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 entrachats
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 being compared to an acrobat.
2. Name at least 3 feats of the poet/performer.
The performer climbs on rime to a high wire, balances on eyebeams, and performs death-defying leaps.
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.
http://www.selu.edu/Academics/Faculty/wparrill/Reviews/chaplin.html
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- a person concerned
with real things and practical matters rather than those that are imaginary or
visionary. A believer in or advocate of realism. An artist or writer whose work
is characterized by realism. The poet thinks above what is real.
5. Find three example of Ferlinghetti's inventiveness with language (puns, compound words, etc.) and describe the effects of each.
6. What is the tone of the poem? Explain.