The Secret Meaning of Things

by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Six long poems in which Ferlinghetti reflects on American events of the late sixties and a winter journey across Russia

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, 20th Century

49 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

A 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.

Reviews

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some thoughts in lieu of a real review.....

-- Cliche, but possibly powerful title.

-- Nice rhythyms.

-- The thing with beat poetry, for me, is that I wish I was hearing it as I read it. In some cases, this destroys the reading. In Ferlinghetti's case, it is still strong enough in written form, but you can tell that there is a musical diction underneath that you need to hear to fully feel.

-- A very quick read. Interesting to read in this current political climate.

-- Why do I value a "quick read?" Why do I mention it so often in my own reviews? Though I speak of the destruction of the patience through the 'mtv generation,' I am definitely a part of it. I can only elevate myself so far before the hypocrisy shines through like a spotlight....

--My favorite lines are all on page 22:

Every day the news gets more surreal


and


And every day
a line of love's battleships is sunk

-- I've been thinking lately about the forwards in every year's Best American Poetry volumes where they talk about how 90% of modern poetry is crap. The thing is, they get it right from time to time when they realize that that "good 10%" isn't realized until years and years later. But at the same time, I'm not sure that they have it right. In a way, the U.S. has been undergoing its own poetry renaissance quietly under the surface for about 40 years now. We may, as a whole, be underappreciative of the past and of other cultures' works (which is something I will freely admit that I am guilty of...), but there is a fire. Whether that will yield a generation or two of remembered poets, I do not know, but there has to be some understanding of the vibrance and depth of work being written in the u.s. today... What this has to do with this particular book may be tangential, but that's why this is no review....

-- I feel that Ferlinghetti had what very few present day American poets have... A sense of honest urgency.

-- That doesn't mean that he didn't have a bit of hypocrisy himself, just that he wasn't ashamed of it.

[Tim Weakley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not pretend to understand even half of what there is to see in poetry. I really do believe that a lot of it is only perceived by the poet.

I did enjoy this short book though. I think my favourite piece was Moscow in the Wilderness, Segovia in the snow. When you can get phrases like:

I am your ruin
unique & immortal
I am your happiness unknown
I am light
where you are dark
where you are heavy

There was some great imagery in this book.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my fav beat poets!

[Greg Bem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent scrawls that feature images and phrasings capable of standing up even today. Reading this in honor of Ferlinghetti's passing, thinking about his life and travels.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a trip that I was uncertain where I was landing. Something I'd like to re-read next year and reassess what I think about it. I appreciated the wave I was on at times but wanted to get more out of it.

[Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another strong volume of poetry from Ferlinghetti. Ferlinghetti and Jack Micheline are probably my two favourite beat poets. Gregory Corso comes a very close third.
Although not as strong as the spectacular Coney Island of the Mind or the criminally underrated Pictures from the Gone World, this fourth book by Ferlinghetti, The Secret Meaning of Things, continues to offer us readers deep insights into one of the great minds of the 21st Century...and on LSD, at that!
His poem 'After the cries of the birds' is so radiant and sparkling and reminded me of the times I set off to visit 'Uncle Syd' myself. He captures that vibrance and far-off shimmering sensation (those who have never dropped will probably not know what I'm talking about) that you feel when you are tripping. And like Ferlinghetti, every time I have done it, I have had a very spiritual and emotional experience. And learned something more about myself, which he here has managed to put onto paper.
This is a very short book of poetry (can be read in a couple of hours) but deep and Ferlinghetti covers a lot of spiritual territory within these 50 odd pages. Highly recommended. What a great poet he is!

[Talia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is no Coney Island, but still the Ferlinghetti that I love. I love how Ferlinghetti writes as though he invented writng, adding little notes like "Writ on the back of a map of Harvard College" at the end of "Bickford's Buddha." And "Assassination Raga" is moving.

[Michel · Rating 3 out of 5]

First encounter with Ferlinghetti. There is a phenomenal dryness, and absence of adjectives and descriptions. There is an urge to see "too clearly," and say "Nada" to the question of "what is important in life?" Yet the spirit of the time, wars, airplanes, and a civilization in decay insert themselves between the verses as well. Which, although sometimes gives the impression of one-dimensional political criticism, doesn't look that trite either.

Also, the role of the bird, and its connection to a "birdsong" tradition, the hope for "good news," though this time meshed with Shiva and LSDs, and a little bit of Lenin and Mao. The exasperation of hopes for a better West, the failure of mixing Jack London and Mark Twain, which relocates the hopes at a future community, etc.

[Rod · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Ferlinghetti's death, I was reminded that I had several books by him that I had not ever read, beyond looking up those most famous of his poems. This was my first foray. Poem a day. This one went by pretty quickly...and, while I enjoyed it well enough, can't say I carried a lot away.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ferlinghetti, it seems to me, stands in the middle of 20th century American poetry like a magic man, slightly impish, often dour, utilizing a language that is free and emphatic.

[Jeffrey Greening · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as fun as his other collections. Almost seems a little slap dash!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several things to like in this quite slender volume of only 6 poems, but the ending of the final poem, "Moscow in the Wilderness", is for me, the most powerful of the book. Yes, there is strength here and emotion, but much of it seems written as it comes to Ferlinghetti and asides such as "writ on the back of a map" re-enforce that presumption. Nevertheless, his observations and lightly edited writing still has much to say.

[Relyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blech! Can I just say YUCK?

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poems in this collection are okay, but are not my favorite. 'Coney Island of the Mind' is the best collection of Ferlinghetti's work, in my opinion, followed by 'Poetry as Insurgent Art.'

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ferlinghetti never disappoints, I loved this and I love his work in general. One of my favorite poets.

[Jeff Crompton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm probably going to get criticized for saying this, but much beat poetry seems kind of half-baked to me. The impression that Ferlinghetti is presenting us with his first drafts is reinforced by the note at the end of "Bickford's Buddha": "Writ on the back of a map of Harvard College."

That doesn't mean that I don't like these poems, or beat poetry in general. There is a freshness here, even though these poems are fifty years old. But as I read, I'm also aware of what Ferlinghetti has given up - focus, polish, concentrated emotion. I enjoyed this book, but it left me wanting to go read some Wallace Stevens.