donderdag 17 september 2020

wevend -iv

Bruegel’s breathtaking panoramic painting... 

shows a scene set in harshest winter. 




The weary [vermoeide] hunters of the title are returning home at the end of a disappointing hunt (the rewards of their labours, as we see, are meagre, and even the dogs look a little sorry for themselves, though the expansive view they - and we - are looking down on, is spectacular and uplifting). 




The scene is described with striking spareness [spaarzaamheid], the poet picking out details that make up the composition as a whole, making us aware of “Bruegel the painter” bringing these elements carefully and strikingly together.




Hunters in the Snow

William Carlos Williams (1962)


The over-all picture is winter

icy mountains

in the background the return


from the hunt it is toward evening

from the left

sturdy hunters lead in


their pack the inn-sign

hanging from a

broken hinge is a stag a crucifix


between his antlers the cold

inn yard is

deserted but for a huge bonfire


that flares wind-driven tended by

women who cluster

about it to the right beyond


the hill is a pattern of skaters

Brueghel the painter

concerned with it all has chosen


a winter-struck bush for his

foreground to

complete the picture


~bron~

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