Thursday, November 4, 2010

Mesostic poems

Found some wonderful poems in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park today. Arranged in a greenhouse were plant pots with labels that were poems forming the names of plants.

A mesostic poem is a vertical phrase which is
intersected by lines of horizontal text. These mesostics by Alec Finlay are composed of a name-stem and word-branches and the poems reveal something of the plant's character. The words used were very apt and described the plants charmingly. In this interview, the poet and propogator explains his approach to the project.

A unique way of bringing visual and written art together.

2 comments:

  1. I really like this. I think in other settings it's a bit too artificial for my taste (although I found the "mesostomatic" (http://www.euph0r1a.net/mesostomatic/) which is also really funny).

    But in this context, with gardening/plants, it feels a great way to play.

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  2. Me too. I've discovered your post on this rather late in the piece, Patricia, and I think it's a lot of fun. Enjoyed the link to the interview too, thanks.

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