Study in Indigo
The death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world.
~Edgar Allan Poe
~Edgar Allan Poe
deep
indigo blue the lake
as her dress of sighs and sky
just the relic of wrinkled skirt
showing above the snow's white line
when he came walking down the beach
across the scrabbled sleet
to see her face beneath the lace thin
ice, the past with a
frozen scarf of present
over her snowblind eyes
deep indigo
blue
January 2012
Image: Snow, by Julian Fałat, 1907, oil on canvas
Julian Fałat [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Beautifully done. Indigo is a word with such depth and long history and meaning.
ReplyDeleteIndigo's our ink, but it's also a sad depth of blue, bluesy as this lonely find on a final shore. Poe's right -- drifting Ophelia' s stare beneath the surface sees everything we fear without a qualm, her floating skirts that same indigo. Fine, sad, powerful, sharp. - Brendan
ReplyDeletesmiling at the poe quote...and oh..i sometimes have a dress of sighs and sky as well...all wrinkled and dripping with indigo blue...hope you enjoyed the celebration yesterday...smiles
ReplyDeleteMuch the cheerful this morning, aren't we?
ReplyDelete"to see her face beneath the lace thin
ice"
Really haunting, Hedge.
shivers at seeing the face under the ice...that is def a haunting image regardless of her dress of sighs, which is rather hot for an image...very nice verse hedge...
ReplyDeleteThat was intense. I liked it! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks all--this came dropping into my lap while I was under the weather last week and I scrawled it on the tablet by my bed pretty much as is.
ReplyDelete@B: The anima hides many a message in her ice-covered blue gaze. Psyche, Ophelia, the Lady of Shallot...an indigo metaphor, for sure.
"Under the weather" I think nails the scene of this poem. - B
ReplyDelete@B: Just read your piece--a very odd sort of echo in the setting--that mysterious margin where water and shore bring human and elemental mysteries together in some primal way , perhaps.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you lose your job, and we everything
ReplyDeleteI will still have your back,
warm......
Intense and a great write, I love it!
@ayala: I think you meant this for Brian's poem.
ReplyDeleteVery dark and very beautifully done. Word choices are all excellent
ReplyDeleteWoman, you are an artist, a great one!
ReplyDeleteI love:
'the past with a
frozen scarf of present'
how you do it- only you know- so glad I can bow at your amazing work!
xox
I love the tapered end lines, like a sigh, a deep blue sigh.
ReplyDeleteIndigo is quite a mesmerising colour.
Lovely imagery!
ReplyDelete"to see her face beneath the lace thin
ReplyDeleteice, the past with a
frozen scarf of present
over her snowblind eyes"
What a great poetic turn at the center of this piece. So effective. The poem starts so quietly and ends quietly, but with riveting vocabulary in between. Excellent. Sometimes they do come to us like that, all at once and as is, but for me not often enough!!!!
@Steve--me either. Mostly they make you work for every line. Or fire you. ;_)
ReplyDeletea chilling, yet beautiful piece
ReplyDeleteMasterful imagery. Indigo is such a wonderful colour, and you utilised it excellently here.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem.
Duke and Nina and Hedge...
ReplyDeleteits just about perfect
created its own space in my head, breathed and cleansed...
not alot of cool air in my brain...even the blues is a mark up for my manifestation... but give me Jazz... yeah baby ...
therefore this is a gift
unfortunatley it wont last... ill have to come back...
thanks hedge :)
Love this. Very visual and soothing.
ReplyDeletehttp://charleslmashburn.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/the-sun-came-up-again-4/
This has a magical quality. I love the image of her wrinkled skirt.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful imagery, Joy. Love the chilly feeling, yet it is soothing.
ReplyDeletePamela
Drowing people now under the ice, how mean..haha...wonderfully haunting image this write brought forth
ReplyDeleteThese lines float and flow like silk. So understated and lovely. There's a certain melancholy in the wave of lines that stretch out and then circle back to blue
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful!
ReplyDeleteA beautiful, yet cold weave. Goosebumps rise as I envision her form...the lyrical-like words almost convince you you have somehow read wrong...if that makes sense. Brilliant!
ReplyDelete"as her dress of sighs and sky" ah - a sigh for that line
ReplyDeletelove the music you picked to accompany this piece, I think it definitely complements the words - and what words they are - also liking the quote, I think it says a lot about a lot actually... this one had a smooth flow and a brilliant composure! nice!
Haunting and oh so, close to home. (Hugs) Indigo
ReplyDelete"Indigo" is such a beautiful and evocative word. (I once was working, still unfinished, on a novel with that as a title.) It's just so rhythmic and lovely and you use it beautifully here as it can't help but bring up all kinds of connotations (for me) at least from Inuit to go to, of course, that deep dark end of spectrum blue. For me the most evocative line: the past with a
ReplyDeletefrozen scarf of present. Also love the whole dress of sky and sigh, wrinkled skirt, scrabbled sleet.
