1. To what sort of performer is the
poet compared?
An acrobat
2. Name at least 3 feats of the poet/performer.
a.
climb on rime
b.
balance on eyebeams
c.
performing entrechats and 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.
In art a person can be clumsly and just do whatevery but with poetry, poets need to know what they are doing.
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-One who is inclined to literal truth and pragmatism.
- The poet needs to understand the truth about what he is writing
about.
- The poet shows that something is so real that it is beyond
reality and is dealing with a higher power.
5. Find three example of Ferlinghetti's
inventiveness with language (puns, compound words, etc.) and describe the effects of each.
1. sleight-of-foot tricks slows the line
2. climbs on rime- poems have a rhyme scheme
3. beauty stands and waits with gravity- beauty is serious and is waiting to fall
6. What is the tone of the poem? Explain.
Admiration, because it tells how precise
and accurate a poet needs to be for him to succeed.
