World Class Poetry Blog

Can Poetry Save The World?
29 December 2007, the poet @ 4:16 pm

According to Beat poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti it can.

To be honest, I’ve never much cared for Ferlinghetti’s poetry. I’ve often thought he was too “runny,” like political diarrhea. I admired his courage - and still do - for publishing Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.” I also respect his historical significance and the entrepreneurial savvy he obviously has for making City Lights a national treasure. He certainly has some talent, if not in poetry.

Ferlinghetti and Ginsberg were often given credit for Beat characteristics and achievements that greater poets like Gary Snyder were passed by on, or got less airplay for. I think it was simply that those who wanted to censor them made them more popular than they really deserved to be. Still, I like the idea that Ferlinghetti is playing with in this review, namely, that poetry can save the world. I think it has that potential, but the real question is, will it save the world?

I like this book title, Poetry As Insurgent Art. It looks like a good book and I just may have to check it out myself. Even if poetry never does save the world.

5 Comments a “Can Poetry Save The World?”

1. Talia — December 29, 2007 @ 5:51 pm
   

   I love that book. In fact I picked it up not too long ago and have already passed it around to 2 friends. Lots of great little lines. I though, am a huge lover of his Coney Island of the Mind. I first read it when I was 15 and it had a huge impact on me.

   I know what you mean about political rants, and I think some of the contemporary poets have the same symptoms.

2. Jim Murdoch — December 30, 2007 @ 8:11 am
   

   I think Ferlinghetti’s remark that “poetry is the shortest distance between two humans” is interesting, very poetic, and, like most things poetic, not nearly as truthful as it sounds. It’s the same with his, again wonderfully poetic, “Poetry can save the world by transforming consciousness,” which reads so well but is also short-sighted. Stick a decent tune under it and we might be talking (I’m thinking about something like the ‘Band Aid’ single) but even something like that, which reached millions of people, still failed to touch the necessary people, the ones with the power to effect change.

   Poetry, the right kind of poetry, can bridge gaps; the wrong kind – esoteric, aloof and too full of itself – does the very opposite. Communication is dead easy. I can say to a girl, “I love you,” and she can say, “Yes, you love me,” and believe that I do but until she appreciates what it took for me to reach the stage of being able to say those words, for all she knows I might tell every girl I meet that I love her, she has no idea of the significance of those words. Poetry has nothing but an uphill struggle:

   from ‘COMMUNICATION GAP’

   and that leaves the two of us

   here staring at each other,
   barely a poem apart –
   but what an immense chasm

   that is turning out to be.

3. janetleigh — December 30, 2007 @ 6:12 pm
   

   I do think poetry can save the world as long as esteemed poets of our time mentor and groom the younger, rising poets. The same problem, “Is classical music dead,” to which I respond it will die if the music greats don’t shine a light on the rising stars. Part of the problem is music critics. They ignore the rising talent, for the most part.

   As for the subject at hand, I can’t remember where I read it, or who said it, but the gist is that ‘poets are the real historians’ or something like that. It made me think on it. Quite frankly, I can’t remember a time when poetry wasn’t written (or spoken) and I don’t see anything that would deter one from writing poetry in the future. I think self-expression will always be with us (as long as we have hands, heh heh) in art or written form. Self-expression is what makes us feel real and “seen” by others in the world. It’s something that can live long after a writer’s death which appeals to those who wish to leave something behind for humanity.

   It’s poets like yourself who write about poetry who will perhaps recharge the desire in our youth to write poetry. Like everything else, one needs to know their effort matters and is supported by those established in the arts.

   Thank you for your very interesting blog, Allen. It’s a joy to read and quite thought-provoking, to say the least..:)

   janetleigh

4. the poet — December 30, 2007 @ 9:22 pm
   

   Talia, thanks. It’s good to know someone else has a recommendation.

   Jim, great insight. I like the little ditty, “Communication Gap.”

   Janet, I agree. There should be more “reaching down” to up and coming young poets. I think, in a sense, that’s what workshops are designed for so there is some of that, but a little selfless encouraging goes a long way. And thanks for the compliment.

5. mareeyum — June 7, 2008 @ 1:35 pm
   

   i love this poem because it is all about saving the world

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