Compare/Contrast Analysis Essay: Poetry and the Visual Arts

Your goal for this paper is to compare and contrast a poem and a work of visual art in order to answer the question: how does the poem add to / enhance our understanding and enjoyment of the work of art?Suggested poem/art pairings are available in the section of The Bedford Compact Introduction to Literature entitled “Poetry and the Visual Arts” (Meyer 978 – 979). Your support your thesis should come mainly in the form of original analysis of the poem (its use of tropes, schemes, and so forth) and your connection of this analysis to your understanding of the work of art. For instance, if you were looking at a painting of a horse race, you might talk about how the “short lines and staccato rhythm of the lines suggests the movement of a horse’s hooves in a gallop, and thus helps us to visualize the movement of the horses in the painting and make it come alive”