Art and Poetry, William Blake and Jackson Plooock

Poetry Wednesday; Anger.

Anger and angry people are my topic for today, chosen because………………there are a lot of them about. Artwork by the well known 60’s artist Jackson Pollock.

A Poison Tree by;
William Blake

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I water'd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veil'd the pole:
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.

  Devine Image by;

 William Blake

To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
All pray in their distress,
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.

For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
Is God our Father dear;
And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
Is man, his child and care.
For Mercy has a human heart
Pity, a human face;
And Love, the human form divine;
And Peace, the human dress.
Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine:
Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.

And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk, or Jew.
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell,
There God is dwelling too.

Not From This Anger;
by Dylam Thomas

Not from this anger, anticlimax after
Refusal struck her loin and the lame flower
Bent like a beast to lap the singular floods
In a land strapped by hunger
Shall she receive a bellyful of weeds
And bear those tendril hands I touch across
The agonized, two seas.
Behind my head a square of sky sags over
The circular smile tossed from lover to lover
And the golden ball spins out of the skies;
Not from this anger after
Refusal struck like a bell under water
Shall her smile breed that mouth, behind the mirror,
That burns along my eyes.



This is a warning……some guy allows himself to become so angry in hotel foyer he loses all control and the whole thing is caught on video.

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Aug 27, '09 forgetmenot525 said his foe was dead, killed by the fruit of his anger.................... Thanks, L. Interesting. I'm one for expressing anger to a point, bottling up negative emotions I don't think is a good thing all the time (some would disagree) and in some situations - with appropriate self control. This was an anger that was expressed, illustrated in the poem.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Aug 27, '09 As always a joy to see and read your poetry and art posts /:-)

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Aug 26, '09 forgetmenot525 said your knowledge of language etc is way above mine. Well, I doubt that, but thank you. :-}

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 26, '09 bennett1 said Seems spot on to me. thank you...............if any one knows it is you, your knowledge of language etc is way above mine.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Aug 26, '09 Seems spot on to me.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 26, '09 The poem is about the poison tree of anger he is talking of his anger here And I water'd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles. he watered it and it bore fruit (metaphorically) in the night his foe came for his fruit (the fruit of his anger) ie he came for a fight?? and in the morning the foe was outstretched beneath the tree (the tree which bore the fruit) his foe was dead, killed by the fruit of his anger.................... maybe?? if any one else has a better explanation please ..... feel free to offer it.

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Aug 26, '09 forgetmenot525 said My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree. I never did understand this line of Blake's poem. Can anyone enlighten me?

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 26, '09 mitchylr said I enjoy the sheer eclecticness (I'm not sure that's a real word) I don't care if it's a real word, thanks anyway. :-))

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Aug 26, '09 I have to agree. I enjoy the sheer eclecticness (I'm not sure that's a real word) of the poetry, music and art that Loretta posts :-))

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 26, '09 asolotraveler said http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183659/ thanks Roy...........yep can see it now.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 26, '09 starfishred said hers has better pictures she is a pro- blushing :-)), thanks Heidi

delete reply asolotraveler wrote on Aug 26, '09 SEE THIS >>>>>>>> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183659/

delete reply starfishred wrote on Aug 26, '09 mitchylr said Was this posted, at least in part, because of the 'debates' going on in some of your recent posts? There did seem to be some anger flying around, particularly from one person. Your choice of poets was perfect, as I enjoy the works of both Blake and Thomas. I posted on Poetry wed. 2 weeks ago for much the same reason loretta did hers has better pictures she is a pro-

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 26, '09 asolotraveler said ON jACKSON pOLLOCK Thanks Roy...........of course

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 26, '09 mitchylr said Was this posted, at least in part, because of the 'debates' going on in some of your recent posts? There did seem to be some anger flying around, explanation at top of blog. :-)) ''Anger and angry people are my topic for today, chosen because .......there are a lot of them about.' Funny thing is the very first person to visit (and not comment) was one person who has been known to get just a tad angry at times :-)) what can I say? the title must have attracted him. And yes I'm pretty fond of William Blake too, I have posted him several times.

