Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad you've decided to learn with me, today we're in the unit Myths and Legends.

Today we are going to read a fantastic poem by William Carlos Williams, called "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." It was inspired by a painting with the same name.

Now the first thing we need to do is get a copy of William Carlos Williams's, "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." You can find this in the "1991 Collected Poems from 1936 to 62, Volume Two" published by New Directions.

So I'd like you to get a copy of William Carlos Williams's, "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." Pause the video while you get that poem and then we'll get started with the lesson.

Pause the video and get your copy of the poem now.

Welcome back.

Now you've got a copy of "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" by William Carlos Williams we are ready to get going with our lesson.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you are going to have written an ekphrastic poem, inspired by Bruegel's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" and William Carlos Williams's poem of the same name.

Now we're gonna look at this word ekphrastic throughout our whole lesson.

William Carlos's Williams' poem is ekphrastic which means that it describes an artwork and is inspired by it.

Now of course, William Carlos Williams is inspired by Bruegel's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." And his poem describes it and is inspired by it.

Now you are going to have a look at William Carlos Williams' poem.

We're gonna have a look at Bruegel's, "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" and then we are gonna write our own ekphrastic poem.

So this is gonna be a really creative lesson.

Now, there are some key words which are gonna be referenced throughout today's lesson.

They're gonna help us achieve our objective.

If you'd like to pause the video now and make a note of them, then please do.

But we are going to go through them throughout this lesson.

They're gonna be referenced so you will have a really firm understanding of them by the end of today's lesson, I'm gonna draw attention to two of them, ekphrastic which I've just spoken about.

So it's a poem which describes a piece of art and is inspired by it.

William Carlos Williams the poem that we look at today, it is an ekphrastic poem because it's inspired by Bruegel's "Landscape with Fall of Icarus." And then enjambment.

That's how you pronounce this word, enjambment.

And this means when there's no punctuation at the end of a line of poetry.

Now, William Carlos Williams, he uses enjambment throughout his poem and we're gonna have a think, well why? Why might he be using this particular poetic technique? As I say, if you'd like to pause the video, then please do so now and you can make a note of these keywords, otherwise listen out for them throughout today's lesson and you are going to get used to using them yourself as well.

So our lesson outline for today, first of all, we're going to explore Williams's poem and then we are going to write an ekphrastic poem.

Now it's gonna be inspired not just by Williams Carlos Williams's poem, "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" but also Peter Bruegel's painting of the same name.

So let's start off by exploring Williams's poem.

Now here is part of the story of the Greek myth, the fall of Icarus.

Now we are looking at this Greek myth because it inspired Peter Bruegel's painting "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" which in turn inspired William Carlos Williams's poem "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." It all starts with this myth, myth being one of our key words today.

So these are stories that people tell to explain the origins of the world, how the world began and what the world is like.

And we're looking at a Greek myth, though lots of cultures of course have mythologies.

So let's have a look at this Greek myth, the fall of Icarus.

Icarus and his father Daedalus less have been imprisoned by King Minao on the island of Crete.

Daedalus, an inventor, constructs wings made of wax and bird feathers so they can escape.

Daedalus warns his son not to fly too close to the sun or the wax will melt.

Now I'd like you to discuss how does the myth end? Some of you might know this myth.

If you don't, you might be able to think, well, I've got the beginning of this myth, what happened at the end? So I'd like you to discuss how does the myth end either using your previous knowledge or your best guesses, given that we've got the start of the story, discuss how does the myth end? Pause the video and complete the discussion now.

Welcome back, some really good recall there or some good inferences given what we've got at the beginning of the story.

So you might have had, Icarus, excited by the feeling of flying flies higher and higher and the sun melts the wax and Icarus falls into the sea and drowns.

Hence why we've got Peter Bruegel's painting "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." The fall refers to Icarus falling from the sky as he flies too close to the sun, and the wax that is holding his wings together melts just as his father warned him.

Now today you're going to read a poem called "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" it was written by William Carlos Williams in 1962.

Now this poem was inspired by painting by Peter Bruegel.

