Searching for Pablo Picasso's Poetry

The story goes that when Picasso tried his hand at writing poetry, he brought them to Gertrude Stein to read.

As he waited nervously in her garden, she finally appeared and he waited for her opinion. She put her hands on his shoulder and said: "Picasso, go home and paint."

Picassos poetry
LOL

Thank you Tarah. Cute av.

AE

here are some urls I got from Googling Picasso and Poetry!

He DID write poetry! Thank you for your question - I did not know before.

http://web.org.uk/picasso/poems.html

They are still under copyright, I would suggest, and in Spanish - or translations therefrom, so likey hard to find on the net - but this appears to be a collection:

http://www.readersread.com/cgi-bin/roundup.pl?roundup=318051


And some information about the poetry:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0318/p12s02-alar.html

Hopefully someone can help with a poem or two!

Ah - here is one - or an excerpt - from the Christian Science Monitor review:

orange blossom jasmine cabinet perfumed with pine scent little sugar cube stuck sentry-like on point of bayonet drawn from his gaze and bleeding honey from his fingers on the dove's wings burning at lake bottom in the skillet of his eyes shows up exactly at the happy hour with its flower needle pin prick poised to touch the sea's snout blue bull wingèd incandescent spread out at the ocean's rim


Preface from a book of his poetry:

http://www.cipherjournal.com/html/picasso.html


New York Review of Books review - but has to be purchased to be read in full:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=5290

This one allows you to click on a pdf lesson plan for teaching about his poetry!

http://storytrail.com/digmuse.html

Picassos poetry
Wow! This is so kewl, thank you very much!

AE

I ordered the book The Burial of the Count of Orgaz and other poems from Barnes & Noble today. Can't wait for it to come in. I hope I'm not disappointed with it like I was with Gongora, and that one was a pretty expensive book.

AE

Hope you enjoy!

Wrong book
Diowan, in case you order The Burial of the Count of Orgaz & other poems, I found two different versions out there.

I found this one in amazon: This one is not out yet.
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz & Other Poems
by Michel Leiris (Afterword), Pablo Picasso (Editor), Jerome Rothenberg (Translator), Pierre Joris (Translator), Paul Blackburn, Anne Waldman, Anselm Hollo

It is well organized, and it has some of Picassos art work. The best! I'm going see if I can find this one.

I ordered it through Barnes and Noble thinking I would get the same book, it's not. It has no art work, and I don't like the way it's organized. I think the link you posted is the same book I ordered from B&N
Edited by Jerome Rothenberg & Pierre Joris, Afterword by Michel Leiris

Gertrude Stein may be right. I will see if I find any interesting poems and post them here.

AE

Picasso's poetry
From the book of Picasso's Poetry. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz & other poems.


8-9 November XXXV

bullfighter's
jacket of
electric light bulbs
sewn with finest
needle
mist
invented
by the bull


14 November XXXV

Eugenia fragrant
little chapel of
guitar
strings
clothed in
poppy
black
carbuncles


24-28 November XXXV

tongue of fire fans the face inside the flute the cup
that singing nibbles the blue knife wound
lightly lightly
seated in the toro's eye
inscribed inside its head adorned with jasmines
waiting for the veil to swell
the crystal fragrant
wind wrapped in fold of caper two-handled sword
caresses gushing
handing bread out to the blind man and the lilac colored dove
its wickedness crammed tight against the burning lemon's lips
with horn contorted
spooking the cathedral with its farewell gestures
swooning in his arms without an olé
a glance that blows apart the morning radio
that in its kisses photographs a bedbug sun
sucks out the fragrance from the dying hour
and moves across a page in flight
it tears the flowers into shreds and carries them away tucked in
between a sighing wing
and fear that still can smile
a knife that jumps for joy
right now this very day left floating in whatever way it wants to
this exact and necessary moment
at the summit of the well
a cry rose-colored
for the hand that casts it down
a little act of christian love


11 December XXXV
(PORTRAIT OF SABARTÉS)

glowing the ember of this friendship
clock that always strikes the hour
flag that flaps so happily
moved by the breath of kiss against hand
heart's wingd caresses
rising up and flying from the highest limb
of tree in garden filled with fruit
if vantage point spreads velvet nigh the window
armchair replete with vest stripped off goose crying
covered with all the patience of a worm
and dyed by ribbons of a mediterranean color
table set with so much grace
over the beggar's hand
only adorned with blossoms
alms collected through those worlds
he pulls along a trencher
with its ropes rose-colored
braided in some kind of way
to write down words that by themselves
have to sing out their names


Today 9th June of the year 1939

dollop of syrup
frizzing her hair
like feathers
in the middle of the fried egg
smelling of her song
of lilies


Today the 23rd of February 1955
Songs of Summer dedicated to Don Juan Sabartés y Gual

I
this little colored girl
has balls as green as grass
her rolly-polly bishop
grows beans in his moustache

II
the balls of little Eulalia
show not a shred of chaff
while the nuts of Sabartés
have the down of a golden calf

III
the friars with bulging guts
are painting pictures that
would make a sweet young thing
squeal like an alley cat


For Don Jaime Sabartés on his Saint's Day

I
my grandmother's big balls
are shinning midst the thistles
and where the young girls roam
the grindstones whet their whistles

II
the sausage that you shove
up the ass of your señora
feels like a passion fruit
and the chokes of estremadura

III
the cardinal of cock
and the archbishop of gash
are a couple of well hung boys
with an eye for garlic and cash

IV
from the chairs on which the nuns
and the sacristan dropped their pants
hot honey sizzles their buns
till they cross themselves and dance


Those that read these poems must make up their own mind if they are good or not. There are about five words that look misspelled, and the spellcheck say they are misspelled, but I left them as is because thats the way they appear in the book.

AE

source:
Picasso, Pablo." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service
21 May 2005 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=59635>.

Walter I just posted some of his poems, enjoy.

I've read most of them ages ago (at school) - just wanted to state some encyclopedia knowledge about it :wink:

Pablo Picasso wrote roughly around 300 poems during the world war 2 as his works of art wew not "reasonable" enough to be shown within an exhibition. Poetry was his alternative.