Archive for the 'The Starry Night' Category

Anne Sexton (1928-1974) — The Starry Night (1961)

Starry Night taken from Vincent Van Gogh — The Complete Works on CDRom

That does not keep me from having a terrible need of — shall I say the word — religion.

Then I go out at night to paint the stars.

— Vincent van Gogh in a letter to his brother

Anne Sexton (1928-1974)

The Starry Night 1961

The town does not exist

except where one black-haired tree slips

up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.

The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars

Oh starry starry night! This is how

I want to die

It moves. They are all alive.

Even the moon bulges in its orange irons

to push children, like a god from its eye.

The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.

Oh starry starry night! This is how

I want to die:

into that rushing beast of the night,

sucked up by that great dragon, to split

form my life with no flag,

no belly,

no cry.

Questions for Looking Deeper

1. In what ways does your reaction to the painting agree with Sexton’s? In what ways does it differ? Does her poem open your eyes to elements of the painting you had not initially seen? Explain.

2. The first two stanzas of the poem end with the refrain “This is how/I want to die.” What does “This” refer to? In what sense might The Starry Night be described as a painting about death?

3. Around the time of this painting, van Gogh was much preoccupied with cypress trees. He wrote his brother, “The tree is as beautiful of line and proportion as an Egyption obelisk. And the green has such a quality of distinction. It is a splash of black in a sunny landscape, but it is one of the most interesting black notes, and the most difficult to hit off exactly that I can imagine.” How does Sexton’s reference to the cypress tree in the opening lines of her poem relate to her overall reading of the painting?

4. Describe the difference in brush strokes van Gogh uses for the sky and those he uses for the village. How does this difference relate to the paintings theme?

5. The Starry Night was painted in a town of Saint-Remy. Later the same year, van Gogh did another painting, this one in the town of Arles, to which he gave the same title. Look up this later painting and compare the differences in the painter’s handling of light, both natural and artificial.

6. Some of van Gogh’s paintings have been described as mystical. Which of these two paintings does the term best fit? Explain. What similarities and differences do you find between the depiction of the village and the sky in the two works?

The only other “Starry Night” Painting that I assume this text is referring to, would be “The Starry Night over the Rhone”, as shown below.

Starry Night over the Rhone taken from Vincent Van Gogh — The Complete Works on CDRom

References

Abcarian, R., & Klotz, M. (2004). Literature: The human experience (shorter 8th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s

November 01 2006 | Anne Sexton and Starry Night over the Rhone and The Starry Night | 1 Comment »