And you know this painting was painted around 1558 and like William Carlos Williams poem, it's called "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." Now the painting was in turn inspired by the Greek myth about Icarus, the one we just looked at, the fall of Icarus and this from ancient Greek mythology.

Now poems that are inspired by pieces of art have a special name.

They're called ekphrastic poems. So "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" William Carlos Williams that he wrote in 1962.

And it's an ekphrastic poem because it was inspired by Peter Bruegel's painting of the same name.

Ekphrastic poems are not just inspired by an artwork.

The poems also describe the artwork in detail.

Often this adds layers of meaning to the artwork itself.

So William Carlos Williams describes the artwork in detail and he has to interpret some of the figures, some of the aspects of Peter Bruegel's painting.

And this adds layers to the artwork itself.

And we can start to consider, do I agree with the way that Williams has interpreted the painting? Would I write it in a slightly different way? Now I'd like you to read the first five lines of Williams's poem.

And I'd like you to examine "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" by Peter Bruegel, the painting which inspired it, and then discuss how does William signal that his poem is ekphrastic? So you've got your copy of the poem, "A Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." Just read the first five lines and then examine the painting that inspired it.

It's on the board, and then discuss how does Williams signal that his poem is ekphrastic that is inspired by Bruegel and that it is describing what he sees.

Pause the video and complete this discussion task now.

Welcome back.

Well done for carefully reading Williams's poem, returning to have a look at the painting.

And then turning your eyes to this question, how does Williams signal that his poem is ekphrastic? Some people start off by saying, well, he actually references Bruegel.

He uses Bruegel's name in his first stanza.

Some of you might notice a slightly different spelling.

Peter Bruegel, that's how he signed his paintings with no H, but his family, his relatives kept the H, which was originally in their name.

And that's why we've got that slight difference between the two spellings there, either is accepted, but the main thing is, is that Williams actually references Bruegel in his first stanza.

Others saying, well, he references the ploughman, the kind of central figure from this painting.

So we are really, really seeing that the poem is representing exactly what William Carlos Williams was seeing when he wrote this poem.

So it was looking at the painting obviously very carefully, and he wants to show that it is ekphrastic.

That it is describing this, a particular piece of artwork.

It is not just inspired by the myth itself.

Now I'd like you to read the whole of Williams's poem twice.

You could read it out loud, you could read it in your head, you could read it out loud first.

And then in your head there are a range of different ways that you could read this poem.

And then I would like you to discuss what lines of Williams's poem seem to fit each selected focus of the painting.

So we've got Bruegel's painting in front of us.

I have circled a few key features in this painting.

And then see after your reading of Williams's poem, can you match some of the lines to the particular focus in the painting? Take your time reading Williams's poem.

If you want to read it more than twice, then of course you can, enjoy it and then complete the discussion task, pause the video and complete these tasks now.

Welcome back.

It was lovely to hear people reading Williams's poem, some people choosing to read it out loud, others choosing to read it in their head or a mixture of both.

And then some really good matching here so that you can really see how this poem is ekphrastic because Williams is actually referring to very specific moments in this poem.

So we've got the central figure, the ploughman, absolutely we've got in the background, we've got a reference to the coast.

We've got a reference to the sun.

The sun, which melts the wings of Icarus described as sweating.

And then we've got this reference to Icarus himself using that verb of drowning in the poem.

So we've got a very, very clear picture of the painting, not just through the painting, but actually through Williams's poem as well.

Now Izzy considers the poem in the painting, and this is what she argues.

The main similarity is that Williams and Bruegel present Icarus's death as trivial.

Now I'd like you to discuss what might have led Izzy to this argument.

Now trivial of course, is one of our key words today, and it means unimportant, insignificant, and that is what Izzy is arguing after looking at the painting and reading the poem.

The main similarities that both Williams and Bruegel present Icarus's death as trivial.

Pause the video and discuss what might have led Izzy to this argument.

Pause the video and complete the discussion task now.

Welcome back, well done for adding that word trivial to your vocabulary and really showing your depth of understanding of what it means by referring to the painting and to the poem.

So in Bruegel's landscape, we see that Icarus's death is presented as trivial because he's given such a small area on the canvas itself, on the painting itself, we just see his legs sticking up out of the water.

