British Museum + Poetry Interpretation

1. The British Museum's Architecture
The reconstruction of the Great Court in the British Museum feels like a lovely medley of two of the greatest countries' architectural feats: the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris, and Roman columns from Italy. The equilateral triangle has always represented the strongest shape in architecture, reinforced on all sides perfectly, and as the holy trinity in mythology. Foster's choice of creating the glass ceiling provides both a symbolic and beautiful escape from the sometimes overwhelmingly powerful artefacts and artworks at the British Museum, allowing visitors to look to the skies and beyond for a nice little breather. The centerpiece of the Great Court, with its sprawling majestic staircases, leads up to what I would have thought to be used as the most prestigious exhibition, ends up being only a restaurant terrace. I was sadly disappointed. There is so much intricacy in the Great Court: from the curled detail of the top of the Roman columns on all 4 archways, to the Roman lettering of Queen Elizabeth's name on the centerpiece... I enjoyed it all. Combining French and Italian architecture, Foster brings together the true symbolism of the British Museum and perhaps London in itself: the Museum and the City is a melting pot of all the great works and cultures of our time, as one look into the British Museum, we can see how diverse (from all of the overseas conquering, I'm sure) the country has truly become...

2. Vita Sackville-West's "And so it ends..."
One poem that truly caught my eye in class was Sackville-West's vividly emotional poem on the end of relationships. Doing the Bloomsbury Group Project, I learned that Vita Sackville-West had romantic interests with both female and male counterparts, and I wonder who this poem was about. Perhaps Virginia Woolf? The poem flows like a song, and I can imagine a contemporary artist making a musical rendition with these words.

Your meeting touch upon the string
That still was vibrant, still could sing

This phrase can be vividly pictured in my brain. I see a person being touched by his or her lover, and still remembering the feeling like it was yesterday.

Would slash me with a naked knife
And gently tell me not to bleed

This phrase feels like it was taken right out of a modern day Emo Acoustic music genre band, like Good Charlotte or Blink 182.

The Bloomsbury Group's sexual discovery of each other seems to be epitomized in this poem by Sackville-West, as they were married and had different partners, and I can imagine Sackville-West's emotional confusion and distrought with it all in "As it ends..."