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Pictures of the Gone World
Published to celebrate forty years of City Lights publishing, which began with the letterpress printing of this book in 1955.
It was Lawrence Ferlinghetti's first book, and it has been reprinted twenty-one times, having never been out of print. The original edition contained the first twenty-seven poems to which the author has now added eighteen new verses.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and founder of City Lights Books, author of A Coney Island of the Mind and Pictures of the Gone World, among numerous other books, has been drawing from life since his student days in Paris where he frequented the Academie Julien and where he did his first oil painting.
It was Lawrence Ferlinghetti's first book, and it has been reprinted twenty-one times, having never been out of print. The original edition contained the first twenty-seven poems to which the author has now added eighteen new verses.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and founder of City Lights Books, author of A Coney Island of the Mind and Pictures of the Gone World, among numerous other books, has been drawing from life since his student days in Paris where he frequented the Academie Julien and where he did his first oil painting.
45 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1955
12 people are currently reading
1844 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
259 books648 followersA prominent voice of the wide-open poetry movement that began in the 1950s, Lawrence Ferlinghetti has written poetry, translation, fiction, theater, art criticism, film narration, and essays. Often concerned with politics and social issues, Ferlinghetti’s poetry countered the literary elite's definition of art and the artist's role in the world. Though imbued with the commonplace, his poetry cannot be simply described as polemic or personal protest, for it stands on his craftsmanship, thematics, and grounding in tradition.
Ferlinghetti was born in Yonkers in 1919, son of Carlo Ferlinghetti who was from the province of Brescia and Clemence Albertine Mendes-Monsanto. Following his undergraduate years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he served in the U.S. Navy in World War II as a ship's commander. He received a Master’s degree from Columbia University in 1947 and a Doctorate de l’Université de Paris (Sorbonne) in 1950. From 1951 to 1953, when he settled in San Francisco, he taught French in an adult education program, painted, and wrote art criticism. In 1953, with Peter D. Martin (son of Carlo Tresca) he founded City Lights Bookstore, the first all-paperbound bookshop in the country, and by 1955 he had launched the City Lights publishing house.
The bookstore has served for half a century as a meeting place for writers, artists, and intellectuals. City Lights Publishers began with the Pocket Poets Series, through which Ferlinghetti aimed to create an international, dissident ferment. His publication of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl & Other Poems in 1956 led to his arrest on obscenity charges, and the trial that followed drew national attention to the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movement writers. (He was overwhelmingly supported by prestigious literary and academic figures, and was acquitted.) This landmark First Amendment case established a legal precedent for the publication of controversial work with redeeming social importance.
Ferlinghetti’s paintings have been shown at various galleries around the world, from the Butler Museum of American Painting to Il Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. He has been associated with the international Fluxus movement through the Archivio Francesco Conz in Verona. He has toured Italy, giving poetry readings in Roma, Napoli, Bologna, Firenze, Milano, Verona, Brescia, Cagliari, Torino, Venezia, and Sicilia. He won the Premio Taormino in 1973, and since then has been awarded the Premio Camaiore, the Premio Flaiano, the Premio Cavour. among others. He is published in Italy by Oscar Mondadori, City Lights Italia, and Minimum Fax. He was instrumental in arranging extensive poetry tours in Italy produced by City Lights Italia in Firenze. He has translated from the italian Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Poemi Romani, which is published by City Lights Books. In San Francisco, his work can regularly be seen at the George Krevsky Gallery at 77 Geary Street.
Ferlinghetti’s A Coney Island of the Mind continues to be the most popular poetry book in the U.S. It has been translated into nine languages, and there are nearly 1,000,000 copies in print. The author of poetry, plays, fiction, art criticism, and essays, he has a dozen books currently in print in the U.S., and his work has been translated in many countries and in many languages. His most recent books are A Far Rockaway of the Heart (1997), How to Paint Sunlight (2001), and Americus Book I (2004) published by New Directions.
He has been the recipient of numerous prizes, including the Los Angeles Times’ Robert Kirsch Award, the BABRA Award for Lifetime Achievement, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Award for Contribution to American Arts and Letters, the American Civil Liberties Union’s Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award. Ferlinghetti was named San Francisco’s first poet laureate.
