Image credit:
John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)
La belle dam sans mercie [The Beautiful Woman Without Mercy]
Oil on canvas, 1893
44 x 31 7/8 inches (112 x 81 cm)
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
BUY a Print from the ARC Store
This image is courtesy of the Art Renewal Center.
------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND: "The Beautiful Woman Without Mercy (oil on canvas, 1893, at the Landesmuseum, Darmstadt). It is a reference to a Medieval European legend about a knight who encountered a strange but beautiful woman in the forest. She seduced and then killed him. The legend first appeared in a 15th Century poem, and again by Keats in a 1820 poem"
The following is the poem Keats wrote:
And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream’d—Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream’d
On the cold hill’s side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—“La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!”
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO:
Write the story you see behind this painting! The poem that's written above is an idea of what I mean. Now please, do NOT just copy it into your own words. I want a completely different story line. Tell me what's going on, draw me into your poem as deeply as I am drawn to this beautiful painting.
RULES:
I. NO StiCKy CAps
II. 1 poem/write per person, prewrites allowed but must fit with the prompt
III. Poem/write must talk about what is going on in the picture, whether it be a conversation they are having, the story that leads them to be in the situation that they are in, or something that happens right after their meeting in the picture. Draw from their faces, and gestures. What do you think they are feeling? What do you think they are thinking? Write it.
IV. Free verse or rhyme, or whatever you want. Doesn't matter to me, it can even be a short story.
V. If it's a poem, keep it relatively short (50 lines would be about as much as my attention span could take).
VI. Must be PG-13 or less, no unnecessary cussing or violence
VII. No age restrictions this time, but i won't be surprised if age does actually reflect off the poem's quality
I will update this if anything else comes to mind as I am drawing a blank at the moment.
ENJOY!
John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)
La belle dam sans mercie [The Beautiful Woman Without Mercy]
Oil on canvas, 1893
44 x 31 7/8 inches (112 x 81 cm)
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
BUY a Print from the ARC Store
This image is courtesy of the Art Renewal Center.
------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND: "The Beautiful Woman Without Mercy (oil on canvas, 1893, at the Landesmuseum, Darmstadt). It is a reference to a Medieval European legend about a knight who encountered a strange but beautiful woman in the forest. She seduced and then killed him. The legend first appeared in a 15th Century poem, and again by Keats in a 1820 poem"
The following is the poem Keats wrote:
And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream’d—Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream’d
On the cold hill’s side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—“La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!”
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO:
Write the story you see behind this painting! The poem that's written above is an idea of what I mean. Now please, do NOT just copy it into your own words. I want a completely different story line. Tell me what's going on, draw me into your poem as deeply as I am drawn to this beautiful painting.
RULES:
I. NO StiCKy CAps
II. 1 poem/write per person, prewrites allowed but must fit with the prompt
III. Poem/write must talk about what is going on in the picture, whether it be a conversation they are having, the story that leads them to be in the situation that they are in, or something that happens right after their meeting in the picture. Draw from their faces, and gestures. What do you think they are feeling? What do you think they are thinking? Write it.
IV. Free verse or rhyme, or whatever you want. Doesn't matter to me, it can even be a short story.
V. If it's a poem, keep it relatively short (50 lines would be about as much as my attention span could take).
VI. Must be PG-13 or less, no unnecessary cussing or violence
VII. No age restrictions this time, but i won't be surprised if age does actually reflect off the poem's quality
I will update this if anything else comes to mind as I am drawing a blank at the moment.
ENJOY!
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on April 26, 2008
- Rewards: Gold: 300, Silver: 200, Bronze: 100, Honorable mention: 1 people
- Final notes: Good job you guys, there were a few that really stood out to me, although I must say it was really close between a few in the finalists! Those of you who didn't make it, keep it up because all those pieces had potential, it was just little things like grammar and rhyme that weren't quite at the level I was looking for. KEEP WRITING AND CONGRATS TO THE WINNERS!
Contest Winners
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 4140461, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
-
She molds the earth
with every step.• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
-
Fangs enhance primrose lips pulled into a wicked grin Mismatched light and dark shines in eyes with secretsby Cerberus of Acheron 21 lines, 2 comments, on Aug 28 6:08 PM 2007. In Dark, Other, Pain
Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
It is heard among the hounds of hell,
in twisted sharp soprano peels.by ears2hearyou 53 lines, 4 comments, on Apr 14 4:29 AM 2008
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Silver trophy winner
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [9]
1 - 9 of 9
-
by Shenton 10 lines, 1 comment, on Apr 12 8:30 PM 2008• Commented on by judge.
-
• Commented on by judge.
Add a comment
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
-
Yikes! A splendid contest!
Scary lady, that. 
-
-
haha thanks, hope you join!
-
-
I adore the whole thing...
Excellent story and painting...smiles
Best wishes to all...
Many blessings
Asdzaa~ -
-
i'm glad you enjoy it!
-
-
I read that poem the other day...so touching, especially if you look deeper and find out the real meaning behind the words. I don't think I can reproduce anything like that!
-
My Favorite Painting of all time!!!!!
-
Thanks for the trophy!
Adding your comment:
1 - 7 of 7
