Starting today, National Poetry Day, the Tate has added a new feature to its website. It's a monthly poem, written by a well-known poet and inspired by a work from the Tate's collection. The series kicks off with John Burnside and his meditation on John Nash's wartime landscape The Cornfield 1918, which is currently on display at Tate Liverpool. Next month is Adam Thorpe's poem response to Edward Munch's The Sick Child. Poets promised for future months include Alice Oswald, David Harsent, Moniza Alvi and Tishani Doshi.
It's a nice idea, this month's poem and picture are lovely and it's presented simply: the poem appears next to a small image of the painting. Fair enough in a print magazine but, online, I can't help feeling it's a little flat and something of a wasted opportunity given the technology available. How difficult would it be to have an audio file of Burnside reading his poem and the option of opening up the painting in a window so that it fills the screen and one's senses are filled with art and poetry? Really, not difficult at all. Good start, Tate, but time for a bit of imagination.
