The Tate Gallery in London has produced a perfectly charming small volume, With a Poet's Eye, that is sure to please. Many a visitor to the Tate will be delighted to acquire such a delightful, pretty, well-produced, and manageable small book. Those unable to visit the Gallery themselves will gain from it an authentic taste of what the Tate is about. It contains reproductions in color of more than fifty masterpieces from the collection, accompanied by poems inspired by the works reproduced and written especially by contemporary poets.
But beware. This book is from the Tate, and the Tate is the most dynamic and controversial gallery in Britain. It is regularly attacked for what many people consider outrageous acquisitions. The anthology has to be handled with care, because it is far from being the bland little production it might be taken for on cursory handling. It well lives up to the Tate's reputation for being stimulating, even disturbing.
The well-known English poet Elizabeth Jennings contributes the first poem, as an introduction, and she brilliantly sounds the tocsin, warning the reader and viewer of shocks to come.
Preen no prejudice, but saunter into this proud building.
Remove your hat. Let your bags and baskets be examined.
For bomb and gun.
Though within there will be blasts and explosions,
Important blows, battles and fisticuffs.
With the history of art, for here are no concessions, no unsuitable reticence,
Be ready to be shaken, to toss out your inhibitions. Take off dark and pink glasses
Unarmoured stand and reflect on improbable landscapes,
That easy scenery, coherent colours.
Are out of court. Here is a kingdom of trial and error Experiment is emperor.
How well do these words sum up the Tate-"a kingdom of trial and error." The anthology deserves serious and critical scrutiny, being much more than a trivial jeu d'esprit. The average visitor to an art gallery spends less than a minute even on the greatest work of art. Few stand longer, really considering a painting, being unwilling or unable to develop a deep reaction or make a thoughtful judgment. How can people be persuaded to stop and really look? Part of the Tate's approach was to link art with poetry, literature with paint. A year's work included a national poetry competition for all ages, poetry workshops, and lunchtime readings by distinguished poets, all this activity culminating in the present volume: The policy is not entirely new, but the introduction makes it very explicit.
The poems are those in which the subject . . . has been the stimulus to more than a poetical description. In them
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