Appreciation of Poem
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Poetry is the most compressed form of literature, which should be read slowly and savored attentively. Poets employ different poetic techniques to convey their ideas, opinions, and express their feelings. Some poems can be understood easily while others seam vague. But whatever they are, they all contain some common elements of poetry such as theme, figurative language, and tone, etc. ÐŽ§Constantly risking absurdity and deathÐŽÐ and ÐŽ§betting on the museÐŽÐ are two poems which are written by two different poets. By comparing and contrasting these two poems, the full beauty of the poems can be greatly appreciated and their theme can be deeply explored.
ÐŽ§Constantly risking absurdity and deathÐŽÐ by Lawrence Ferlinghetti talks about what a poet is. The author compares poet to acrobat to reveal the difficulty and complexity of being a poet, because sometimes the poet has to take the risk of failure (another form of death) and of being absurdity just like the acrobat.
In the poem, the author does not describe the difficulty and complexity of being a poet directly. Instead, he uses numerous vivid languages to describe what the acrobats do to convey the underlying theme. ÐŽ§he performs above the heads of his audienceÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§the poet like an acrobat climbs on rime to a high wireÐŽK on eyebeams above a sea of facesÐŽÐ. The author uses metaphor, and even makes up new word ÐŽ§sleight-of-footÐŽÐ in the later sentence. These descriptions bring the readers to the atmosphere of nervousness of watching the acrobatsÐŽ¦ performance in circus. In the poem, there are many verbs and adjectives are used to depict the performance of the acrobats. For example, ÐŽ§climbsÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§pacesÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§perceiveÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§standsÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§waitsÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§catchÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§highÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§tautÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§death-defyingÐŽÐ, ÐŽ§charleychaplinÐŽÐ, and ÐŽ§spreadeagledÐŽÐ, etc. By using these words, the author provides different moving pictures to the readers.
Obviously, the tone of the poem is reflective. At the first glance, it seems no connection between the poet and the acrobat. Is not the poet supposed to be romantic? Or sentimental? Or cultivated? But why does the author connect the poet with the acrobat? After reading it several times, people will find that the underlying message is very clear. It is not unusual if you hear someone says: ÐŽ§ I donÐŽ¦t understand what this poem is talking about.ÐŽÐ People may think the poet is ridiculous. This is the risk of being a poet. People may not acknowledge the poetÐŽ¦s idea; may even laugh about it, just like they laugh about the acrobat. Therefore, the author uses the image of the acrobat to convey his feelings about being a poet.
Similarly, ÐŽ§betting on the museÐŽÐ, by Charles Bukowski, is a poem about the poet as well. Although it has the same subject as the first poem, it focuses on the different aspect of being a poet. The author believes that being a poet is much better than being an athlete because the poet can be a lifelong career and the longer one is engaged in literary work, the better one can be.
Like Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Bukowski uses numerous vivid languages to describe the athletesÐŽ¦ lives of their later years to set off the advantages of being a poet. The diction in this poem is relatively