Notes on “The Scream by Edvard Munch” by Gonzalinho da Costa:
https://poetryofgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2022/09/notes-on-scream-by-edvard-munch.html
Notes on “The Scream by Edvard Munch” by Gonzalinho da Costa:
https://poetryofgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2022/09/notes-on-scream-by-edvard-munch.html
“The Scream by Edvard Munch” is a visual poem in which the format conveys meaning because the rectangular shape communicates the constraining character of the punishment of the damned in Hell. In Hell the condemned are imprisoned forever and turned in upon themselves, unable to relate in love to God or to others outside their place of everlasting confinement.
ReplyDeleteSaint Teresa of Avila’s mystical experience of Hell indicates its defining bounded character.
“A long time after the Lord had granted me many of the favours which I have described, together with other very great ones, I was at prayer one day when suddenly, without knowing how, I found myself, as I thought, plunged right into hell. I realized that it was the Lord's will that I should see the place which the devils had prepared for me there and which I had merited for my sins. This happened in the briefest space of time, but, even if I were to live for many years, I believe it would be impossible for me to forget it. The entrance, I thought, resembled a very long, narrow passage, like a furnace, very low, dark and closely confined; the ground seemed to be full of water which looked like filthy, evil-smelling mud, and in it were many wicked-looking reptiles. At the end there was a hollow place scooped out of a wall, like a cupboard, and it was here that I found myself in close confinement. But the sight of all this was pleasant by comparison with what I felt there. What I have said is in no way an exaggeration.” (Saint Teresa of Avila, Autobiography, Chapter 32, 1)
Gonzalinho
Lopez: Some of these visions you include of Hell are so graphic, so troubling, so horrific. Why visit then? Why visit Hell, in a sense?
ReplyDeleteThigpen: God allows these visions as an act of mercy. Though they are often horrific, they reveal a truth that both charity and justice demand be revealed. It’s something akin to the controversial practice of some pro-life advocates who publicly display gruesome photos of aborted babies. In doing so, they show “pro-choice” advocates what exactly is the despicable horror that is being chosen.
When Jesus preached about Hell (and he did so multiple times), his language, too, was terrifying: unquenchable fire, gnawing worms that never die, weeping and gnashing of teeth. If the merciful Redeemer didn’t spare graphic language in warning of Hell, neither should we.
https://cruxnow.com/interviews/2020/01/what-the-hell-saints-visions-of-the-damned-an-act-of-mercy-author-says
—Kathryn Jean Lopez, “What the Hell? Saints’ visions of the damned ‘an act of mercy,’ author says,” Crux, January 21, 2020
Gonzalinho
The fate of the damned is unspeakable.
ReplyDeleteIf you knew what Hell is, you would willingly suffer the worst torments on earth to save yourself from eternal death.
“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.”—Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, Chapter 41
Dostoevsky describes the essential punishment of Hell, the pain of loss.
Gonzalinho
This poem was originally published in Torrid Literature Journal, Volume XXVII (June 2022), page 49.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho