"American Gothic"
by: John Stone
Just outside the frame
there has to be a dog
chickens, cows and hay
and a smokehouse
where a ham in hickory
is also being preserved
Here for all time
the borders of the Gothic window
anticipate the ribs
of the house
the tines of the pitchfork
repeat the triumph
of his overalls
and front and center
the long faces, the sober lips
above the upright spines
of this couple
arrested in the name of art
These two
by now
the sun this high
ought to be
in mortal time
about their businesses
Instead they linger here
within the patient fabric
of the lives they wove
he asking the artist silently
how much longer
and worrying about the crops
she no less concerned about the crops
but more to the point just now
whether she remembered
to turn off the stove.
___________________________________________________
John Stone's poem, "American Gothic" is a look inside the painting American Gothic by Grant Wood. Particularly Stone's sounds like a stream of conciousness of someone looking at this painting in a gallery. The painting is very intriguing, because of the stern faced man and woman that almost seem to be guarding something. I've never seen the painting in person, however I've had similar thoughts to what Stone describes in his poem. I've wondered what was going on around the two character's, and what they were thinking, and why a painting was done of them.
Stone writes that the Gothic window, the main curiosity of the painting, will be forever looking over the heads of the two individuals "arrested in the name of art". This line stuck out to me. The idea that the two people in the painting were forced to pose and put their chores on hold. That would explain the stern, "Are you done yet" looks on their faces. then stone gives a further explanation as to why they feel this way, crops and a stove that needs to be turned off.
Another line that caught my attention comes in stanza eight, "in mortal time". These two people have been captured in immortality. To me it seems that Stone's painting furthers this idea. He even gave his poem the same title as the Grant Wood's painting.
The painting has always left me with a sense of foreboding. Stone does this as well through his last few lines, "whether she remembered to turn off the stove". It makes it seem like there may be an explosion any minute, but just like in the painting, we are not privy to the rest of the story.
Just outside the frame
there has to be a dog
chickens, cows and hay
and a smokehouse
where a ham in hickory
is also being preserved
Here for all time
the borders of the Gothic window
anticipate the ribs
of the house
the tines of the pitchfork
repeat the triumph
of his overalls
and front and center
the long faces, the sober lips
above the upright spines
of this couple
arrested in the name of art
These two
by now
the sun this high
ought to be
in mortal time
about their businesses
Instead they linger here
within the patient fabric
of the lives they wove
he asking the artist silently
how much longer
and worrying about the crops
she no less concerned about the crops
but more to the point just now
whether she remembered
to turn off the stove.
___________________________________________________
John Stone's poem, "American Gothic" is a look inside the painting American Gothic by Grant Wood. Particularly Stone's sounds like a stream of conciousness of someone looking at this painting in a gallery. The painting is very intriguing, because of the stern faced man and woman that almost seem to be guarding something. I've never seen the painting in person, however I've had similar thoughts to what Stone describes in his poem. I've wondered what was going on around the two character's, and what they were thinking, and why a painting was done of them.
Stone writes that the Gothic window, the main curiosity of the painting, will be forever looking over the heads of the two individuals "arrested in the name of art". This line stuck out to me. The idea that the two people in the painting were forced to pose and put their chores on hold. That would explain the stern, "Are you done yet" looks on their faces. then stone gives a further explanation as to why they feel this way, crops and a stove that needs to be turned off.
Another line that caught my attention comes in stanza eight, "in mortal time". These two people have been captured in immortality. To me it seems that Stone's painting furthers this idea. He even gave his poem the same title as the Grant Wood's painting.
The painting has always left me with a sense of foreboding. Stone does this as well through his last few lines, "whether she remembered to turn off the stove". It makes it seem like there may be an explosion any minute, but just like in the painting, we are not privy to the rest of the story.
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