Free Verse Poem about the Impressionist/Post-Impressionist Art Movements |
THE IMPRESSIONISTS! O, how you colored all the world with colors new! Shades of light and shadow and vibrant hues That shift and shimmer and dance upon those Canvases of yours, transforming art into marvels Which no mortal eyes had ever thought or Hoped or dreamed, could be before. And nothing has ever been the same. But what a price you paid! Lives lived out in obscurity and pain. Peerless genius, mocked by lesser men, and Jealous fools, who could not understand or match your skills. So they struck out with words to hurt and keep you From achieving, a greatness they could never be. A crime too vile of which to speak. And the best of you, were hurt the most! Van Gogh, it drove to such madness, He turned his brilliant hands upon himself, Doing harm upon harm, till he could endure no more, and In a moment of deep despair, took his life. Putting out before its time, one of the brightest lights Ever to have shined upon the world of man. O, if you could have lived to know the lasting glory you would all gain! The water lilies of Monet, The dancing lovers of Renoir, Vincent’s sunflowers, these and All you made have become Monuments to your immortality and The blessings millions cherish daily. And as for me, I can still recall the time I looked upon my first, Then heard some inner voice Ask of me “do you see?” “Yes,” I thought, “I see all the colors of a world I never knew was there before and I shall never see Anything the same again.” All because of what you great artists left to us, In those beautiful canvases of yours! (NOTE: This poem is intended to honor the artists of both the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements!) |