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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
LA MAJA DESNUDA, by RICHARD FROST Poet's Biography First Line: I knew nothing of goya, / the dutchess of alba, the prado, or even of spain Subject(s): Goya Y Lucientes, Francisco Jose De | |||
Francisco Goya, The Naked Maja, c. 1800. The painting led the Inquisition in 1815 to summon Goya before the tribunal to identify it and declare whether it was by his hand. In 1930, to commemorate the hundredth dredth anniversary of Goya's death, Spain issued a postage stamp bearing the nude image. I knew nothing of Goya, the Duchess of Alba, the Prado, or even of Spain; but I liked the stamps with the naked woman -- one-peseta dark violet, four-peseta slate-gray, ten-peseta brown-red. "Fun and learning! Collect stamps of the world! Free Goya nude with your first approvals!" Philately stirred in my loins. I said to myself, "Goya nude," and fastened my eye on the poor reproduction of things about which I understood nothing. It must have been like what enchanted Baudelaire, who kept a small version of the naked duchess beside him until his death. "Very strange," he said. "Her bosom rises, diverges till it almost hides the armpits. Je m'y connais." The fine uncanceled breasts, the indelible lips. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPANISH SONNETS: 1 by JOHN UPDIKE A CONEY ISLAND OF THE MIND: 1 by LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI SE APROVECHAN' by IRVING FELDMAN CONEY ISLAND OF THE MIND: 1 by LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI CHURCH OF SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA by PAUL PETRIE SPANISH SONNETS: 1 by JOHN UPDIKE SPANISH SONNETS: 2 by JOHN UPDIKE I AM GOYA by ANDREI VOZNESENSKY LITTLE DISSERTATION OF THE SUBJECT/OBJECT: 3. ONE IN PARTICULAR by GAIL WRONSKY |
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