Forsythia by Mary Ellen Solt - Poem of the Day

Forsythia (1966)

Mary Ellen Solt (1920- )


“The design of ‘Forsythia’ is made from the letters of the name of the flowering shrub and their equivalents in the Morse Code. The text is part of the design.” (M.E.S.)


"Forsythia...by Mary Ellen Solt…[was] typographically concretized by John Dearstyne. In the introduction to Flowers in Concrete, George Zadek writes: “Traditionally the typographer has given form and order to words, thus serving both the writer and the reader. His problem is mainly one of clarity of communication, literary meaning, and hopefully aesthetic contribution to the art of the printed page. When publishing concrete poetry, it is sometimes difficult to draw a line between the contributions, as well as the final responsibilities, of the poet and the typographer. The literary and visual meaning of concrete poetry as conceived by the poet and interpreted by the typographer is somewhat analogous to a stage performance of a play.”

An Anthology of Concrete Poetry , Edited by Emmet Williams, Something Else Press, New York , 1967