Ferlinghetti was born in Yonkers in 1919, son of Carlo Ferlinghetti who was from the province of Brescia and Clemence Albertine Mendes-Monsanto. Following his undergraduate years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he served in the U.S. Navy in World War II as a ship's commander. He received a Master’s degree from Columbia University in 1947 and a Doctorate de l’Université de Paris (Sorbonne) in 1950. From 1951 to 1953, when he settled in San Francisco, he taught French in an adult education program, painted, and wrote art criticism. In 1953, with Peter D. Martin (son of Carlo Tresca) he founded City Lights Bookstore, the first all-paperbound bookshop in the country, and by 1955 he had launched the City Lights publishing house.
The bookstore has served for half a century as a meeting place for writers, artists, and intellectuals. City Lights Publishers began with the Pocket Poets Series, through which Ferlinghetti aimed to create an international, dissident ferment. His publication of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl & Other Poems in 1956 led to his arrest on obscenity charges, and the trial that followed drew national attention to the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movement writers. (He was overwhelmingly supported by prestigious literary and academic figures, and was acquitted.) This landmark First Amendment case established a legal precedent for the publication of controversial work with redeeming social importance.
Ferlinghetti’s paintings have been shown at various galleries around the world, from the Butler Museum of American Painting to Il Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. He has been associated with the international Fluxus movement through the Archivio Francesco Conz in Verona. He has toured Italy, giving poetry readings in Roma, Napoli, Bologna, Firenze, Milano, Verona, Brescia, Cagliari, Torino, Venezia, and Sicilia. He won the Premio Taormino in 1973, and since then has been awarded the Premio Camaiore, the Premio Flaiano, the Premio Cavour. among others. He is published in Italy by Oscar Mondadori, City Lights Italia, and Minimum Fax. He was instrumental in arranging extensive poetry tours in Italy produced by City Lights Italia in Firenze. He has translated from the italian Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Poemi Romani, which is published by City Lights Books. In San Francisco, his work can regularly be seen at the George Krevsky Gallery at 77 Geary Street.
Ferlinghetti’s A Coney Island of the Mind continues to be the most popular poetry book in the U.S. It has been translated into nine languages, and there are nearly 1,000,000 copies in print. The author of poetry, plays, fiction, art criticism, and essays, he has a dozen books currently in print in the U.S., and his work has been translated in many countries and in many languages. His most recent books are A Far Rockaway of the Heart (1997), How to Paint Sunlight (2001), and Americus Book I (2004) published by New Directions.
He has been the recipient of numerous prizes, including the Los Angeles Times’ Robert Kirsch Award, the BABRA Award for Lifetime Achievement, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Award for Contribution to American Arts and Letters, the American Civil Liberties Union’s Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award. Ferlinghetti was named San Francisco’s first poet laureate.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
March 12, 2019
"They" say Beat poetry is a lot like jazz, and I think "they" have a point. But the point I’m going to make about jazz is more specific and somewhat different: East coast Beat verse compares to West Coast Beat verse like old East coast Jazz compares to old West coast Jazz. East coasters are likely to be half-mad, drug-crazed experimenters, wandering spirits and introspective soloists of the avant guard; West coasters are likely to be more outgoing, comfortable with large groups and popular success, and willing to keep the day-job.
It’s only fair to point out that Ferlinghetti was born in New York, but after Chapel Hill, the navy (during WW II), graduate school at Columbia, and a doctorate from the Sorbonne, he settled down—at the age of thirty-two—in the city of San Francisco, where he painted, taught French, and made a little extra money writing art criticism and translations. Then, in 1953, he founded City Lights Bookstore, the first all paperback book store in the nation, and two years after began to publish, under the “City Lights Books” imprint, the legendary “Pocket Poets Series.” Number One in the series was Pictures of a Gone World.
If Ginsberg personifies the East, then Ferlinghetti embodies the West. His verse is sunny, filled with humor, the beauties of nature, the pleasures of good company and human love. Although the structure of his verse owes much to the “triads” of William Carlos Williams, the imagery and music harks back to the old-fashioned, romantic lyrics of E. E. Cummings, stripped of all but the occasional rhyme.
This review is based on the fortieth anniversary edition (1995), in which Mr. Ferlinghetti has added eighteen new poems to the original slim volume of twenty-seven. Here, for a taste, I give you one of the original twenty-seven.
