Poem-A-Day: When I Buy Pictures by Marianne Moore

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When I Buy Pictures by Marianne Moore   or what is closer to the truth, when I look at that of which I may regard myself as the      imaginary possessor, I fix upon what would give me pleasure in my average      moments: the satire upon curiousity in which no more is discernible    than the intensity of the mood; or quite the opposite--the old thing, the medieval    decorated hat-box, in which there are hounds with waists diminishing like the    waist of the hour-glass, and deer and birds and seated people; it may be no more than a square of parquetry; the literal    biography perhaps, in letters standing well apart upon a parchment-like    expanse; an artichoke in six varieties of blue; the snipe-legged    hieroglyphic in three parts; the silver fence protecting Adam's grave, or Michael taking    Adam by the wrist. Too stern an intellectual emphasis upon this quality or    that detracts from one's enjoyment. It must not wish to disarm anything; nor may the    approved triumph easily be honored-- that which is great because something else is small. It comes to this: of whatever sort it is, it must be "lit with piercing glances into the life of things"; it must acknowledge the spiritual forces which have    made it. Today's poem is in the public domain. About this poem: Marianne Moore collected a variety photographs, many of which are referenced in her poems. Moore's archive includes pictures of everything from children's toys, toiletry boxes, to a folding gold bedchamber that belonged to King Cheops, 15th-century tapestries, and an albino giraffe. September 22, 2012 Born near St. Louis, Missouri, on November 15, 1887, Marianne Moore is a celebrated Modernist poet.  Also by Moore The Fish The Paper Nautilus Poetry Related Poems This Is a Photograph of Me by Margaret Atwood In Paris by Carl Dennis Susan's Photograph by Jean Valentine Poem-A-Day started as a National Poetry Month program in 2006, delivering daily poems from newly-published poetry titles.   Due to popular demand, Poem-A-Day became a year-round program in 2010, featuring original, never-before-published poems by contemporary poets on weekdays, and classic poems on weekends.   Browse the Poem-A-Day archive for selections since 2010.  Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem In Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

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