Review of 'birdlife', Eds. Nyanda Smith and Perdita Phillips: Lethologica Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9758334-4-5

Title
Review of 'birdlife', Eds. Nyanda Smith and Perdita Phillips: Lethologica Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9758334-4-5
Publication Date
2012
Author(s)
Ryan, John C
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5102-4561
Email: jryan63@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jryan63
Type of document
Review
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
International Centre for Landscape and Language (ICLL) Press
Place of publication
Australia
UNE publication id
une:21089
Abstract
Birds. Eternal subjects for artists and poets. The choreographic abilities of birds to rise above the earthly, their elegant weathering of the airs, their enchanting songs - these are some of the enduring, alluring qualities of the avian. As an example of this age-old fascination, the Old English poem 'The Seafarer', quoted above, relates to birds through the longing and loneliness of the speaker's exile. Further along in English literature, Shakespeare mentions the ornithological more than six-hundred times, and alludes to over sixty different British species. And in contemporary poetry, Pablo Neruda's Art of Birds is a spiritual meditation on Chilean species, whereas, closer to Western Australia, Lines for Birds, a collaboration between painter John Wolseley and poet Barry Hill, celebrates the antipodean sky messengers of our region. Images and words & images in words & birds and words... In simple terms, da Vinci linked painting to the sense of sight and poetry to the bodily senses and to the emotions. In reviewing birdlife, I recall his aphorism: 'Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen'. For da Vinci, the relationship between image and word is essential. It strikes me that the rapport between visual art and poetry, which is explored so beautifully in birdlife, is rare in today's publishing world. Poetry in print seems, for most writers and readers, the domain of small presses, academic publishing, ephemeral zines or online journals or blogs.
Link
Citation
Landscapes, 5(1), p. 119-121
ISSN
1448-0778
Start page
119
End page
121

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