Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Constantly risking absurdity
and death
whenever he performs
above the heads
of his audience
the poet like an acrobat
climbs on rime
to a high wire of his own making
and balancing on eyebeams
above a sea of faces
paces his way
to the other side of the day
performing entrechats
and sleight-of-foot tricks
and other high theatrics
and all without mistaking
any thing
for what it may not be
For he's the super realist
who must perforce perceive
taut truth
before the taking of each stance or step
in his supposed advance
toward that still higher perch
where Beauty stands and waits
with gravity
to start her death-defying leap
And he
a little charleychaplin man
who may or may not catch
her fair eternal form
spreadeagled in the empty air
of existence
1. To what sort of performer is the poet compared?
The poet is compared to an acrobat in the circus.
2. Name at least 3 feats of the poet/performer.
3 Feats of the poet/performer include climbing on rime, death-defying leaps, and going spreadeagle in the empty air.
3. What picture of the poet does Ferlinghetti create by calling him a "little charleychaplin man?" Contrast this image with that of beauty in lines 25-26. What does this contrast suggest about the relationship between a poet and art? Create links to Charley Chaplin information sites or to a Charley Chaplin short feature on the web.
When he calls him "little charleychaplin man?" he is saying that he might act like charley chaplin and play a joke and not catch the person.
4. Define realist. Since super means both "above" and to "a greater degree, what two ideas about poetry does Ferlinghetti suggest when he says that the poet is a "super realist."
A realist is a person that believes in only things in front of them, or that they can see, touch, ect; Ferlinghetti suggests that the poetry uses that seen, but not that though of, as well as implying that poetry is something seen, and not thought of.
5. Find three example of Ferlinghetti's inventiveness with language (puns, compound words, etc.) and describe the effects of each.
A) One pun that is used is the word gravity, where it means both something that pulls you back down, and also means serious. This is a pun because he mentions the gravity with beauty.
B) spreadeagled: Indicates that he is an eagle, soaring...flying...high above everybody else.
C) death-defying: As a word, this indicates to us the scary effects being effectted by his insane jumps being attempted, and the diction of these words displays to us that this is more then just a deadly jump.
6. What is the tone of the poem? Explain.
The tone of this poem is an ironic tone, speaking of how he attempts to defy gravity to get beauty, but also about how serious beauty is by the use of the 2nd kind of gravity.