Adaptation of 'J.M.W. Turner: The Shipwreck.' by John Wain

John Wain was the Professor of Poetry at Oxford in the late 20th century who wrote the ekphrastic poem J.M.W. Turner: The Shipwreck. Turner was a 19th century romantic painter who was fascinated with the power of nature and the relative helplessness of humans in the face of disaster. His 1805 painting, The Shipwreck, captures the sublime power of the sea and of catastrophe at sea. It currently hangs in the Tate Gallery. The painting was either inspired by an actual shipwreck that occurred in 1805 or a poem called The Shipwreck written by William Falconer—the painting may have been ekphrasis itself. Wains poem, written nearly two hundred years after the painting was created, takes the viewpoint of a visitor to the gallery. He expresses astonishment at the paintings ability to store the roar and thwack and cries of a shipwreck in a canvas. He marvels at the paintings ability to speak aloud, although in reality the painting is mute and it is the poem that is speaking. It is the poem that is describing the tempest at my eardrums and the lashing spray. The poet says that the colours hold the secret—he is simply releasing the words that are hidden in the colors of the painting. He goes on to argue that Turners purpose in painting the poem was to show us the bizarre beauty of death, the way that we are compelled to look at the moment just before death even when we cannot prevent it. The catastrophe depicted is violent and terrible, but the painting is somehow aesthetic and beautiful. Turner focuses on the glory and captivating power of this moment before death. He relates our fascination with death to our fascination with the unknown by speculating about the infinite possibilities of the afterlife. He also puts the value of the art below the value of humanity, saying that the painting has painterly values too, and can be discussed / in purely abstract terms: but not now, not now. / Some other time, not in the presence of the human creatures, air-breathers, gulping their last. The human moment is of primary concern, not the work of art.




In this video, we expanded on the original ekphrasis by creating a video adaptation of Turners poem. We sought to present the idea of the sublime captured in both the poem and painting in a modern setting.


"Turner Online: Biography." Tate Online. 6 Aug 2009 http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turner/biography.htm

"The Shipwreck, 1805." J. M. W. Turner. Dallas Museum of Art. 6 Aug 2009 http://preview.theartsnetwork.net/turner_edu/index.html

Döring, Tobias. Caribbean-English passages . Oxford: Routledge, 2001.

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