William Blake’s Palette
A favourite colour.
I know a shady individual
who’s always on the make.
Claims to be an art expert
but he’s a well known rake.
Says he’s got an original
painting by William Blake
but you have the suspicion
that it could well be a fake.
We know that this artist
did use linseed oil to make
pigments like Prussian blue,
gamboge and madder lake,
Vermillion, yellow ochre,
bone black and lead sulfate.
Although he painted in oil
his watercolours do captivate.
He was also a famous engraver
who made illuminated prints
that were finely illustrated
with a range of distinctive tints.
If I am asked to choose a colour
I don’t need to examine a million,
I’ve already made my mind up
and my favourite is Vermillion.
This vivid shade is prominent
on William Blake’s old palette
There is a small bird, a passerine,
that also has the same epithet,
it’s the Vermillion flycatcher
with a reddish orange breast
which, of all feathered friends,
without any doubt is the best.
© Luigi Pagano 2021
Luigi, this line jars a little – There is bird, a small passerine, – in an otherwise excellent poem.
Thanks for the feedback, Pilgermann. Could you please elucidate and suggest how the line could be improved?
Luigi,
I pressed “Post” too quickly and thought I had made a suggestion. My error. I was thinking along the lines of:
“There is a small bird, a passerine…”
In your original the omission of the article “a” just stops the reader after “bird”, but then that could have been your intention.
I am so sorry, I hadn’t realized that the article was missing. I shall endeavour to change the line to the one you have suggested. Thanks for pointing out the omission.