express yourself,
an explanation,
life.

Poetry isn't..............
explicable,
fiction,
garbage,
or even a awaste of time.

I wonder if poetry is.................
peace,
a cure,
a smile,
a laugh,
joy.

Poetry is mysterious.

Christ Reedemer - El Greco

"El Greco" was the nickname for Domenikos Theotokopoulos. He was born in 1541 in Spain. He was from a famous century called the "siglo de oro", which was the "Golden Age", it went from 1550 to 1650. His paintings were very religious. That is one of the reasons behind this painting that he made. It is about the Christ, who also went by the name "redeemer." His paintings were wanted in churches and homes due to their religious purposes.

I chose this painting because it reminds me of God. As a christian God is very important to me. Jesus Christ is also a big part of being christian because I believe that Jesus died on the cross to forgive the sins of a humans because we are all human and we all sin, whether we like it or not. Unlike other religions, Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead, even though he was 100% human, yet 100% God. This is the connection I have with this painting.

I think that in the painting, the bible in Christs' hands is to represent his holiness and how religious Christ himself was. This also shows how El Greco himself was very religious, as well. I also think that the position his fingers are in is as if Christ is blessing someone. He takes his index finger and his middle finger and moves them in a cross formation as if to bless someone. That is my interpretation of things in the painting.

I learned alot about era of the Golden Age and El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos). I also learned of a new type of way to paint, it is called byzatine, which is to paint with stiff figures. I also learned about a new painter I didn't even know existed.