This is an aesthetic method for coming to see a poem through visualization method that uses drawing and then talk.

1. Visualizing: Eavan Boland’s
“This Moment”
Mary Ann Reilly

2. Task
1. Fold your white art paper into eight boxes
and then select a pencil.
2. I will be reading aloud the Eavan Boland’s
poem, “This Moment.”
3. I have divided the poem into eight sections.
As I read each section, you will sketch the
mental picture you see based on each
section of the poem as it is read.
4. By the conclusion of the poem, you will
have made seven sketches.

3. This Moment - 1
A neighbourhood.
At dusk.

4. This Moment - 2
Things are getting ready
to happen
out of sight.

5. This Moment - 3
Stars and moths.
And rinds slanting around fruit.
But not yet.

6. This Moment - 4
One tree is black.
One window is yellow as butter.

7. This Moment- 5
A woman leans down to catch a child
who has run into her arms
this moment.

8. This Moment - 6
Stars rise.

9. This Moment - 7
Moths flutter.

10. This Moment - 8
Apples sweeten in the dark.

11. Task 2
• Reread the poem and discuss it with your
partner. Show your drawings to one another.
• Examine your eight drawings and create a
final illustration on the new sheet of paper
you have been given that combines all or
some of the stanza-by-stanza pictures into an
image that best represents the meaning of
the whole poem. You may use pencil and/or
color to render this final drawing.
• Post your final image.

12. This
Moment
– Eavan
Boland
A neighbourhood.
At dusk.
Things are getting ready
to happen
out of sight.
Stars and moths.
And rinds slanting around fruit.
But not yet.
One tree is black.
One window is yellow as butter.
A woman leans down to catch a child
who has run into her arms
this moment.
Stars rise.
Moths flutter.
Apples sweeten in the dark.

13. Task 3
1. With a partner, take a gallery walk of
the posted images.
2. Discuss what the final drawings
suggest about the poem. What images
are common across the gallery?
3. In 10 minutes, be ready to discuss
your ideas with the class.