Constantly Risking Absurdity
1. To what sort of performer is the poet compared?
The poet is compared to a acrobat/circus performer (someone who works on the high-wire)
2. Name at least 3 feats of the poet/performer.
1) Making and balancing on eyebeams
2) Performs entrechats
3) Sleight-of-foot tricks
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.
By calling him a �little charleychaplin man� it suggests the poet is a small goofy clownish person. It also means that the poet may be clumsy and might not be able to capture the beauty or escense of the poem. The clarleychaplin is suppose to catch �beauty.�
http://www.charliechaplin.com/article.php3?id_article=3
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."
Realist- http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=realist
Ferlinghetti suggests that a poet is someone who is constantly analyzing the truth about something and never looks beyond the truth of any situation. It also means that the poet may go above and beyond what a realist would...creativity.
5. Find three example of Ferlinghetti's inventiveness with language (puns, compound words, etc.) and describe the effects of each.
1) climbs on rime
to a high wire of his own making- the poet is always rhyming in everything he performs while an acrobat climbs the same wire to be a performer.
2) and sleight-of-foot tricks - foot is in a poem as well as the limb of a person
3) Beauty stands and waits
with gravity
to start her death-defying leap- Beauty makes a serious descision to jump.
6. What is the tone of the poem? Explain.
The poet is a clumsy person when compared to the art he creates. The main attitude toward the poet is pitty. The author thinks art is beautiful and breathtaking.