It’s only fair to point out that Ferlinghetti was born in New York, but after Chapel Hill, the navy (during WW II), graduate school at Columbia, and a doctorate from the Sorbonne, he settled down—at the age of thirty-two—in the city of San Francisco, where he painted, taught French, and made a little extra money writing art criticism and translations. Then, in 1953, he founded City Lights Bookstore, the first all paperback book store in the nation, and two years after began to publish, under the “City Lights Books” imprint, the legendary “Pocket Poets Series.” Number One in the series was Pictures of a Gone World.
If Ginsberg personifies the East, then Ferlinghetti embodies the West. His verse is sunny, filled with humor, the beauties of nature, the pleasures of good company and human love. Although the structure of his verse owes much to the “triads” of William Carlos Williams, the imagery and music harks back to the old-fashioned, romantic lyrics of E. E. Cummings, stripped of all but the occasional rhyme.
This review is based on the fortieth anniversary edition (1995), in which Mr. Ferlinghetti has added eighteen new poems to the original slim volume of twenty-seven. Here, for a taste, I give you one of the original twenty-seven.
funny fantasies are never so real as oldstyle romances
where the hero has a heroine who has
long black braids and lets
nobody
kiss her ever
and everybody’s trying all the time to
run away with her
and the hero is always drawing his
(sic) sword and
tilting at ginmills and
forever telling her he
loves her and has only honorable intentions and
honorable mentions
and no one ever beats him at
anything
but then finally one day
she who has always been so timid
offs with her glove and says
(though not in so many big words)
Let’s go lie down somewheres
baby.
December 16, 2022
Ferlinghetti
His poems sprawl across the page,
visual refugees from e.e. cummings.
His phrases are fingers massaging the mind
his imagery’s a tantalizing taste on the tongue.
Pathos and humor, twin needles, tattoo
these poems on the flesh of your soul.
His poems sprawl across the page,
visual refugees from e.e. cummings.
His phrases are fingers massaging the mind
his imagery’s a tantalizing taste on the tongue.
Pathos and humor, twin needles, tattoo
these poems on the flesh of your soul.
July 30, 2012
"crazy / to be alive in such a strange / world", indeed.
my quotation can't do justice to the way LF spreads his lines out across the small pages. gotta love the man responsible for the pocket poets series.
25.
"The world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't mind happiness
not always being
very much fun
if you don't mind a touch of hell
now and then
just when everything is fine
because even in heaven
they don't sing
all the time
The world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't mind some people dying
all the time
or maybe only starving
some of the time
which isn't half so bad
if it isn't you
Oh the world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't much mind
a few dead minds
in the higher places
or a bomb or two
now and then
in your upturned faces
or such other improprieties
as our Name Brand society
is prey to
with its men of distinction
and its men of extinction
and its priests
and other patrolmen
and its various segregations
and congressional investigations
and other constipations
that our fool flesh
is heir to
Yes the world is the best place of all
for a lot of such things as
making the fun scene
and making the love scene
and making the sad scene
and singing low songs and having inspirations
and walking around
looking at everything
and smelling flowers
and goosing statues
and even thinking
and kissing people and
making babies and wearing pants
and waving hats and
dancing
and going swimming in rivers
on picnics
in the middle of the summer
and just generally
'living it up'
Yes
but then right in the middle of it
comes the smiling
mortician"
my quotation can't do justice to the way LF spreads his lines out across the small pages. gotta love the man responsible for the pocket poets series.
25.
