Question

Today as the news from Selma and Saigon
poisons the air like fallout,
I come again to see
the serene great picture that I love.

Here space and time exist in light
the eye like the eye of faith believes.
The seen, the known
dissolve in iridescence, become
illusive flesh of light
that was not, was, forever is.

O light beheld as through refracting tears.
Here is the aura of that world
each of us has lost.
Here is the shadow of its joy.

–“Monet’s ‘Waterlilies,’”

Robert Hayden

Which phrase from the poem "Monet’s ‘Waterlilies’” best describes how the water lilies are portrayed in this painting?

“poisons the air like fallout”
“The seen, the known / dissolve”
“Today as the news from Selma and Saigon”
“the serene great picture that I love”

Answer 1

“The seen, the known / dissolve”

This phrase captures how the water lilies are rendered as dissolving into light and color—illusory, ethereal forms rather than sharply defined objects.