So the focus is definitely, definitely not on Icarus, it is on the rest of the scene.

And the farmers who are getting on with their work and the other agricultural workers, there's a real celebration of their humble work and there's a real celebration of the landscape, the beauty of the natural landscape as well.

So Icarus's death doesn't seem very important in this world.

Williams, of course, because he's inspired by Bruegel's painting, he follows this.

So we've got seven stanzas.

Most of them are focused on the natural world, the beauty of the landscape, the agricultural workers not on Icarus himself.

We just get him at the end of the poem.

And indeed his death does seem quite insignificant in comparison to the focus of the rest of the poem.

Now, lots of people talked about the content of the painting, the content of the poem.

In order to discuss this question or to think, how did Izzy get to this argument that Williams and Bruegel present Icarus's death as trivial.

But one further aspect of Williams's poem that have led Izzy to argument is its punctuation.

Now I'd like you to read through the poem again, pausing only for the punctuation.

I'd like you to discuss.

What do you notice? How does it affect the way you read? Why do you think Williams made this choice? So it's not just the content of the poem that shows that Icarus's death is trivial, the punctuation is doing some work there as well.

So read through the poem again, pausing only for punctuation.

Discuss what do you notice.

How does it affect the way you read? And why do you think Williams made this choice? Pause the video and complete these two tasks now.

Welcome back.

It was great fun to hear you reading that poem.

Maybe you thought, ah, Ms. Grant has tricked us a little bit here because there is no punctuation in the poem.

So reading it through, pausing only for punctuation was incredibly difficult.

So the first thing that people notice is there is no punctuation in this poem.

There's no punctuation anywhere, not in any stanza, not at the end of any stanza, and not even at the end of the final stanza.

And the way it affects the way you read, because it really increases the pace with which you have to read the poem.

So the speed with which you have to read the poem because punctuation is a pause.

It divides our ideas, it divides sentences, it divides clauses in sentences.

So if you don't use any punctuation, then you end up reading through things very, very, very quickly.

Now of course we wouldn't do this in prose in paragraphs, but in poetry we have more creative freedom.

And sometimes poets do decide just like Williams has done today, that they're not going to use any punctuation and they do this for a specific effect.

Now, some of you started to think about what this effect might be.

Now the speed made some people think, well, all I know is that Icarus is falling very, very quickly into the sea, and maybe this mimics the speed that Icarus is falling into the sea.

And others saying, actually I'm thinking this poem is ekphrastic it is inspired by an artwork.

Maybe we are Williams here, our eyes travelling across the artwork and we are moving our eyes just as Williams is moving his eyes as he's writing this poem, which I think is a really, really lovely idea.

Okay, so this poem has no punctuation at all.

We have discussed this and you heard that as you were reading it out loud.

When there is no punctuation at the end of a line of poetry, we say it is enjambed.

Now we looked at this key word at the beginning of the lesson.

Enjambment, the idea that there is no punctuation at the end of a line of poetry.

Every single line of Williams's poem is enjambed.

This consistent use of enjambment increases the pace of the poem.

Now all of you noticed that when you were reading it out loud.

Some argue that the pace reflects Icarus as he plunges into the sea.

Others argue the pace reflects that life goes on.

Icarus death is trivial.

So we talked about the pace of Icarus plunging into the sea.

We also thought a little bit about Williams and his eyes travelling across the painting.

But there is this third idea that others argue.

The pace reflects that life goes on.

Icarus's death is trivial.

We can't pause for Icarus's death.

We've got to keep ploughing the field.

We've got to keep tending our sheep, keep tending our flock.

So life goes on.

And that is reflected through the lack punctuation.

There's no right answer here.

It's how you might interpret Williams's use of enjambment but certainly enjambment is a key method that Williams uses and we must consider, well why has he used it? So a check for understanding.

Let's check that we really understand this enjambment what it means and what it does when we're reading the poem.

So I'd like you to match the sentence stems their ending.

We've got Williams's poem is in enjambed because, Williams's poem is enjambed but, Williams's poem is enjambed.

