The Coney Island Venus: Influence of the Italian Renaissance and the Treatment of Beauty in Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Poetry

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, although not the most famous of the Beat Poets, certainly left an indelible mark on the world of poetry with his influential and moving work. As stated in the article “The Poetry of Lawrence Ferlinghetti: A Reconsideration,” Crale D. Hopkins asserts that

Ferlinghetti was “neither anti-intellectual, emotionally disengaged…nor is he a mere voice of protest” (64), perhaps rendering him the most accessible Beat poet. Furthermore, Ferlinghetti not only differed from a majority of the Beats in these ways; his specific knowledge of the classical arts and the inclusion of this knowledge in his poetry set him apart from the other Beats as well. Being an Italian American, it only makes sense to discuss Ferlinghetti’s work in relation to the Italian Renaissance and the influence of its art over Ferlinghetti. However, though allusions to the Italian Renaissance are present in Ferlinghetti’s poetry, his treatment of Beauty and the Feminine differ greatly from that of his Renaissance predecessors.

Ferlinghetti’s view on Beauty, and the implications of this view, are critical for the connection and contrast between his poetry and Italian Renaissance art. Ferlinghetti’s poem # 15 from A Coney Island of the Mind exhibits what he believes to be the poet’s duty, and therefore his own, concerning Beauty. Conversely, in his poem # 11, also from A Coney Island of the Mind, Ferlinghetti does not necessarily explicate the poet’s responsibilities, but rather inhabits them.

In poem # 15, Ferlinghetti likens the poet to an acrobat who must “[climb] on a high wire of his own making” in order to rescue Beauty, who, precariously high, “waits with gravity to start her death defying leap…” The poet/acrobat can only achieve this rescue of Beauty if he does not “[mistake] any thing for what it may not be,” or what Ferlinghetti later describes as “taut truth.” Even so, the poet/acrobat can fail in his endeavor, and never achieve this rescue of Beauty, or the worthy pursuit of poetry/art.

Ferlinghetti writes in poem # 11 that “the world is a beautiful place to be born into/ if you don’t mind happiness/ not always being/ so very much fun.” The poet’s disdainful tone echoes throughout the piece, as he lists what one mustn’t mind — or essentially ignore — if one is to find the world a beautiful place. However, in doing so Ferlinghetti simultaneously records the “taut truth” of this society, which must be accepted in order to see the world as it really is: “Oh the world is a beautiful place/ to be born into/ if you don’t mind much/ 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…” It is apparent that Ferlinghetti is unafraid to shy away from the unpleasantries of life, but he does so in pursuit of a world that is whole, and therefore beautiful. This world of Ferlinghetti’s, which is perfect in its imperfection, also acts, as he puts in his poem “I Am Waiting,” as his “Renaissance of Wonder.”

Ferlinghetti’s Renaissance of Wonder and the Italian Renaissance parallel each other in their pursuit of Beauty, and what they both believe truthful Beauty to be. However, the ideologies of Ferlinghetti and the artists of the Italian Renaissance could not differ more on what this definition of truthful Beauty is. Leon Battista Alberti, one of the great Italian Renaissance architects and artists declared that, “‘beauty is an order of arrangement such that nothing can be altered except for the worse.’…Indeed the primary pursuit of the Florentine Renaissance was the depiction of beauty in as realistic a manner as possible” (Haughton, 230). But what exactly was “realistic” to the artists of the Renaissance? At the top of the list was idealization of the human form, and a part of this idealization was the manipulation of the depiction of the body with the “Golden Proportion,” or illustrating the human form with perfect proportions and bilateral symmetry (Haughton, 231.) Though it may seem contrary to the “realistic manner” that the Italian Renaissance artists strove for, the “perfect” human body was more real, and more important, than reality to them.

Moreover, Renaissance art and the depiction of the idealized human form were not just catalyzed by the artist, but by the wealthy patron who commissioned the work. Due to the fact that the majority — if not all — patrons were male, a huge amount of commissioned works depicted the female figure, often nude. These depicted women were oftentimes not even based upon a real person, but rather the artist’s own idea of perfect Beauty. The most common female figure of Renaissance art is Venus, the Greco-Roman Goddess of Love. According to the artist, patron, and location, Venus/Beauty varied somewhat, but was always linked back to the Ideal. Legendary artists such as Raphael were known to have created their own “perfect woman;” one need not look closely to see the women of Raphael’s paintings share almost identical features (Haughton, 232).

