So I've been going through this week's reading assignment (week 10) of Lunch Poems. And it's pretty routine for me, I've noticed by now, that it's complicated literature and nothing really clicks in my mind immediately. We were asked in class to make a list of observations about the first poem, "Music." And from there, we went on to discuss our observations and later analyze the text.
I thought this would be a rather useful process to derive meaning from the rest of the poems, so I started making observations of what I was reading as I went along. This felt like a good way to start in trying to comprehend the readings, as I am not yet comfortable enough with the collection to further analyze the text. So in my observation, I realized that, yes these are indeed written from the perspective of lunchgoers, hence the name Lunch Poems.
I then came to notice something else...
This is fairly modern poetry, and with modern poetry comes modern language and modern uses of language. From what we've read in class, and what i've read before taking this class, I've never run in to this use of language (well, not in poetry). The language I speak of is, well, not necessarily vulgar but more over the top then what I normally encounter in poetry. I've compiled a list of the above mentioned language (as well as a few odd and weird ones just for kicks), so you be the judge.
- "Shit on the soup. let it burn." (page 7)
- "full of fat people who cough as at a movie they eat each other's dandruff in the flickering glare" (11)
- everything on page 27
- "we don't do much ourselves but fuck and think" (30-31)
- "I was made in the image of a sissy truck driver" (31)
- "you don't get crabs that way" (40)
- "you aren't so popular in China though they fuck too (42)
- "that's the meaning of fertility hard and moist and moaning (43)
- "since arriving in Barcelona I can freely shit" (48)
- "subways are only fun when you're feeling sexy" (50)
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm offended by all this (I think some of it is pretty funny :] ). But as I mentioned earlier, this language hasn't really surfaced much in the literature that I've encountered, so I just find it strange. Did this jump out at anyone else? I found it really interesting that this be integrated into these poems.
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4 comments:
I agree that the inclusion of vulgar (how you say Modern) words in this poem is strange. But I wonder, is it a good strange or a bad strange? Did it make you dislike the poem or be averted from it? Or did it pique your interest because it was something new and broke the convention?
I also found it strange that vulgarity made it into Lunch Poems, but I was intrigued by it. I thought it was a message to all the writers that try to portray the 'good' but try to avoid the 'bad'. Those words were, perhaps, a statement that writing should represent 'real' life: without any edits of bleeps.
I agree with both of you. I think that the usage of vulgar language in poems actually made the poem more memorable because now a days, everyone uses vulgar language, so it is nothing new which makes the poem easier for someone to remember. Well at least for me, I think the language made it easy for me to remember.
But even with that, I still think people should not use vulgar language in poems just because I feel like literature is something that should be very enlightening and educational. It has to be professional, and cheap vulgar language in my eyes brings down the quality of the poem. That is just how I feel, and I am sure a lot of people would disagree with me.
I think the use of vulgar language in "Lunch Poems" is relevant/important to the poetry because it emphasizes that these poems are a stream of consciousness. Lord knows we've discussed "stream of consciousness" enough in class... These thoughts are typical of everyday thinking, whether we admit it or not... so they provide evidence for the poem as a series of thoughts.
I too, am not used to encountering this type of language in literature, but I’m not complaining. This use of language can be helpful for us when asked perhaps to identify O’Hara’s style? I did too enjoy the humor, when I understood it. Lunch Poems is a change from what we’ve been reading, though still very obscure. His poems are definitely more like a diary or journal filled with thoughts out from spontaneity. It’s very informal, thus the language O’Hara implements into many of his poems. The language that O’Hara uses makes his poems very unique and when he decided to implement it, it would be done in a clever way. And so, I guess, impress me, and all will be forgiven? (Punctuations, grammar, and the extensive use of vulgar language)
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