Constantly Risking Absurdity (1958). Summary and Description

“Constantly Risking Absurdity” is essentially an ars poetica, a poem whose subject is the art of poetry, a form practiced by poets dating from Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus, who was born on December 8, 65 B.C., and died on November 27, 8 B.C.). In this particular poem, Ferlinghetti depicts the art of poetry as a high-wire act, a metaphor that captures the precarious nature of both walking wires and creating poetry. The first line reminds us, in fact, that creation involves an inherent risk, a risk related to his readers/audience and whether they will consider the poet to be absurd.

The beginning of the poem seems almost a warning, with Ferlinghetti implying that artists risk absurdity especially when they perform “above the heads” (l. 2) of their audience. Ironically, Ferlinghetti uses the metaphor of the high-wire act to demonstrate how the poet must always remain grounded. We are told that the poet performs “entrechats and sleight-of-foot tricks” but must remain grounded and not mistake “any thing for what it may not be.”

Ferlinghetti here demonstrates, both literally and metaphorically, the delicate balance a poet must maintain between highly charged rhetoric and the realities of the concrete world. It is the poet’s job, we are told, to “perceive taut truth” and to “advance toward that still higher perch / where Beauty stands and waits” (ll. 11-12). The final artistic goal, according to Ferlinghetti, is to achieve beauty.

Such an achievement, however, Ferlinghetti implies in the final lines, can be difficult. Calling the artist a “little charleychaplin man,” Ferlinghetti tells us that he “may or may not catch / her fair eternal form spreadeagled in the empty air of existence.” The poem is therefore a testament to the difficulty of rendering beauty in language. Ferlinghetti documents the artistic struggle using the metaphor of the high-wire act in part because of the difficulty most artists face in achieving their aesthetic objectives.

Because the poem has for its setting the circus, however, Ferlinghetti also comments upon the way the poet is viewed by the rest of society. By setting the poem under the big top, he also implies that poetry is nothing more than a side show to most of the public. The phrase that Ferlinghetti uses in the beginning of the poem, “above the heads,” confirms this. In the end, this poem demonstrates both the absurdity and the seriousness of artistic endeavors.

For Discussion or Writing
1. Why does Ferlinghetti refer to Charlie Chaplin in this poem? Who was Chaplin, and how might he be related to Ferlinghetti’s concept of the poet?

2. According to this poem, what is the role of the artist? What essential functions does Ferlinghetti see the artist performing? What does Ferlinghetti seem to feel about the artistic life?

3. Read Archibald MacLeish’s poem “Ars Poetica” (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/ prmMID/15222). Then, compare MacLeish’s poem with Ferlinghetti’s. What vision of art and poetry do they share? How do they differ? Next, consult a translation of Horace’s “On the Art of Poetry” (http://www.classicpersuasion.org/ pw/horace/horacepo.htm). After analyzing and comparing and contrasting all three, define ars poetica as a genre.