2. Big Idea
The poet‟s journey for truth and beauty
when writing poetry is compared to an
acrobat walking across a tight rope.
3. Constantly risking absurdity taut truth
and death before the taking of each stance or
whenever he performs step
above the heads In his supposed advance
toward that still higher perch
of
his audience where Beauty stands and waits
the poet like an acrobat with gravity
climbs on rime To start her death-defying
to a high wire of his own leap
making And he
and balancing on a little charleychaplin man
eyebeams
who may or may not catch
above a sea of faces
her fair eternal form
paces his way
spreadeagled in the empty air
to the other side of day
of existence
performing entrechats
and sleight-of-foot tricks
and other high theatrics
and all without mistaking
any thing
for what it may not be
For he‟s a super realist
who‟s must perforce
perceive
5. Title
The title, “Constantly risking absurdity,” is
unusual in the sense that the first word is
capitalized but the two words that follow are
not.
Why is that?
Just by simply reading this unpredictable
title, the reader already beings to question and
become curious about the poem from the very
beginning. The capitalization or lack thereof
adds to the suspense of what is to come.
6. Lack of Punctuation
There is absolutely no punctuation throughout
this poem; not even a period at the end of the
poem.
No commas or periods throughout the play
leads to a sense of suspense.
To put punctuation, would be to stop the
suspense and the intrigue of what is to come
next.
The poet is unable to add punctuation
because he is not capable of knowing the
future, just as the acrobat is not capable of
7. Spacing
The spacing is like ordered chaos
It appears as if it was not thought out well, but when
looked at closer, each line actually has very careful
placement
When someone is walking on a tight rope you don‟t
know what‟s going to happen. The rope sways back
and forth; will he succeed, will he fall to his death?
The audience is constantly in suspense and this sort
of suspense is paralleled in the structure of this poem.
As a reader, you don‟t know what the next line will
look like. The poet keeps you in suspense throughout
the poem, just as the acrobat keeps the audience in
suspense.
The spaces from line to line act as if the words are
swaying back and forth from line to line just as an
acrobat swings back and forth on a rope.
8. No definitive starting and stopping
points
This particular poem cannot have any stopping
points, because when compared to an acrobat,
if the acrobat stops along the rope, he will
most likely fall.
9. Capitalization
“Constantly risking absurdity” (1).
• The poem must start off normal to the reader and stable, just as the
acrobat‟s first step on the tight rope, must be stable.
“For he‟s the super realist” (19).
• This line must start with a capital letter because the poet is being
introduced as a super realist and the lines that follow almost work
as its own stanza with “For,” being the first word.
“where Beauty stands and waits” (25).
• Beauty is the only word capitalized within the poem, rather than in
the beginning of a line, because it is portrayed as a woman,
therefore the name must be capitalized.
“And he” (28).
• This “And” is the start the last section of the poem that can almost
be looked at as its own stanza.
10. Rhyme Scheme
Only rhyme throughout the play, “paces his
way/ to the other side of day” (11-12).
There is not a particular rhyme scheme
throughout the poem or really any rhyming at
all because to have a particular rhyme scheme
throughout the play would make the poem
seem predictable, something it cannot be.
11. Key Lines
“and balancing on eye beams” (9).
• The placement of this line is very interesting because it is the line
furthest to the left. It appears the most safe and secure, just as the
acrobat would be if he was balancing very well.
“paces his way” (11).
• This line appears as if it is moving very slowly to the right as if it is
inching across the beam from the previous place of security in line
9.
13. Beauty and the Poet
“in his supposed advance/ Once you are up on the high
toward that still higher perch/ beam (or higher level of
where Beauty stands and thinking) and ready and
waits/ with gravity/ to start her willing to seek beauty, you
death-defying leap/ And he/ a either catch it or you don‟t.
little charleychaplin man/ who The beauty takes the form of
may or may not catch/ her fair a woman and takes a “death-
eternal form/ spreadeagled in defying leap” (27), and the
the empty air/ of existence” “little charleychaplin man”
(23-33). (29), either catches, “her fair
eternal form/ spreadeagled in
the empty air/ of existence”
(31-33), or doesn‟t.
The reader can visualize
beauty taking a leap from a
stand and hoping that the
poet in the form of an acrobat
will safely catch her.
15. Simile
“the poet like an acrobat” (6).
Just as the acrobat is all alone on the rope
with no one else to depend on, the poet must
depend solely on himself and his thoughts in
order to discover the truth, leading him to
something deeper within himself and
furthermore about life in general.
16. Allusion
“a little charleychaplin man” (29).
The poet makes a reference to Charlie
Chaplain, and uses his name as an adjective,
when describing the acrobat.
Charlie Chaplain was a comedian during the
silent film era. He was a big influence on
Ferlinghetti‟s work.
17. Personification
“where Beauty stands and waits/ with gravity/
to start her death-defying leap… her fair
eternal form” (25-31).
The poet portrays beauty as woman and is the
„her‟ in this case.
19. “Constantly risking absurdity/ and
death/ whenever he performs” (1-
3).
The poet is constantly risking absurdity
therefore he is not afraid to be illogical or
contrary to all reason or sense. The poet is
willing to do things that seem illogical to
discover a higher truth and beauty. This
mirrors the acrobat‟s ill sense of going on the
high beam and doing something that seems
illogical to entertain his audience and have
them find beauty and truth.
20. “to a high wire of his own making”
(8).
The rope is as dangerous as the poet is willing
to make it
However the poet makes the rope and how
high the wire is, is how deep of a discovery the
poet will make about himself or truth and
beauty in general
21. “performing entrechats/ and sleight-of-foot tricks/ and
other high theatrics/ and all without making mistaking/
any thing” (13-17).
An entrechat is, “a jump in which the dancer
crosses the feet a number of times while in the air”
(dictionary.com).
The poet shows how skilled the acrobat truly is; the
acrobat is not afraid to perform risky tricks, just as
the poet is not afraid to write in an elaborate or risky
way.
22. “who must perforce perceive/ taut truth/
before the taking of each stance or step”
(20-21).
By using the word “perforce” the poet
insinuates that to find the “taut truth” is a
necessary thing. He explains that the poet
finds the truth because it is not an option, but
rather a necessity.
The poet uses the word “taut” in reference to a
taut rope that the acrobat walks across.
23. “toward that still higher perch/
where Beauty stands and waits”
(24-25).
The poet is striving towards beauty
Beauty is the ultimate goal
By stating that Beauty is not only standing, but
also waiting, the reader can understand that
Beauty is not only capable of being attained,
but truly wants to be attained.
24. Reflection
“It is not meters, but a meter-making argument,
that makes a poem- a thought so passionate and
alive that, like the spirit of a plant or an animal, it
has an architecture of its own, and adorns nature
with a new thing” (Emerson).
25. The nature of its own thing could be the way the poem
is set up and how it looks unlike any other poem seen
before
Its unique structure enhances the poem to a point
where it is unlike anything else.
It is distinct and the words have more meaning based
on the poem‟s own architecture.
“It adorns nature with a new thing”, could mean nature
has never seen anything like this
The poet put words in such an order that has never
been done before
Although the same words could have been used, no
poem is exactly identical in the way the words are
placed or in this case spaced out.
26. Conclusion
The poet utilizes a unique structure, strong
figurative language and diction, as well as
imagery to compare his strive towards
Beauty to a skilled acrobat walking across a
tight-rope.