@Arron: Thank god I didn't use a Beatles clip.:P I have to admit that Ellington vid is mesmerizing to me. Have to listen to Nina afterwards to regain a semblance of normal consciousness.Come back anytime. JIt's on the house.
ReplyDeleteThanks all.
Miss Jane, thanks for reading--pamela, OT, Tash, K.--your input always much appreciated, and enjoyed your own poems very much. Indigo-have to say, love the name.
Beautiful Joy -- all parts. SMA
ReplyDeleteSmiling at the Poe quote - this pome is beautiful and vivid
ReplyDeleteWhew, this poem gives me the chills. I can imagine coming on such a scene. Your poem brings a nightmare alive.
ReplyDeleteTerse and beautiful capture of that scene by the beach.. Fine work Hedge ~
ReplyDeleteNo disrespect to one of my favorites, Mr. Poe, but I would say that anything you turn your hand to becomes a fine poetical topic.
ReplyDeleteI like sighs and sky/ snowblind eyes in the third and third from last lines. Clever Witch, you.
This is what poets can do.
ReplyDeleteI am quite taken with the exquisite beauty of this poem ... and painting. Quite taken.
ReplyDeletefelt soft and somber........ pleasing and soothing.. enjoyed the write
ReplyDeleteThis is great~ the imagery and solemn tone.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem! Images are cool in color and the tone bleak like the winter landscape. Very moody!
ReplyDeletethis is so delicate, a gentle touch
ReplyDeleteIt's your words like these that keep me coming back for more. Yes, it did bring to mind Ophelia. I saw "her face beneath the lace".
ReplyDeleteChilling blue, and perfect reading it with Nina, quite the juxta.
ReplyDeleteHope all is well. Sorry to be slow coming 'round. I'll get back "to it" soon I hope.
Hauntingly beautiful. The face in the ice is quite unsettling, but I love the way you open and close the poem similarly, thus resolving the tension. Perfect.
ReplyDeletecolour-shape-texture-form..it's all here. Very classy build and depart hedge... a chiller..
ReplyDelete'across the scrabbled sleet'
many cool linguistic surprises in this short poem. Very much enjoyed.
beautiful visual here
ReplyDeleteTruly beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAnna :o]
Thanks so much everyone, for taking the time to come by and leave your thoughts and impressions. I appreciate it very much.
ReplyDeleteChilling, Hedge....
ReplyDeleteI had to reread it to believe what I was reading, and yes, it was.
The constrains of the beginning and the end, with the 'meat' in the middle, quite a poem, Hedge...in structure and intent.
Haunting, indeed, simple as the best poems in my opinion are, and this one sticks to the brain fast.
"lace" "ice" "snow"...how you have weaved these simple words into a very powerful, disturbing poem!
Lady Nyo
i have exactly one duke ellington cd in my itunes, and i love indigo. the whole album slows me down. it, like most music, reminds me of another time in my life. listening and loving jazz was fun, still is. i just listened to miles davis for an evening and really enjoyed that. i also enjoyed simone's song.
ReplyDeletei like what is unspoken directly in the poem, the cold water. you mention her eyes, but i see the cold water. she might be cold inside to come outside like this. the snow and her dress provide texture and color, but i see the cold indigo water, and her eyes are reflections. feels good to read something i can swim in.
Thanks Ed. I have very limited resources in jazz--some places I just can't follow, but I always love the pure musicianship, and Nina just has a way with a song for me. Glad you enjoyed the music, which sometimes seems to just 'need' to be with a poem.
ReplyDeleteAfA the unspoken here--as I say a bit further up in the comments, this one was a gift-I didn't want to chance deflecting it by too much overwrite. The water and the cold are of course, major players. Thanks for reading and glad you enjoyed the swim.
one of my favorite colors - it is so soothing as are your words here.
ReplyDeleteexcept for the face beneath the ice, I meant to add (that's not so soothing ;)
ReplyDeleteLove it! It's so smooth it renders you into a trance...almost makes you forget the chill in it.
ReplyDeleteoml, what is not to love about this whole thing? Open with Poe (love); a poem in the study (note) of blue (love): and not one, but two jazz greats (luv luv)... Yep, you hit this one out of the ballpark. Dare say, the winds are gusting here and I play Coltrane...this was a welcomed accompaniment. ~
ReplyDeleteIndigo is a word I love. It sounds wonderful tripping off the tongue and it conjures up the most beautiful of blue shades. It also makes for beautiful poems like yours, hedgewitch.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, this demonstrates intelligence and great poetic skill. Brilliant!
ReplyDelete