Stone, John : Early Sunday Morning

Literature Annotations

Genre	Poem
Keywords	Ekphrasis, Loneliness, Ordinary Life, Society
Summary	The poem was inspired by a painting of the same title by Edward Hopper (Early Sunday Morning). Stone describes what is visible in the painting and then muses about what "may be" happening. For example, in "the next block someone may be practicing the flute." Hopper's painting, like all art and literature, is an invitation for engagement, reflection, and expansion. While Stone inventories the painting's urban terrain, he is compelled to enter into the picture with his imagination. By doing so he demonstrates our dual capacity for both the facts of science and the less precise, but equally valuable impulses of fiction.
Commentary	It is useful to have a slide or copy of the Hopper painting to show how art stirs the imagination and how it compels the human mind to make connections.
Source	Renaming the Streets
Publisher	Louisiana State Univ. Press
Edition	1985
Place Published	Baton Rouge, La.
Alternate Source	Music from Apartment 8: New and Selected Poems
Alternate Publisher	Louisiana State Univ. Press
Alternate Edition	2004
Place Published	Baton Rouge
Miscellaneous
Annotated by	Nixon, Lois LaCivita
Date of Entry	12/29/93
Last Revised	01/23/13