I went looking online for poems relating to pomegranates. I found these:
Eavan Bowland 1944 The Pomegranate
DH Lawrence Pomegranate in Birds, Beast and Flowers, published in 1923.
Cathy Linh Che Pomegranate (audio version here) Originally published in Split (Alice James Books, 2014)
And then I found this compilation, and then there are these too, and these. I am sure there are many more, but for now this will spike my interest enough for some sketching to start next.
Just jotting down some notes here on the varied symbolisms attached to pomegranates.
prosperity. ambition
the fruit of the dead – see Rossetti’s painting Persephona
related to the concepts of the earth goddess
calyx shared like a crown – is this where the idea for the crown came from?
abundance, fertility and good luck
used in celebrations of death, weddings, at New Year in Greece
fruitfulness
love
prosperity
The Tamil name maadulampazham is a metaphor for a woman’s mind. It is derived from, maadhu=woman, ullam=mind, which means as the seeds are hidden, it is not easy to decipher a woman’s mind
progeny, fecundity
resurrection and everlasting life
appears in traditions and religions the world over
the indissolubility of marriage
in season september to february which coincides with jumper wearing season in the northern hemisphere
native to iran and north east turkey
both sweet and sour
used in both sweet and savoury dishes – extensively used in cookery
Botticelli and Da Vinci both used them symbolically in paintings
Paul Cezanne’s “Ginger Pot With Pomegranates and Pears” and Pablo Picasso’s “La Grenade”
forbidden fruit
I started this challenge by creating a Pinterest board to collect together the pictures I found which were Creative Commons licensed and which seemed to capture to me the visceral nature of the weird pomegranate.
This fruit is strange, and has an almost animalistic alien quality to it, which I wanted to find in photos other people have taken. Pomegranates are rich, sensual, rhythmic, patterned. They are voluptuous, dripping, sweet, and sticky. The best way to loosen the seeds is the cut the fruit in two and slap it with a wooden spoon. The seeds then fall, along with the bright red juice.
When I was a child my mother used to give us a pin to pick the seeds with.
Blood and pins. The colours are rich and gothic, they remind me of rich velvets and silks, of Hammer films, of delving into creamy flesh to reveal dripping swollen seeds of blood red.
Here is the board I have put together so far….