Although Ferlinghetti does depict the Feminine is a multitude of poems, many found in A Coney Island of the Mind, few could be called Ferlinghetti’s “Venus.” Many of the women of his poetry are not idealized forms, nor are they “goddesses of love,” created for his sole (or the male’s sole) aesthetic and sexual pleasure. Ferlinghetti’s poem # 21 from A Coney Island of the Mind achieves the opposite of the Italian Renaissance’s depiction of women in that it sympathizes with the subject and her perspective. The poem as a whole evokes imagery similar to that of Renaissance paintings, beginning with a description of nature: “She loved to look at flowers/ smell fruit/ And the leaves had the look of loving” (1-3). The woman of this poem is at ease amongst nature, and even more so alone. Unfortunately, her solace and peace are disrupted when “halfass drunken sailors/ [stagger] thru her sleep/ scattering semen/ over the virgin landscape” (4-7). The male figure has disturbed this woman, who is whole on her own, but is now adulterated from uninvited contact with the Masculine. Even though this woman’s world has now been tarnished, Ferlinghetti makes it a point to consolidate the trauma of the interaction with these men, to the eternal existence of nature, and therefore Beauty. The woman “at a certain age” with her “heart put about” and “searching the lost shores” has certainly experienced the pain that coincides with experiencing life. However, beyond the pain she “[hears] the green birds singing/ from the other side of silence” (8-12). The woman has returned to nature, which despite her pain or “silence,” is still, if not more beautiful than it was before.

Ferlinghetti’s poem # 26 in A Coney Island of the Mind contains the Feminine that most closely resembles the Venus of Italian Renaissance art. The imagery and language of poem # 26 evoke a sensuous — and sexual — atmosphere. Ferlinghetti opens the poem with the following: “That ‘sensual phosphorescence/ my youth delighted in’ now lies almost behind me/ like a land of dreams” (1-4). With this opening, Ferlinghetti establishes the dream-like context of the rest of the poem. The following is not truth, and as much as he’d like it to be, he understands that the “sensual phosphorescence” he once enjoyed no longer holds sway in reality.

The woman that emerges in this poetic dream world is no doubt the object of Ferlinghetti/the poet’s desire. He describes her as “an angel/ of hot sleep” who “in strange veil/ thru which desire/ looks and cries” (5-10). One could assume that this woman is Ferlinghetti’s Venus along the vein of the Italian Renaissance’s Venus. Though she may be a Venus, she is the Venus of Ferlinghetti’s “Renaissance of Wonder,” in which Ferlinghetti shows his understanding of the distinction between fantasy and reality. Furthermore, Ferlinghetti’s Venus is not the passive Venus of the Italian Renaissance. Although she does provide pleasure for the male poet, “she dances/ dances still/ and she still she comes/ at me/ with breathing breasts/ and secret lips/ and (ah)/ bright eyes” (11-18), indicating that she has agency and is conscious of her actions. Though this woman is indeed the object of the poet’s desire, she doesn’t necessarily exist for him. Rather, their existences coincide and from there create what the poet desires. Furthermore, the fact that the poet has left this woman and dream world behind indicates that he no longer seeks this idealized woman. Reality and the true, living women that come along with it are what he will have to seek from now on. As stated by Crale D. Hopkins, and as evidenced in poem # 26, Ferlinghetti deftly plays with and understands “[this] role of art in the question of illusion and reality” (Hopkins, 66).

Multiple other depictions of the Feminine occur within Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s poetry, specifically within the pages of A Coney Island of the Mind, proving Ferlinghetti’s “sincere and sensitive cultural perceptions” (Hopkins, 74). Ferlinghetti’s specific perceptions of women and how they are perceived in society are evidenced as well. Additionally, Ferlinghetti preserves knowledge of art and culture, and though this mirrors in his writing, Ferlinghetti manages to assert his own view of it, and life. His specific views on Beauty and what the artist’s role is in depicting Beauty are made apparent through critical analysis of his poetry. Ferlinghetti proposes the honest striving for Beauty, and in the process leading the examined life. However, Ferlinghetti’s differing view on the subject from the great artists of the Italian Renaissance does not necessarily make either one incorrect. Ultimately, authenticity seems to be the message of Ferlinghetti and the artists of the Italian Renaissance. And authenticity is something that can only be defined by the present moment.

Works Cited

Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. A Coney Island of the Mind. New York: New Directions, 1958. Print.

Haughton, Neil. “Perceptions of Beauty in Renaissance Art.” Journal of Cosmetic

Dermatology 3.4 (2004): 229-233. MEDLINE. Web. 19 Mar. 2013.

Hopkins, Crale D. “The Poetry of Lawrence Ferlinghetti: A Reconsideration.” Italian

Americana 1.1 (1974): 59-76. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 19 Mar. 2013.