Anonymous Drawing
A delicate young Negro stands
With the reins of a horse clutched loosely in his hands;
So delicate, indeed, that we wonder if he can hold the spirited creature
beside him
Until the master shall arrive to ride him.
Already the animal's nostrils widen with rage or fear.
But if we imagine him snorting, about to rear,
This boy, who should know about such things better than we,
Only stands smiling, passive and ornamental, in a fantastic livery
Of ruffles and puffed breeches,
Watching the artist, apparently, as he sketches.
Meanwhile the petty lord who must have paid
For the artist's trip up from Perugia, for the horse, for the boy, for
everything here, in fact, has been delayed,
Kept too long by his steward, perhaps, discussing
Some business concerning the estate, or fussing
Over the details of his impeccable toilet
With a manservant whose opinion is that any alteration at all would spoil it.
However fast he should come hurrying now
Over this vast greensward, mopping his brow
Clear of the sweat of the fine Renaissance morning, it would be too late:
The artist will have had his revenge for being made to wait,
A revenge not only necessary but right and clever --
Simply to leave him out of the scene forever.
Commentary
Since we’re showcasing poems that deal with commerce between the visual and literary arts, I thought some readers might enjoy this one. Justice was a student of, among others, John Berryman, whose painterly poem, “Winter Landscape” (after Brueghel) we read some days previously. That poem seems to me more elegant in its compression; but, of course, Berryman wasn’t aiming for the glib wit of the Justice piece. Long lines with delayed terminal rhymes (see lines 3, 12, and 16) call to mind Ogden Nash, yet Justice manages to escape the light verse genre by his severe punchline: the ruthless omissions of artistic choice. Small consolation for the slave, maybe, but a kind of Justice seems to have been served by the slaveholder’s extinction.
By claiming that the poet has eluded “the light verse genre,” incidentally, I do not wish to cast aspersions on the form. In many a poem, Justice shows memorably what can be done with light verse proper, how it can surpass our expectations.
— Sunil Iyengar
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Sadiri Ordinario · 9 June 2003
Comments on Donald Justice’ Anonymous Drawing
This poem is a very racist poem IMHO. There are several assumptions to be made to classify it as such. First, the Lord of the manor (say) maybe taken as a white man. Of course the black young man holding the horse’s rein called with the denigrating term of “boy” is described as “smiling (perhaps another word that is really meant obseqious by the poet), passive and ornamental” a reverse implication of the Caucasian race as dynamic, performance-oriented and such. But the Negro looks to the artist. The artist here is said to be from Perugia, a town in Italy which the poet could subtly have denoted this to mean Latin or Hispanic races who are taken to be inferior in that they spend their time in the arts more instead of doing the world’s business to improve their social or national status through accumulation of wealth.
Yet Justice with tongue in cheek, describes the Lord as being engaged in some petty discussion with a manservant (or steward) over the appearance of his already impeccable toilet. This makes him lose his appointment with the artist, the horse, the boy and the scenery being captured by the artist on his medium.
And the Lord will not be able to be a part of the scenery no matter how fast he hurries. It is like saying humdrum material things have no lasting part in artistic things which are more of the spirit than of the “flesh” no matter how expensive they can get.
—Sandi Ordinario
zhujunmm · 3 December 2007
Plz, can any kind soul help me interpret this poem because I totally have no idea about what this poem is about!!!