“We are in the ‘Maritimes,’ but all that means is that we live by the sea.” - Elizabeth Bishop, “In the Village” BREAKING THINGS APART AND PUTTING THEM BACK TOGETHER Ekphrastic Poetry by Benjamin Dawson Bachelor of Arts (Honors, English), UNB, 2018 A Thesis Submitted in Patrial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate Academic Unit of English Supervisor Triny Finlay, Masters (English and Creative Writing) Examining Board Stephen Schryer, PhD (English) Matt Rogers, PhD (Education) This thesis is accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK April, 2020 © Benjamin Dawson, 2020 ii ABSTRACT Breaking Things Apart and Putting Them Back Together is an ekphrastic poetry collection composed of forty-nine poems, as well as a critical introduction. It deals with paintings from artists on the East Coast of Canada such as Mary Pratt, Harold Cromwell, Maud Lewis, and Molly Lamb Bobak; these fours artists are discussed at length in the critical introduction that explores the creative and theoretical framework of ekphrasis. I reimagine ekphrasis as a collaborative art, through which I try to understand life on the East Coast, finding within the range of artists I examined thematic and technical similarities, as well as a general folk sensibility; many artists illustrated landscapes suggesting a consistent creative connection with the land they lived on. While the images gesture outward to viewers, the poems I wrote about them are often introspective, dealing with issues of home, community, culture, and mental health. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to my supervisor Triny Finlay, who remained positive and supportive throughout this project even when I felt I wasn’t up to the task. Her feedback was fundamental to the body of the work, and I’m sure any praiseworthy aspect of this thesis credits her help. Special thanks to Stephen Schyrer, too, who was exceptionally helpful in refining my critical introduction, in addition to his consistent dependability and direction when I wasn’t sure how or what to write. Special thanks to my parents, Andrew, Gail, and Ken, whose wholehearted support has kept me persistent in pursuing my education. I wouldn’t have been able to do this degree, or my prior, without the upbringing I got from them. My love and appreciation for them is boundless. Special thanks to my friends – particularly those who helped me get through this degree. There are many of you; I owe you all gratitude and beer. Special thanks to UNB, as an institution, which owes me a paycheck it refuses to give me for my final two weeks of work as a TA. I’ll never forget the last thing UNB did for me as a graduate student: screw up my rent. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract . .ii Acknowledgements . iii Table of Contents . iv Critical Introduction . 1 Poems OCEAN . .18 TO GLASGOW . 19 OCEAN VIEW BALLAD . 20 LIGHTHOUSE PT. 1 . 21 LIGHTHOUSE PT. 2 . 22 LIGHTHOUSE PT. 3. 23 EASTERN PASAGE . 24 HARBOUR . 25 PORT OF DEPARTURE. .26 ANADROMOUS (UP COURSE) . 27 ALIZARIN CRIMSON . 28 SUMMER GOTHIC, WINTER EASEMENT . 29 WATER GOAT & KID . 30 ALL I EVER WANTED . 31 TOWARD A LARGER BODY . 32 FOLKish . 33 WORKING BERRIES . 34 COVE . 35 PASS BY . 36 BANG – A MESS . 37 ROUGH WEAVE . 38 IF THE WORLD IS A WOMAN, SHE DOESN’T HAVE TIME FOR YOU . 39 GIRL IN RED TURBAN . 40 FLOOD, WATERLOO ROO . .41 RE: SNOWFALL. 42 AHEAD OF ME . 43 THE SCENIC ROUTE . 45 POST DEFLECTION . 46 MODERN ARCHITECTURE . 47 WHERE DO YOU FIND THE SPACE FOR SO MUCH DARKNESS? . .48 WINTER OMENS . 49 v COLONIAL COAST . 50 NEW PRETENCE ISLAND . 51 MYRIAD ISLAND . 52 OUR CRAFTS OF DISTANCE . 53 OUR CRAFTS OF VIOLENCE . 54 LOGGING ON THE MIRAMICHI . 55 ACCRETION . 56 THE META . 57 BURNING THE RHODODENDRON . 58 BEYOND CITIES . 59 MAGNOLIA. .60 BREAKING THINGS APART AND PUTTING THEM BACK TOGETHER . 61 SUPERSTORE . 62 GOING UNDER . 63 WHAT I SHOULD HAVE SAID WHEN YOU TEXTED ME ABOUT ANXIETY . 64 IS HEAVEN POST-TRAUMATIC? . 65 FANDANGO . 66 ALL DAYS ARE SHORT REGARDLESS OF HOW THEY FEEL . 67 64 POINTS ON THE ROAD BETWEEN MONTREAL TO HALIFAX . 68 ROTTEN ORANGES OF CANADIAN ART . 70 Works Cited and Consulted . 71 Curriculum Vitae 1 INTRODUCTION John Barton writes in his poem “Forest, British Columbia” that there is “more than one way in/ into the forest.” The poem comes out of his collection West of Darkness and was my first encounter with ekphrastic poetry. I printed off both the poem and Emily Carr’s painting Forest, British Columbia, then studied them side by side trying to see where Barton took motivation from the painting for his verse. He is initially visually descriptive: “for instance/ light carves/ through a dense shell of cedar crowns;” this description arises directly out of the centre of Carr’s painting, with the light in the forest standing distinctly apart from the darkness above it as it follows roughly along the top of the foliage. As the poem progresses, however, Barton shifts away from visual description: “… as I pass beneath/ any change in light/ delicious/ scent drawing me deeper.” Barton inserts himself into the painting by Emily Carr. This insertion is not merely theoretical; Barton overturns the primarily visual nature of the art and engages his other senses. He no longer only sees the forest; he feels it, smells it, and potentially even tastes it. The painting implies a depth that lurks behind the visual foreground, and Barton, through ekphrastic poetry, deigns to further explore that depth. Ekphrasis, then, holds more potential than simply being a sort of descriptive verse. Ekphrastic poetry is evocative, sensory, and present; ekphrasis articulates the experience of the viewer responding to art. My thesis was initially conceived of as an ekphrastic project about New Brunswick art. I wanted to reimagine ekphrasis as a collaborative art while decentering the place of Western and Central Canada in the national conception of Canadian art by emphasizing.