"The world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't mind happiness
not always being
very much fun
if you don't mind a touch of hell
now and then
just when everything is fine
because even in heaven
they don't sing
all the time
The world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't mind some people dying
all the time
or maybe only starving
some of the time
which isn't half so bad
if it isn't you
Oh the world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't much mind
a few dead minds
in the higher places
or a bomb or two
now and then
in your upturned faces
or such other improprieties
as our Name Brand society
is prey to
with its men of distinction
and its men of extinction
and its priests
and other patrolmen
and its various segregations
and congressional investigations
and other constipations
that our fool flesh
is heir to
Yes the world is the best place of all
for a lot of such things as
making the fun scene
and making the love scene
and making the sad scene
and singing low songs and having inspirations
and walking around
looking at everything
and smelling flowers
and goosing statues
and even thinking
and kissing people and
making babies and wearing pants
and waving hats and
dancing
and going swimming in rivers
on picnics
in the middle of the summer
and just generally
'living it up'
Yes
but then right in the middle of it
comes the smiling
mortician"
August 30, 2020
In Paris in a loud dark winter
when the sun was something in Provence
when I came upon the poetry
of René Char
I saw Vaucluse again
in a summer of sauterelles
its fountains full of petals
and its rivers thrown down
through all the burnt places
of that almond world
and the fields full of silence
though the crickets sang
with their legs
And in the poet's plangent dream I saw
no Lorelei upon the Rhone
nor angels debarked at Marseilles
but couples going nude into the sad water
in the profound lasciviousness of spring
in an algebra of lyricism
which I am still deciphering
when the sun was something in Provence
when I came upon the poetry
of René Char
I saw Vaucluse again
in a summer of sauterelles
its fountains full of petals
and its rivers thrown down
through all the burnt places
of that almond world
and the fields full of silence
though the crickets sang
with their legs
And in the poet's plangent dream I saw
no Lorelei upon the Rhone
nor angels debarked at Marseilles
but couples going nude into the sad water
in the profound lasciviousness of spring
in an algebra of lyricism
which I am still deciphering
March 20, 2011
Read in 1992. My favorite, which I copied out and put on my apartment refrigerator:
Number 8
It was a face which darkness could kill
in an instant
a face as easily hurt
by laughter or light
'We think differently at night'
she told me once
lying back languidly
And she would quote Cocteau
'I feel there is an angel in me' she'd say
'whom I am constantly shocking'
Then she would smile and look away
light a cigarette for me
sigh and rise
and stretch
her sweet anatomy
let fall a stocking
Number 8
It was a face which darkness could kill
in an instant
a face as easily hurt
by laughter or light
'We think differently at night'
she told me once
lying back languidly
And she would quote Cocteau
'I feel there is an angel in me' she'd say
'whom I am constantly shocking'
Then she would smile and look away
light a cigarette for me
sigh and rise
and stretch
her sweet anatomy
let fall a stocking
May 16, 2013
Lawrence Ferlinghetti remarked that whereas City Lights co-founder Peter Martin was born into an anarchist family, son of Carlos Tresca, "I was getting my anarchist ideas from Kenneth Rexroth," adding that his poetry has become more political with time. One certainly gets the sense that his writing became more political when reading "Pictures of the Gone World" in comparison with, say, "Tyannus Nix" or "Time of Useful Consciousness," or some of the poems from "Americus" (I haven't read it all yet). This isn't to say that there are not elements of this in early works, such as "Pictures of the Gone World," the first work published in the City Lights Pocket Poets Series, but it is not so pronounced yet.
Starting out as a painter (and still a painter to this day), many of the poems in this collection have visually artistic themes -- Dada, Picasso, etc. -- but one really gets the sense reading this that Ferlinghetti is here painting with words. From the beginning poem -- "Away above a harborful/of caulkless houses" -- to the end, the use of language is so rich and the poetry draws such vivid visual images. This is found throughout, but, for me, is best captured in such lines as: "his alabaster ideals"; "in a summer of sauterelles/its fountains full of petals/and its river thrown down/through all the burnt places/of that almond world"; "I saw . . . couples going nude into the sad water/in the profound lasciviousness of spring/in an algebra of lyricism/which I am still deciphering" and "Dada would have loved a day like this/with its light-bulb sun/which shines so differently/for different people/but which still shines the same/on everyone."
The downside to this work is not really a flaw in itself, but the fact that many of the poems (and most of the best ones at that -- "'Truth is not the secret of a few"; "In Paris in a loud dark winter"; "It was a face which darkness could kill"; "The world is a beautiful place" (one of my very favorites) and "Reading Yeats I do not think") I had previously read in the "Poems from Pictures of the Gone World" section of "A Coney Island of the Mind" (another excellent collection). But there are some others here that I can happily say I have discovered for the first time. Of these, I most enjoyed "Heaven" and "Dada would have liked a day like this." Those that I already had familiarity with I was still happy to revisit.
