Featuring cherita!


April 3, 2019

Ekphrastic April 2019, Day 3: "The Umbrella"


"The Umbrella" (1883) by Marie Bashkirtseff [1858-1884].

April showers

I refuse to believe we
will have flowers this year

this rain is the same
as it was last month
--soul chilling


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

The artist died a year after painting "The Umbrella." She was only 25 years old and had developed tuberculosis, more commonly known at the time as "consumption." Adding to the tragedy of a career cut short is the fact that the Nazis destroyed many of Bashkirtseff's works during World War II.


A cherita is a haiku-like poem of three stanzas that tells a "story." The first stanza is one line and sets the scene. Stanza two is two lines, stanza three is three lines. A cherita terbalik is a cherita with the order of the stanzas rearranged.

22 comments:

  1. Sad and lovely. This is the perfect marriage of words and image. And so timely.

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    1. Incredibly sad. At least for us there will be sun today.

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  2. What a wonderful painting, and I love your take on it. I love how the poem is completely gloomy, but can't keep the hope out entirely, in spite of itself. Because the reader knows there will be flowers.

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    1. Thanks, Ruth. I keep waiting for the flowers. At least the birds are back.

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  3. Striking painting, Diane. Thanks so much for drawing our attention to Marie Bashkirtseff and her work.

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  4. Thank you for finding and sharing the painting, an artist new to me. "Soul chilling" shows well on those cheeks!

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  5. The painting is stunning; love your take on the girl's feelings. Sad to hear about Marie's untimely death. She was very talented.

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    1. Actually, this is the way I was feeling, since we had "snow possible" forecasts.

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  6. Such a stark portrait and poem. Arresting, both!

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  7. Oh my gosh! The RAIN! Will it ever stop?!? Our back yard was a lake after 2 inches in one day last weekend. Soul chilling indeed.

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    1. And still, some politicians continue to say out loud that climate change is fake news.

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  8. Yes, "soul chilling" hope you are wrong, though I like your poem and the image is gorgeous!

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  9. Thanks for this beautiful image, Diane. I love ekphrastic poetry. Made me think ...

    The chill of her cheeks
    shawl pulled tight,
    eyes dull with grief ...



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  10. Stunning painting. Such sadness in one so young. So many hard realities. And late spring warmth, always hard. I jave had to learn to co-exist with our barely 2 month springs here in perpetually gloomy and often snowy CNY. Coming from balmier Long Island years ago I still remember early spring and its promise.

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    1. It's sort of like it is for me here in southern NH. 45 minutes south, in Boston, flowers are blooming.

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  11. Opps that's *have. So hard to type on my phone!!! Janet F.

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    1. I feel your pain, Janet! I have large fingers which makes typing far from easy.

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