excerpt from Late Self-Portrait by Rembrandt
by Jane Hirshfield
...Happiness and unhappiness
differ as a bucket hammered from gold differs from one of pressed tin,
this painting proposes.
Each carries the same water, it says.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rembrandt painted a great many self-portraits. I rather fancy the one below:
This next Rembrandt self-portrait is Self Portrait as a Beggar from 1630. It strikes me as brave and insightful to imagine yourself this way -- the same water in a different bucket.
2 comments:
I've always liked Rembrandt's self-portrait drawings. That he would draw himself in a less-than-flattering manner made the pieces even more interesting.
Enjoyed Hirshfield's bucket poem very much, too.
Thanks for linking me back to this, Tabatha! What a wonderful post!
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