Parables for Rodin
by Bill Yarrow
PARABLES FOR RODIN
1. Portrait of the Sculptor
His beard is an eighteenth-century forest
in south central France.
A wife's thin fingers stroke the tired eyes
of an old man asleep in a hammock.
No sounds issue from his lips.
He is made of bronze.
2. A Letter
Rodin is writing a letter.
Everything points toward this fact—
the sheets of paper, the bowl
of ink, the light from the east
window shining on the pen beside
his hand. The letter is to one
of the illustrious dead.
"Dear Claude Lorrain,"
it begins.
3. The Rodin Tableau
The Hand of the Devil holds
Woman. Fauness kneels. Adonis
lies dead. Headless Woman
bends over. The Secret is
passed between Victor Hugo
and Puvis de Chavannes.
Pulitzer, Clemenceau and
George Bernard Shaw are
called upon to mill. In
the absolute center stands
The Man with the Broken Nose.
4. Guests at the Banquet
Miss Eve Fairfax
Mrs. Potter-Palmer
Madame Eliseieff
Madame Fonaille
Renee Vivien
The Duchesse de Choi Seul
Mrs. Hunter
Maurice Haquette
George Hecq
Pierre de Wiessant
Jean D'aire
5. After the Ball
The Burghers of Calais are hungry.
They are clamoring for food.
Feed us, feed us! they cry.
Rodin in full dress
rushes to his studio
to take from the highest shelf
Head of St. John the Baptist
on a Platter.
6. A Vision of Love
A young girl shifts her smooth bronze thigh
and crosses her young bronze leg.
She waits, silent in the studio
amid dust from plaster, blasting,
carving, sanding, and casting.
Enter her lover
with goggles and blowtorch.
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Author's Note
This poem appeared in the Spring 2009 (Issue #33) of Rio Grande Review (print mag).
The names in this poem are come from titles of Rodin's works found in the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia and Paris.
This poem appears in "Against Prompts."
https://www.amazon.com/Against-Prompts-Bill-Yarrow/dp/1943170282
"He is made of bronze."
I had a friend who was a sculptor. For a time, he worked with iron beams. He did a grouping for a university in Ohio that consisted of several upright H-beams, twisted, bent into various poses. I asked him what it meant. He said, "What do you think it means?" I told him, "The Burghers of Calais." He said, "Damn, Jim, you're absolutely correct." To this day, I believe he was pulling my leg.
Love Rodin. Fave.
Lively
Sections 1, 3 - especially, and 6 work best. Nice.
I know nothing about Rodin. But I like this. Especially the way the words flow and linger after each section. Like the coming full circle - with the bronze at beginning and end.
(Man, I feel uncultured when I read your work, Bill).
Very enjoyable read, Bill. Great lines all the way through, cleverly descriptive.
Bill, I agree with Jules' comment. The cultural and artistic references in your poetry challenge me to read further: and it is always worth the effort.