As with later Ferlinghetti works, there are elements of politics and anarchism (though not necessarily as pronounced as we find later on), a beautiful world painted in words, an evocation of the past and an appropriation of phrases and ideas by others, such as quotes from Cocteau, Constantin Brancusi, etc. In sum, a very fine early work from the singular and always enjoyable Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Starting out as a painter (and still a painter to this day), many of the poems in this collection have visually artistic themes -- Dada, Picasso, etc. -- but one really gets the sense reading this that Ferlinghetti is here painting with words. From the beginning poem -- "Away above a harborful/of caulkless houses" -- to the end, the use of language is so rich and the poetry draws such vivid visual images. This is found throughout, but, for me, is best captured in such lines as: "his alabaster ideals"; "in a summer of sauterelles/its fountains full of petals/and its river thrown down/through all the burnt places/of that almond world"; "I saw . . . couples going nude into the sad water/in the profound lasciviousness of spring/in an algebra of lyricism/which I am still deciphering" and "Dada would have loved a day like this/with its light-bulb sun/which shines so differently/for different people/but which still shines the same/on everyone."
The downside to this work is not really a flaw in itself, but the fact that many of the poems (and most of the best ones at that -- "'Truth is not the secret of a few"; "In Paris in a loud dark winter"; "It was a face which darkness could kill"; "The world is a beautiful place" (one of my very favorites) and "Reading Yeats I do not think") I had previously read in the "Poems from Pictures of the Gone World" section of "A Coney Island of the Mind" (another excellent collection). But there are some others here that I can happily say I have discovered for the first time. Of these, I most enjoyed "Heaven" and "Dada would have liked a day like this." Those that I already had familiarity with I was still happy to revisit.
As with later Ferlinghetti works, there are elements of politics and anarchism (though not necessarily as pronounced as we find later on), a beautiful world painted in words, an evocation of the past and an appropriation of phrases and ideas by others, such as quotes from Cocteau, Constantin Brancusi, etc. In sum, a very fine early work from the singular and always enjoyable Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
June 27, 2013
Fantastic. This was really mind-blowing. I am lost for words as to how Ferlinghetti is able to hit those rhythms and find the perfect words and leave you acheing for more. Incredibly strong first book from a poet/author. Highly recommended. Can't wait to read Coney Island of the Mind soon.
September 26, 2007
Yes, I love beatnik poetry. Don't judge me.
November 18, 2017
A delightful collection. I was surprised by its lightness & luminousness, but then again i guess the Beats were really into Zen, so. These poems, most of which describe every-day moments, are very accessible and would make a fine intro to poetry to new-comers to the genre, i think.
August 25, 2024
A masterpiece.
March 17, 2021
Just wanted to say I loved this book ... except the 18 new poems! They stuck out like a sore thumb, stylistically, thematically. I didn't think they were as good as the others either. Then I pulled out "A far rockaway of the heart" and there they are again! The same 18! Stuck in at the end of that 100-poem sequence. Weird! Thanks for letting me say that.
January 19, 2014
i do not read poetry very often, but when I do, i love it.
A WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO BE BORN INTO
is a proof for me, that I always find the best things accidentally.
it was kind of a book, i could read every day before sleep, like whole month, and never have enough of its feelings.
A WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO BE BORN INTO
is a proof for me, that I always find the best things accidentally.
it was kind of a book, i could read every day before sleep, like whole month, and never have enough of its feelings.
February 25, 2021
Re-read on the occasion of Ferlinghetti's death.
Really didn't realize just how deeply these poems were embedded in me, how much his phrasing influenced my own writing.
Very easy to read and every poem brings a smile.
Really didn't realize just how deeply these poems were embedded in me, how much his phrasing influenced my own writing.
Very easy to read and every poem brings a smile.
April 4, 2007
I'm not big into poetry, but Ferlinghetti packs as much story into poetic verse as most people stretch out over a whole novel. #21 is my personal favorite.
January 31, 2008
For almost five years, this short book of poetry was never more than a few feet from me. The idea of "Pocket Poetry" was never more seriously instantiated.
March 12, 2009
Wonderful works. The expanded collection has 12 or so poems not in the original book. Very good.
February 25, 2020
A POEM IS A MIRROR WALKING DOWN A STRANGE STREET
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August 10, 2019TWELFTH PRINTING, the back says in block letters.
The book is a stunning achievement. Particularly considering it is a self-published book by all standards I can see.
The book is a stunning achievement. Particularly considering it is a self-published book by all standards I can see.
