understanding Lawerence Ferlinghetti The world is a beautiful place?

Question

i need some help understanding what Lawerence is talking about in his poem "the world is a beautiful place".
here is the poem:

The world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't mind happiness
not always being
so 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 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

i dont understand what he is talking about in verses 3-4? and what is Lawerence trying to say at the end about the "smiling mortician" ?

Answer 1

The poem is bitterly ironic. It starts by saying that the world is a beautiful place, and then gives dozens of reasons why it's NOT a beautiful place. At the end it does start to list some positive things about the world, but then interrupts itself with the arrival of the "smiling / mortician". A mortician is a person who prepares a dead body for burial (an undertaker, a funeral director, an embalmer).



So it boils down to : The world sucks; parts of it don't suck; but just when you're enjoying the good parts, you die, which also sucks.



The specific complaints in verses 3 and 4 are protests against various social and political things that were going on (mostly in the U.S.) around the time Ferlinghetti wrote the poem, which was probably in the 1950s or early 60s.



By the way, when you refer to an author in writing, you use his surname, not his given name. You should refer to him as "Ferlinghetti," not "Lawrence."

Answer 2

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RE:

understanding Lawerence Ferlinghetti The world is a beautiful place?

i need some help understanding what Lawerence is talking about in his poem "the world is a beautiful place".

here is the poem:



The world is a beautiful place

to be born into

if you don't mind happiness

not always being

so very much fun

if you don't mind a touch of...

Answer 3

Beautiful Ness in your Mind many people think that that place is good or that one is good, but every man & woman Thinks different it's Depend on you ? some says That USA Is good If you ask To astronomers They will say universe is the most beautiful place in the all world. Lick That it's Depend on You. I Think this information will help you Thanks. Vyom

Answer 4

i love this man. the smiling mortician, the man who is happy you have died because it means he gets to sell you a coffin. it speaks of the corrupt nature of capitalism. it makes me think of the health industry. you get to go in, and its just like a car dealership. packages and insurances.. and some people buy something and others just window shop, and soon after their time is up. its about how the best things in life are overrated. and oversold. how they make death and life and birth tragic and glorious and everything except what it is... natural. its about executive decision lying in the hands of men, some not so bright. its about how the world is beautiful if you blind yourself, walk half asleep amid reality. its a cynical portrayal of the condition of being alive. i actually hadnt read this one before and im sure i missed much and i could probably do a paper on just this one... but anyway good luck.

Answer 5

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