Wearable Poem

This semester, I explored James Wright’s poem “Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Minnesota”. Through this exploration of meaning and language in the poet’s work, I came about creating a garment to reflect its qualities and the impact it made on me.

To start off, this is my poem:

Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Minnesota

 

Over my head, I see the bronze butterfly,

Asleep on the black trunk,

Blowing like a leaf in green shadow.

Down the ravine behind the empty house,

The cowbells follow one another

Into the distances of the afternoon.

To my right,

In a field of sunlight between two pines,

The droppings of last year’s horses

Blaze up into golden stones.

I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on.

A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home.

I have wasted my life.

 

My Interpretation through a Wearable Garment: 

 

Explanation:

 

Direct Quotes

“to my right” – Just a line from the poem, but also the direction towards which the veil is tilted

“over my head” – mask/veil – The idea of the mind as defining on how we see things and how we react to them.

“blowing like a leaf in green shadow” // “black trunk” – Black and green as defining colors in both pastoral imagery. Incorporating leaves as the reference to nature in the garment.

“golden stones” // “cowbells” // “bronze butterfly” – The reason behind choosing the wire material.

“i have wasted my life” – The line that ties up the poem together, and what ties up my garment together – the “ombre” idea of time.

Scholarly Sources – JAMES WRIGHT “A Blessing”

Suddenly I realize 

That if I stepped out of my body I would break 

Into blossom.

The idea of blossom and waste coming together.

Defining of Terms

Sonnet: a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes — a feeling of incomplete-ness — the poem is only 13 lines.

I incorporated this using the exposed wire.

Tie In’s:

Language: Pastoral, straight forward

Form: Incomplete Sonnet

Point of View: From the narrator/poet’s POV

Material: Wire and Leaves – transparency and nature and ombre for waste

Color: Waste, green, etc

Sound: Shuffling leaves – therapeutic white noise but also WASTE