delete reply asolotraveler wrote on Aug 26, '09 ON jACKSON pOLLOCK

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Aug 26, '09 Was this posted, at least in part, because of the 'debates' going on in some of your recent posts? There did seem to be some anger flying around, particularly from one person. Your choice of poets was perfect, as I enjoy the works of both Blake and Thomas.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Aug 26, '09 I don't know either.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 26, '09 asolotraveler said JUST RE-WATCHED THE ED HARRIS MOVIE ON jp LAST NIGHT! THIS POSTING IS PERFECT Hi Roy, sorry must admit my ignorance here, don't know which movie you're referring too.............care to enlighten me?? :-))

delete reply asolotraveler wrote on Aug 26, '09 JUST RE-WATCHED THE ED HARRIS MOVIE ON jp LAST NIGHT! THIS POSTING IS PERFECT

delete reply kwika wrote on Aug 26, '09 The poem is insightful and the artwork incredible thanks.

delete reply caffeinatedjo wrote on Aug 25, '09 Wow, so many thoughtful comments here. I agree that anger is a normal human emotion and what matters is not that we feel it (or whatever feeling we feel) but what we DO with it. I try not to label emotions as "good" or "bad"...they just "are", and I can choose whether or not to let them consume me and grow into a "poison tree". Thanks, Loretta, for posting such insightful poetry and such telling abstract art.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Aug 25, '09, edited on Aug 25, '09 actually Jackson Pollard sculptures better than he paints-but these go with the poetry very well- my hubby know Pollard when he lived in Itally and my hubby treatd him severyl times great blog Loretta

delete reply lauritasita wrote on Aug 25, '09, edited on Aug 25, '09 I love the first lines of the first poem: "I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow."

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 25, '09 veryfrank said I do admit that Jackson Pollock's work does nothing for me, however I would think that anger describes a lot of it as well as any word would. exactly why I chose his work, because it seems to represent anger so well, I couldn't think of another artist to use to illustrate anger.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 25, '09, edited on Aug 25, '09 bennett1 said He told his wrath, he did not shout it, or become sarcastic, or engage in any of the belittling practices one can see on the pages of Multiply these days. thanks Bennett, this is exactly how I felt, I am becoming disillusioned with Multiply, or rather some of the people here. At the drop of a hat people call each other bigots and prejudice, they indulge in a tit for tat no holds barred type confrontation. It's often a he/she started it mentality, and then the whole thing escalates. And that's with out even mentioning the outright hate merchants...........This is all why I posted, because as I said at the start, there's a lot of it about.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Aug 25, '09 Always such a joy to read William Blake. I do admit that Jackson Pollock's work does nothing for me, however I would think that anger describes a lot of it as well as any word would. Bennett has expressed it so well. Blake starts to address something that I strongly believe: "I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. And I water'd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles......" If you can't let go of past disappointment, anger or resentment you seriously reduce your chance for true happiness.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Aug 25, '09 I was struck by words from Blake's poem: "I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end." He told his wrath, he did not shout it, or become sarcastic, or engage in any of the belittling practices one can see on the pages of Multiply these days. I believe that anger is like a signal to us that something is wrong. That is the feeling of anger and if we can in a civil manner discuss it, we can often reach a resolution. On the other hand, if we nurture anger in our hearts, then we are watering the poison tree. People confuse anger, which is a human reaction (you hit me, I probably feel anger) with tantrumming or rage, which are behaviors. I don't want to get into semantics, but want to clarify that we may feel many things, including anger, which we may or may not choose. Behaviors (tantrumming, losing it, etc.) are things we choose. Some are so vitriolic that the wounds may never heal especially if there is a pattern. Such people, who let their behaviors towards others run amok, are usually shunned by the greater community. But they can make great nuisances of themselves.