Don't Let the Horse by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Don't let that horse by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Don't let that horse
eat that violin

cried Chagall's mother

But he
kept right on
painting

And became famous

And kept on painting
The Horse With Violin In Mouth

And when he finally finished it
he jumped up upon the horse
and rode away
waving the violin

And then with a low bow gave it
to the first naked nude he ran across

And there were no strings
attached

Don't let that horse by Lawrence Ferlinghetti Analysis

This piece by Lawrence Ferlinghetti nicely plays on the idea of the real and imagined by letting the painter not only create but also ride off literally on the object of his creation. The presence of the mother sounds like the restrain the painter he’s received as to exploring his imagination. I like the “naked nude” because of it points to the blur between a pornographic which I like to think of excessive nudity versus simple or normal nudity (This is a whole other topic for another day) but that compound of “naked nude” is enough to spill more ink because his claim for the absence of strings attached when a fully clothed person offers something to a not clothed person is absurd. Even divine Grace in its unfathomable depth still asks to inhabit the heart completely.
The stair formation and the lack of punctuation makes this poem free falling into a meaningless abyss where the real and the imagined can’t be separated.