January 26, 2021
i'm a huge fan of Ferlinghetti's poetry and of the beats in general, but i hoped i would enjoy this more. this collection contains one of my favorites, "the world is a beautiful place to be born into," and it has some texts that actually surprised me, like "surfers are poets too" and "people kept coming in and looking at the half-alive fish on ice." there is no use in praising Ferlinghetti's sublime use of language and images or his remarkable critique of society and capitalism, he is a genius poet. perhaps i had too high expectations because of my previous readings of his work and thought every poem would strike me, leave me breathless, astounded. weirdly enough, i enjoyed his novel "Little Boy" more than this classic, notorious collection :(
May 16, 2023
i read
these poems
to immerse myself
in heterosexual culture.
what I learned
is that
if a man
writes about women —
their “wetly amorous sins”
and
“bloomin big tits”
and
“sweet anatomy” —
but adds enough
[spaces]
and BIG WORDS!
it becomes
not misogyny
but some kind of art?
these poems
to immerse myself
in heterosexual culture.
what I learned
is that
if a man
writes about women —
their “wetly amorous sins”
and
“bloomin big tits”
and
“sweet anatomy” —
but adds enough
[spaces]
and BIG WORDS!
it becomes
not misogyny
but some kind of art?
January 11, 2018
this book is like concept art. just really don't get it hey lawrence what u up to
July 31, 2015
I can’t quite remember what made me get out this book. I think it was because I saw some excerpt quoted somewhere. And, taken out of context, some of those lines can pack a punch—just as much as an entire poem in wholeness can, actually. Although I’ve found some lines actually lose their punch because of the rest of the poem, but I digress.
Overall, at times the arrangement of the poems grated on my nerves. Because the poems lines were broken enough times, I heard pauses in my head, which made for stilted reading. This may merely be something I was bothered by, or may be a legitimate critique. Some of the lines could’ve been one, and made for smoother reading. After all, as I saw pointed out on tumblr, just because you hit enter a lot doesn’t make it a poem.
Eh. Reviewing poetry is always an odd thing that I’m never sure I do right. I enjoyed a few poems, but overall my impression of it was “meh.” There are better poets and poems out there, but I wouldn’t say it’s entirely worth skipping.
What some people might be uncomfortable reading about in this book because of personal opinion or belief: there weren’t any curses, and although a small handful of poems hinted at intercourse (or said the word once, actually), it’s pretty clean. It’s poetry. Chances are it’s not going to be completely racy.
Overall, at times the arrangement of the poems grated on my nerves. Because the poems lines were broken enough times, I heard pauses in my head, which made for stilted reading. This may merely be something I was bothered by, or may be a legitimate critique. Some of the lines could’ve been one, and made for smoother reading. After all, as I saw pointed out on tumblr, just because you hit enter a lot doesn’t make it a poem.
Eh. Reviewing poetry is always an odd thing that I’m never sure I do right. I enjoyed a few poems, but overall my impression of it was “meh.” There are better poets and poems out there, but I wouldn’t say it’s entirely worth skipping.
What some people might be uncomfortable reading about in this book because of personal opinion or belief: there weren’t any curses, and although a small handful of poems hinted at intercourse (or said the word once, actually), it’s pretty clean. It’s poetry. Chances are it’s not going to be completely racy.
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December 16, 2025Gosto de poesia beat porque me faz imaginar letras que o Bob Dylan podia ter escrito e musicado.
Esse livrinho tem uns bons poemas, mas a sua maior virtude é ter sido a primeira publicação da City Lights.
Ainda assim, na sua simplicidade e sem grandes pretensões, ele consegue transmitir um olhar de deslumbramento com o mundo que é bem-vindo e divertido.
‘crazy
to be alive
in such a strange world’
Esse livrinho tem uns bons poemas, mas a sua maior virtude é ter sido a primeira publicação da City Lights.
Ainda assim, na sua simplicidade e sem grandes pretensões, ele consegue transmitir um olhar de deslumbramento com o mundo que é bem-vindo e divertido.
‘crazy
to be alive
in such a strange world’
July 31, 2024
To read Pictures of the Gone World, Number One, a Lawrence Ferlinghetti book published by City Lights that I personally purchased at City Lights in San Francisco literally means the world to me.
Although he never called himself part of the Beat movement, his connection to them is evident. Although he was probably right… Ferlinghetti is one of my favorite poets period, whereas I never found much joy in reading Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and William S. Burroughs (I do have extremely high hopes for On the Road, though).