So pause the video and match the sentence stems to their ending now Welcome back, well done if you said Williams's poem is enjambed because there is no punctuation at the end of each line of the poem.

Williams's poem is enjambed but there are examples of structure, for example, his use of stanzas and Williams's poem is enjambed so the pace of the poem increases.

Fantastic understanding of this word enjambment what it means and what it does.

Now Sam turns Williams's poem into a five sentence paragraph.

So she looks at the poem and she says, ah, I can see that this poem is written in seven stanzas, it's has got no punctuation.

I'm gonna turn it into five sentences.

I'm gonna turn it into a paragraph.

And she argues, turning into sentences doesn't change anything about how we interpret and engage with the poem.

So the language is still there.

So it doesn't change anything about how we interpret engage with the poem, that is Sam's idea.

Well, Izzy says, "Sam, you can't do this! You've missed the point of the poem and completely changed how we interpret and engage with it." So Izzy thinks that the lack of punctuation, the use of enjambment the use of stanzas is really important.

So having a disagreement here.

now I'd like you to use the keywords below, enjambment, ekphrastic, punctuation, pace and trivial to discuss why Izzy is correct.

So using those keywords discuss why Izzy is correct, that Sam shouldn't do this, shouldn't change the poem into a five sentence paragraph, that this misses the point of the poem and changes how we interpret and engage with it.

Pause the video and complete this discussion task, making sure you use those keywords in your discussion.

Pause the video and complete the discussion task now.

Welcome back, a really lively discussion.

Lovely to hear you using those keywords really, really accurately.

Let's have a look at an example of a discussion.

We're gonna see if we can give them some pointers on how to improve it.

So here is part of Andeep's discussion.

So he started off, Williams's poem is an ekphrastic poem and it was inspired by Bruegel's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." Both artists show that Icarus death is trivial.

So you can call a poet an artist as well, just as Bruegel is a painter he is an artist so too as Williams, he's a poet we can also call him an artist.

So Andeep says, both artists show that Icarus's death is trivial.

Now we can see that Andeep has used two keywords.

He's got ekphrastic and he's got trivial.

But how could you help him use the remaining three keywords in his answer? We've got enjambment, punctuation and pace.

Pause the video and see if you can help Andeep develop his discussion using these three keywords.

Pause the video and complete the discussion task now.

Welcome back, well done for helping Andeep out.

Lots of people started with the word enjambment.

So Williams uses enjambment in his poem to show that Icarus's death is trivial.

Enjambment increases the pace of the poem because there is no punctuation to offer a pause.

And this increase in pace could reflect that life goes on despite the fact that Icarus has died, that he has drowned.

Life keeps moving on because that is what life does.

It moves on with pace even when tragic things do happen.

So there's just some ways that I heard people helping Andeep in order to develop his discussion.

We're gonna move on to our second learning cycle.

We've looked at Williams's ekphrastic poem and now we're gonna write our own ekphrastic poem.

So each of Williams's seven stanzas focuses on different aspect of Bruegel's painting.

We've got stanza one, it focuses on the season spring.

Stanza two, the farmer ploughing his field.

Stanza three, the natural world coming alive.

Stanza four, the sea.

Stanza five, the sun.

Stanza six, the coast.

And Stanza seven, the splash Icarus makes in the sea.

So there's different focus for each of these seven stanzas.

Now I'd like you to look carefully at Bruegel's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" and discuss if you were going to write an ekphrastic poem inspired by this painting, what three things would you focus on? We don't need to focus on seven like Williams, we're just gonna focus on three.

So looking really carefully at the painting, if you were gonna write an ekphrastic poem inspired by this painting, what three things would you focus on? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back.

Lovely to hear people really inspired by this painting.

Lots of people focusing on the ship.

The ship is quite large and it's right next to Icarus who is splashing into the sea.

Some people notice the figure who's right on the coast in the bottom of right hand corner, maybe he sees something.

We've got the horse itself who's pulling the plough and helping the farmer as he ploughs his field.

We've got the trees, the greenery of the natural world.

Some people saying, well, like Williams, I'd actually like to focus on the sun and the sea.

So lots and lots of different ideas.

There's so much going on in this picture.

