The toy
become the aesthetic archetype
As if
some patient peasant God
had rubbed and rubbed
the Alpha and Omega
of Form
into a lump of metal
A naked orientation
unwinged and unplumed
—the ultimate rhythm
The Bible refers to God as the potter who forms creation with his hands in the same way that a potter forms clay with his hands. This bit of the poem speaks of the creator of the sculpture and paints a picture of the sculptor as a god over his creation, working to form it into the creation is eventually becomes. Constantin Brancusi grew up as a “peasant” in an area of Romania famous for folk crafts. He later became one of the most important sculptors of the age.
Brancusis Golden Bird