He left this world in 2021, after 101 incredible years, but his legacy shall live forever!
Although he never called himself part of the Beat movement, his connection to them is evident. Although he was probably right… Ferlinghetti is one of my favorite poets period, whereas I never found much joy in reading Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and William S. Burroughs (I do have extremely high hopes for On the Road, though).
He left this world in 2021, after 101 incredible years, but his legacy shall live forever!
April 28, 2024
These poems are vignettes heavy on imagery and wry humor, like little watercolors; the writing style is a bit "spacy" (heavy on space, often one or two words per line, a jazzy beat style), but this is inspiring in terms of how much can be communicated compactly and vividly. Great use of rhyme throughout, very playful. I liked A Coney Island of the Mind better...but on re-reading, I upped this to 4 stars from 3. The longer I live in San Francisco, the more this work speaks to me. Interesting! I especially loved re-reading "Just as I used to say" and "The world is a beautiful place".
August 7, 2012
After I read Poetry as Insurgent Art I found that I liked Ferlinghetti's style, although I thought is was unpolished. It might have just been that book, since Pictures of the Gone World, Ferlinghetti's first book, is a lot smoother. The way he plays with rhythm and rhyme inspires me, and the way he incorporates classical themes and images in his decidedly contemporary poetry gets a cool nod of approval. In short, Ferlinghetti might just be my favorite poet
April 8, 2017
Lawrence Ferlinghetti writes real psychedelic words, with mind blowing ideas couched in words simple enough for a child to get, complex enough to keep reading it all your life.
May 22, 2013
Loved this wild poetic ride!
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February 22, 2016"I too have drunk and seen/ the spider"
May 29, 2021
Pictures of the Gone World by Lawrence Ferlinghetti was published in 1955 shortly after he opened City Lights Books of San Francisco. There were twenty-seven poems in the first edition. Later, in 1995 on the fortieth anniversary of City Lights eighteen more poems were added. It was the first in the Pocket Poets Series of sixty-one books that includes Allen Ginsberg, Kenneth Patchen, William Carlos Williams, Pablo Picasso, Kenneth Rexroth, Gregory Corso, Yevgeni Yevtuschenko, and others. The series was designed to provide a wide audience inexpensive access to avant-garde poetry. In 2005 he produced a CD/DVD version of the book. He reads the original poems accompanied by David Amram who plays piano, French horn, double bass ocarina, organ, pennywhistle, flute, and bongos. Poetry, of course, is an aural art so it was especially interesting to me to hear the poet read his own work.
Ferlinghetti took a populist approach to poetry. He stated that "art should be accessible to all people, not just a handful of highly educated intellectuals." His poems take on a particularly visual dimension which is befitting a poet who is also a painter. Indeed, many of the poems are portraits with references to actual artists and poets. Some are landscapes, single scenes, cityscapes, or pictures of trains or sailboats. Many of the poems are haiku-like, not in structure, but in the attempt to capture a moment frozen in time.
Beyond the visual Ferlinghetti offers the reader many of the other reasons people read poetry. There are some love stories, lots of humor and wordplay, sadness, dreams, and beauty. Some poems have a touch of politics, but only in the broadest sense.
As a point of regional interest, Ferlinghetti earned a degree in journalism in 1941 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also started his career in journalism by writing sports for The Daily Tar Heel. He published his first short stories in Carolina Magazine.
Ferlinghetti took a populist approach to poetry. He stated that "art should be accessible to all people, not just a handful of highly educated intellectuals." His poems take on a particularly visual dimension which is befitting a poet who is also a painter. Indeed, many of the poems are portraits with references to actual artists and poets. Some are landscapes, single scenes, cityscapes, or pictures of trains or sailboats. Many of the poems are haiku-like, not in structure, but in the attempt to capture a moment frozen in time.
Beyond the visual Ferlinghetti offers the reader many of the other reasons people read poetry. There are some love stories, lots of humor and wordplay, sadness, dreams, and beauty. Some poems have a touch of politics, but only in the broadest sense.
As a point of regional interest, Ferlinghetti earned a degree in journalism in 1941 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also started his career in journalism by writing sports for The Daily Tar Heel. He published his first short stories in Carolina Magazine.
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