Robert Francis - Amherst, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 22.645 W 072° 31.140
18T E 704257 N 4694663
A terracotta tile plaque, a tribute to the 20th century American poet Robert Francis, is located at the entrance of the Shiru Cafe at 17 Kellogg Street, Amherst, MA.
Waymark Code: WM10ZMF
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 07/18/2019
Views: 1
A series of nine terracotta tile plaques created by Judith Inglese and Helena Dooley Metha in 1999 honor poets and writers who have a connection to Amherst, MA.
An 12" by 10" terracotta tile plaque contains the words from Robert Francis' poem "Blue Cornucopia". This poem is written in the style called Imagism where the poet tried to create images to evoke emotion in the reader rather than to describe directly thoughts and feelings. Since the poem is about the color blue it is accompanied by tile sections displaying various shades of blue.
"Blue Cornucopia"
Pick any blue sky-blue cerulean azure
cornflower periwinkle blue-eyed grass
blue bowl bluebell pick lapis lazuli
blue pool blue girl blue Chinese vase
or pink-blue chicory alias ragged sailor
or sapphire bluebottle fly indigo bunting
blue dragonfly or devil's darning needle
blue-green turquoise peacock blue spruce
blue verging on violet the fringed gentian
gray—blue blue bonfire smoke autumnal
haze blue hill blueberry distance
and darker blue storm-blue blue goose
ink ocean ultramarine pick winter
blue snow-shadows ice the blue star Vega
Robert Francis
Robert Francis was a Amherst resident and protege of Robert Frost. He was born on August 12, 1901 in Upland, PA and graduated from Harvard University in 1923 before settling in Amherst, MA where he lived and wrote poetry until his death on July 13, 1987. Robert Frost said of him that "Robert Francis was America's best neglected poet." Robert Francis won the Shelley Memorial Award in 1939 and, in 1984, the Academy of American Poets gave Robert Francis an award for distinguished poetic achievement.
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