Newspapers / Salem College Student Newspaper / Nov. 18, 1960, edition 1 / Page 4
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November 18, Ferlinghetti Shatters Preconceptions In Salem Reading By Peggy Brown One of the rowdiest Salem Col lege Lecture Series’ audiences that 1 have heard packed itself into Memorial Hall Monday night, No- vcniher 14, to hear Dr. Lawrence Ferlinghetti read selections from his own poetry. I often wonder why so many students squeeze themselves into the balcony where they cannot hear well and where they are so crowded that they have to sit in the aisles. Are they em barrassed to have it known that they attend such an ‘un-neat’ thing as a lecture ? Oh well, that’s be side the point. Periodic shushes occurred before Dr. Ferlinghetti “made the scene”. After a brief and in itself enter taining introduction by Mr. Shew- make, Dr. Ferlinghetti told us, “Don’t let that Dr. throw you,“ for, lie said, he had gotten it sitting on I’aris cafe terraces for four years. Such remarks as this were by far the best received portions of his presentation, and were. I’m afraid, all too few. The earlier selections which the speaker read were largely of the type which the ivy covered walls and well-brought- uj) young ladies of Salem are em barrassed to open up and enjoy without remembering always to look properly shocked for the benefit of anyone who might be watching. The later selections, of a more serious nature, were prob ably not appreciated but by a select few who both had studied the poems before h.and and were able to liear the entire reading of the poem. Lake Talks For Thanksgiving Students are requested to take their seats quietly in assembly on Tuesday, November 22. This as sembly will be a worship program with a guest minister delivering the sermon. Chapel checkers will be seated on the back row, and stu dents are requested to check in as quietly as possible. The emphasis of the service will be on Thanksgiving; and the speaker will be Dr. lulian Lake, minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem. A special solo will be rendered before the sermon. Thanksgiving baskets will take the place of regular church offer ings. These baskets will be filled with food contributed by Salemites a basket will be placed in each hall, and every girl is asked to contribute. The hall or dorm pre sident will take the basket forward when the call for the offerings -is Riven. In this way, each girl has the opportunity to participate in the basic meaning of Thanksgiving. Want To Go When You Want To Go CALL After several poems from A Coney Island of the Mind, such as one taken from a painting by Chagall with its pun about the artist giving the violin to the “naked nude . . ■ with no strings attached”, and “The Penny Candy Store”, Dr. Ferlinghetti rightly ob served that so far his poems seemed to be predominantly about women. I doubt that he need worry about changing the program when speak ing to groups of men, as he in timated after observing the suit ability of selections to audience in this instance. The portraits con tinued with “Another one. Cer tainly not the same one.” Our ideal of the knight and his princess fair was shattered delightfully as she came out with, “Let’s lie down somewheres, baby.” The group of women’s portraits concluded with ones such as “White String” and the model poem, “not a model poem”. Getting down to some more seri ous subjects, assuming that there was a deep significance which I missed in the first group, Dr. Fer linghetti read “Dog”. It is about Dr. Ferlinghetti’s own dog and gave a real feeling of the movement of a dog walking down a big city street. Whether or not this same feeling would be conveyed by an individual reading silently can onlyj be determined by each person for himself; I personally feel that the reading by the poet himself added a lot to this poem which would otherwise have been missed. Per haps the best poem of the group was superficially about the Chinese New Year in San Francisco, and titled “Great Chinese Dragon”. “Starting from San Francisco, No vember 10, 1960” gave the exhila rating sensation of getting in on the ground floor, as Dr. Ferling hetti periodically made corrections in his notebook as he read. This is a change from studying poetry by authors long dead or so far re moved from us that the immediate situation or predominant feeling •which lies behind their poems is completely lost on us. Ferlinghetti gives Meggi his autograph before the reading Monday night. After pondering, “Let’s see what else I’ve got here,” Dr. Ferlinghetti came upon a “goofy little poem” entitled “What Happened the Day A Poet Was Appointed Post master”, followed by “Euphoria”. The poem which rivalled “Great Chinese Dragon” for top place in my mind, was “Special Clearance Sale of Famous Masterpieces”. As Dr. Ferlinghetti’s poem said, “It was a crazy scene to hitchhike into”, but it was perhaps an ex ample of what the majority of us expected of the speaker and his poetry and “beatniks” in general; all of the masterpieces showed people “PONDERING THE IN- SOLUBLE PROBLEM”. It seems our preconceptions about this graduate of University of North Carolina and recipient of the doctor’s degree from the Sorbonne were wrong, or I at least thought so. Dr. Lawrence Ferlinghetti finished by reading “New York Autumn”, a poem with highly ro mantic and sentimental flavor. peeked into the harpsichord, put his hands in his pockets and strolled off the stage. PAY A LITTLE MORE . . . LOOK MUCH BETTER For finest quality beauty work . . . For designed hair cuts . . . For styling and permanent waving to suit you and your features try THE HAIRDESIGNERS BEAUTY SALON Downtown at 416 N. 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Salem College Student Newspaper
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Nov. 18, 1960, edition 1
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