Poets, do you believe that a picture is really worth 1000 words?

Question:How many words is a picture worth?
How many words indeed.
If I had a picture of Elaine P,
How many would I need?

I'd have to start with her lovely hair,
And tell the tale so true,
And say if it is short or long,
Tell color and it's hue.

Then I must use a lot of words,
To show her beauty deep.
I hope I don't run out of words,
Or her sharp wrath I'll reap.

Her skin so soft must be described,
And done in rich detail.
The feel or her hand touching me,
In this I must not fail.

To tell the world just what I see,
Will be a mighty task.
But when I've finished doing this,
In her pure light I'll bask.

Her waspy waist and full round hips,
Her pretty upturned nose.
Her supple legs and gorgeous thighs,
And pretty ruby toes.

The smile that make the young men's hearts,
Beat fast within their chest.
Let's every man who sees her know,
That she must be the best.

So if I write one thousand words,
About this picture sweet.
To end I'd need a million more,
Piled up around my feet.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: How many words is a picture worth?
How many words indeed.
If I had a picture of Elaine P,
How many would I need?

I'd have to start with her lovely hair,
And tell the tale so true,
And say if it is short or long,
Tell color and it's hue.

Then I must use a lot of words,
To show her beauty deep.
I hope I don't run out of words,
Or her sharp wrath I'll reap.

Her skin so soft must be described,
And done in rich detail.
The feel or her hand touching me,
In this I must not fail.

To tell the world just what I see,
Will be a mighty task.
But when I've finished doing this,
In her pure light I'll bask.

Her waspy waist and full round hips,
Her pretty upturned nose.
Her supple legs and gorgeous thighs,
And pretty ruby toes.

The smile that make the young men's hearts,
Beat fast within their chest.
Let's every man who sees her know,
That she must be the best.

So if I write one thousand words,
About this picture sweet.
To end I'd need a million more,
Piled up around my feet.

Can be, sometimes even more. Has to be a damn good picture though!

Seriously, photography is an art form as nuanced as poetry or, really, any other.

depends. i do think it is a legitimate art form and has just as much to say as poetry does.

It can sometimes be as you say...some pictures are worth a 1000 words...

but there are times when, a poem is worth a 1000 picture...an example is 'ODE TO AUTUMN' By John Keats...what painter can contain all those beautiful images in a single painting?

I will answer this as someone who reads a lot. I look at poetry as a gift, the more gifted the writer, the more the smells, sights and raw emotion come through. With a picture, it is to easy to glance at certain aspects without getting all of one's senses tingling. My eyes always seem to focus on just some pieces of a picture . . . poetry can make one smell the pungent earth, feel the drops of rain as they fall on your warm skin, hear the wind rattle the leaves above you, know that the person in the poem is with someone they have never felt more in love with and know what the future holds for them. Poems are such powerful, wonderful gifts. Though I love paintings, photography and other visual art, I personally do not believe they will ever eclipse the power of a poem . . .

I am thinking of Picasso's Guernica - it has an immediacy that a written account of the bombing might not have had (unless written by a poet, perhaps) Pictures reach people who are illiterate or who never read.

On a personal level, both are capable of stirring my soul.
ps - how old is that saying? By pictures would it have meant just that? To-day, we have newscasts, vidoes, films for many these are the substitutes for reading.

The person who coined the phrase is obviously not a poet. Unless, a poet coined the phrase - lol.

When I see I choose to see
when I read I follow thee.

A painter uses colors, shapes, light and shadow to effect nuance and depth.

A poet uses an arrangement of words in a pattern that is intended to invoke an image in the readers mind. Some poems consist of a single image while others are a collage.

So, in answer to your question, is a picture worth 1000 words?

Yes, but the picture can come from words as well as painting or other visual arts. I beleive a mental picture has a more profound personal affect than a visual picture. Unfortunately, literacy is required. Many people see a string of words as an obstruction to comprehension. To these souls, please do visually stimulate them. Let the literate revel in the raw power of words.

Yes, actually, which is why it frustrates me to no end that I am not an artist. However, the Tarot poems...words from pictures. Who's to say. I don't believe it's always true, but sometimes it is. After all, the book is ALWAYS better than the movie.

well yes if u want to describe every little detail about the picture in words but some beauty can be described with one
word like sublime, extravagent , and lovely. =)

yeah

I have known a few ministers in my life that I wished had just held up the pictures! That still might have been an hour plus!

Yes, I do.
You can have a picture of someone you love that has passed away from you and a thousand words will pop into your head when you look at it.

It's just a rounded off number.
The actual number of words equal to a picture is 1358..

Look at Dondi go off...! Woo-hooo...!!!

Yes, I believe a picture can be worth a thousand word, or even more, but I just saw a post by Dondi asking if a word was worth a thousand pictures.. Yes also, and after seeing this, I now understand why he wrote such a lovely answer to your question, and why he asked the question of his with the answer to yours. I really love you both.