Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO GIOVANNI DA PISTOIA ON THE PAINTING OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL, 1509, by MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO GIOVANNI DA PISTOIA ON THE PAINTING OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL, 1509, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I've grown a goitre by dwelling in this den
Last Line: Since foul I fare and painting is my shame.
Alternate Author Name(s): Michel Angelo
Variant Title(s): On The Painting Of The Sistine Chapel
Subject(s): Italian Renaissance; Paintings & Painters; Sistine Chapel


I've grown a goiter by dwelling in this den --
As cats from stagnant streams in Lombardy,
Or in what other land they hap to be --
Which drives the belly close beneath the chin:
My beard turns up to heaven; my nape falls in,
Fixed on my spine: my breast-bone visibly
Grows like a harp: a rich embroidery
Bedews my face from brush-drops thick and thin.
My loins into my paunch like levers grind:
My buttock like a crupper bears my weight;
My feet unguided wander to and fro;
In front my skin grows loose and long; behind,
By bending it becomes more taut and strait;
Crosswise I strain me like a Syrian bow:
Whence false and quaint, I know,
Must be the fruit of squinting brain and eye;
For ill can aim the gun that bends awry.
Come then, Giovanni, try
To succor my dead pictures and my fame;
Since foul I fare and painting is my shame.






Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net