A couple of days ago I posted an example of Erasure Poetry created from the following excerpt from Treasure Island.
On the night before the funeral he was as drunk as ever; and it was shocking, in that house of mourning, to hear him singing away at his ugly old sea-song; but weak as he was, we were all in the fear of death for him, and the doctor was suddenly taken up with a case many miles away and was never near the house after my father’s death. I have said the captain was weak, and indeed he seemed rather to grow weaker than regain his strength. He clambered up and down stairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and back again, and sometimes put his nose out of doors to smell the sea, holding on to the walls as he went for support and breathing hard and fast like a man on a steep mountain. He never particularly addressed me, and it is my belief he had as good as forgotten his confidences; but his temper was more flighty, and allowing for his bodily weakness, more violent than ever. He had an alarming way now when he was drunk of drawing his cutlass and laying it bare before him on the table. But with all that, he minded people less and seemed shut up in his own thoughts and rather wandering.
Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island (p. 15). Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island (p. 15). Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
On the night
drunk, shocking
that house of mourning
ugly, weak
in the fear of death
the captain clambered
down stairs
from the parlour
and back again
breathing hard
his temper flighty, violent
cutlass
on the table
his thoughts
wandering.A further erasure, or edit, sharpens the poem.
On the night
drunk, shocking
that house of mourning
in the fear of death
the captain clambered
from the parlour
and back again
breathing hard
his temper flighty, violent
his thoughts
wandering.Reading thus:
On the night
drunk, shocking
that house of mourning
weak
in fear of death
the captain clambered
from parlour
and back again
breathing hard
his temper flighty
his thoughts
wandering.I can see extensions to this form of poetry, from the initial erasures could be used to form a poem that can grow beyond its beginnings.
I really like what you've done with this excerpt, Merlene. I think Erasure Poetry would be good, also, for those just finding their feet with poetry; the words, at least, are already there for you.
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