I chanced upon a quote of Leonardo Da Vinci which said, “The poet ranks far below the painter in the representation of visible things, and far below the musician in that of invisible things.”
He had the right to compare poetry with painting and music as he was a gigantic fusion of being a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, poet and writer.
A deep thought on his statement triggered off the following points in my mind.....
• Even a 3 month old baby can respond to lilting music
• Even a 3 year old appreciates painting
• But sometimes even a 30 year old doesn’t show interest in poetry
They are true for a common man whose senses are intact.
What about those deaf, dumb and blind? Where do they stand in the regions of visible and invisible things?
A deaf can never feel the musical notes on his ears. He is not aware that music truly surpasses the language barriers and stirs the listening heart expressing its cosmic unity of souls. He is even deprived of enjoying the rustling of leaves, roaring of waves, pounding of heart, laughter of a baby, whack on the head, tapping on the stagnant water, rushing of rivers, clapping of hands, lighting of a matchstick, …….. His world is one of meditative state of silence which a spiritual man wants to achieve. In fact, forms and frames take him to far greater heights.
A born blind on the other hand is deprived of enjoying the beautiful sceneries, landscapes, waterfalls, clouds, oceans, waves, mountains, stars, sky, man, woman, physical display of emotions…….. Have we ever bothered to find out how does he shape his world of beings and things? I often wonder on these lines as he has no base to construct anything; as his world is one of the unknown horizons. So, the magic of painting has no place in his life whereas his extraordinary sensory organs can capture music to make him travel quickly beyond his dark world.
What if one is blind and deaf? How did Helen Keller manage to live in a world without sounds and images? What her life would have been if not for Anne Sullivan? I dread to think of such a situation for myself as I could not have differentiated between a lion and a tiger till my death.
While painting is reachable for deaf and music for blind, writing is one such art form which can give life to both. And poetry is a branch of it.
Poetry has its own world of charms and dreams, imaginations and beauty, subtleties and creativity.
Shakespeare says,
“The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.”
The only eligibility criterion for a reader to capture the poet’s frenzied imagination is the language.
Don’t we all (that includes deaf & blind) learn at least one language in our lifetime?
The irony is, Da Vinci compared artists of different arts. Just like one needs to master the language to become a laudable poet, did he not know that the strokes of a painter should also be free-flowing and musical notes of a musician should be one of exemplary perfection? What is a visible thing and an invisible thing according to him?
So long one has brain, so long one’s thought processes are alive, imagination and perfection are necessary for any art form, is it not?
As for me, where your interest lies, that’s where matters begin and end whether it is music or painting or poetry. You can trip down to visible and invisible things as per your wish in your own world.
Let me clarify here that this piece of writing is not to attack or defend Da Vinci's statement. I simply adore him for what he was, as it is said that the world is yet to see such a genius still. And he has a right to hold this opinion from his viewpoint.
It is mainly intended to explore different worlds of different people capable of mastering different arts in their presentation and representation.
6 comments:
A very good article. I think we should not compare different things. Everything is different in the world, so anyone can come up with any statement! Make sure that we are recognised by the world before saying something very silly.
''as it is said that the world is yet to see such a genius still''
I wonder why?
Da Vinci is a genius and visionary. I have no two opinions about it. He was endowed with extraordinary vision and creative skills in a wide variety of fields. He was much ahead of time. But what seems to be a simple & agreeable statement on a superficial level may not hold true for certain people. Of course, I didn't take into account under what context those words were said.
In fact, I wrote this article only to highlight those points that may hide behind his viewpoint.
Needless to mention, I too tried to live those moments of deaf and blind for a few minutes but alas! ended up with utter failure. :(
Your comments on the article has rejuvenated my spirit. Many thanks for dropping by.
A critical analysis of an author is a herculean task. You have taken a heavy subject and analysed them well with a literary vision. A unique subject though, yet well handled!
Dear Latha,
The same subject can be analysed in a different angle in a different way... :)
Let me not forget to add the quote of one more genius, G.H. Hardy who was a mathematician...
"The mathematical patterns, like the painter's or the poet's, must be beautiful; the ideas, like the colours or the words, must fit together in a honourable way. Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics."
What do you say? :D
- Padmaja
Hai Padmaja,
Good analysis.
We have to create the new drawing style "Brailey Drawing" and more....
Think about Beethovan. He can't hear. But his musics....
Think about the people like "kan irunthum kurudanaai, kadhu irundhum sevidanaai" also.
Good flow of language. I have to learn a lot.
Keep it up.
With Regards,
Elanchezhiyan
That's a thought provoking input. Many thanks to you.
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