So you might have noticed something very large, something in the background, or you might notice something smaller in the foreground that you would like to focus on.

Now Andeep decided to focus on the sun, the sea, and the ship.

Here is a draught of his first two stanzas.

And he wrote, Icarus plummeted as Bruegel's shows, but the sun radiated, the sea rippled blue and green warming.

So lovely.

First two stanzas there.

Now Sam and Izzy offer some feedback.

I'd like you to discuss what might they say? Izzy is saying, I like how you, so let's find something really positive in and Andeep's first two stanzas.

And Sam says, you don't have to.

So what advice might she be offering Andeep? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back, really, really lovely clear feedback there for Andeep and some people echoing the ideas that Sam and Izzy have.

So you might have said like Izzy, I like how you have used enjambment, just like Williams. So you can see that Andeep hasn't used any punctuation at the end of each of his lines of poetry.

And Sam says, you don't have to write exactly like Williams, for example, using three line stanzas.

Now, ekphrastic poems don't need to be written in three line stanzas.

They don't need to use in enjambment.

All needs to be to be an ekphrastic poem is inspired by a piece of artwork and to describe it.

So if you want to use a different form to Williams, if you want to use longer standards, shorter standards, if you would like to use some punctuation, then of course please do.

I'd like you to discuss what will you borrow from Williams's poem.

It might be a particular style.

It might be his use of enjambment it might be a particular word.

And what will you change? Pause the video and complete these two discussion questions now.

Welcome back, lovely to hear how you are going to be inspired by Williams's poem, but also how you are going to make it your own.

I cannot wait to see these ekphrastic poems. Now check for understanding before we move into our creative task.

Ekphrastic poems never include punctuation.

Is this true or false? Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected false, now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it A, Williams's choice was to use enjambment on every line, but he could have made any number of choices about his use of punctuation.

Or B, Williams's choice was to use enjambment on every line, but an ekphrastic poem always uses enjambment at least once.

Pause the video and select your justification now.

Well done if you selected A, he could have made any number of choices about his use of punctuation.

Ekphrastic poems do not have to use enjambment at any point if the writer of the ekphrastic poem does not want to use that method.

So I would like you to write an ekphrastic poem entitled "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." You're gonna write three stanzas, each with a specific focus, which you've already discussed earlier in this learning cycle.

You're going to use Bruegel's painting to inspire you.

And of course you can use Williams's poem to inspire you as well.

Give this task the time that it deserves so that you come up with a beautifully creative ekphrastic poem.

I cannot wait to read them, pause the video and complete the task now.

Welcome back.

It was lovely to see you looking at the painting, feeling inspired just as Williams must have done when he wrote his poem.

Before we celebrate your work, let's do some self-assessment.

So look at Bruegel's painting whilst reading your ekphrastic poem aloud.

And I'd like you to match words and phrases in your poem to the picture showing how your poem is ekphrastic.

And remember we did this earlier on with Williams's poem when we were matching some of the words and phrases to this picture in learning cycle one.

So look at Bruegel's painting while reading your ekphrastic poem aloud really celebrate that poem.

And I'd like you to match words and phrases in your poem to the picture showing how your poem is ekphrastic.

Pause the video and complete these two tasks now.

Welcome back.

What a joy it was to hear all of those poems being read out.

Some people reading quickly because they decided not to use any punctuation.

They decided to enjamb each of their lines, just like Williams has done.

Other people pausing, they had a slower pace to their poem.

Lots of people like Williams saying, well I'm gonna present Icarus's death as quite trivial because that seems to be a real point in Bruegel's painting.

And of course, my poem is ekphrastic.

It is inspired by this painting, well done.

In summary, William Carlos Williams's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" is an ekphrastic poem.

An ekphrastic poem is a poem which describes a piece of art and is inspired by it.

Each of Williams's seven stanzas refers to something in Peter Bruegel's painting "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus".

Like Bruegel, Williams focuses on the natural world rather than Icarus himself.

And each line of Williams's poem is enjambed There is no punctuation at the end of any of the lines.

It has been such a pleasure to hear your creative writing, your creative poems today, and I look forward to seeing you next time.