Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/03/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>How about a poetry recital, where no words are spoken? Hey, I think I'm >on to something! > >Sigh........ > >Dan C. dan c., as far as i know, the first 'silent' poem was written by vasilii gnedov, a russian futurist poet. the poem, entitled 'poem of the end,' was published in his 1913 collection 'death to art.' aside from the title, the page was blank. like cage's 4'33", it is considered by some to be gnedov's best work. it was also his most popular piece, and he was frequently asked to recite it at poetry readings. in his film 'orphée,' jean cocteau, who may have heard of gnedov from ilya zdanevich (a russian futurist émigré living in paris who provided a direct link between 'western' avant-garde poets and artists and their russian colleagues), portrays a young poet who produces a book of poetry containing only blank pages. so far as i know, these are the only instances of 'silent' poetry in the western tradition. yo! guy