History of the Airplane by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

History Of the Airplane by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

And the Wright brothers said they thought they had invented

something that could make peace on earth

(if the wrong brothers didn’t get hold of it)

when their wonderful flying machine took off at Kitty Hawk

into the kingdom of birds but the parliament of birds was freaked out

by this man-made bird and fled to heaven

And then the famous Spirit of Saint Louis took off eastward and

flew across the Big Pond with Lindy at the controls in his leather

helmet and goggles hoping to sight the doves of peace but he did not

Even though he circled Versailles

And then the famous Yankee Clipper took off in the opposite

direction and flew across the terrific Pacific but the pacific doves

were frighted by this strange amphibious bird and hid in the orient sky

And then the famous Flying Fortress took off bristling with guns

and testosterone to make the world safe for peace and capitalism

but the birds of peace were nowhere to be found before or after Hiroshima

And so then clever men built bigger and faster flying machines and

these great man-made birds with jet plumage flew higher than any

real birds and seemed about to fly into the sun and melt their wings

and like Icarus crash to earth

And the Wright brothers were long forgotten in the high-flying

bombers that now began to visit their blessings on various Third

Worlds all the while claiming they were searching for doves of

peace

And they kept flying and flying until they flew right into the 21st

century and then one fine day a Third World struck back and

stormed the great planes and flew them straight into the beating

heart of Skyscraper America where there were no aviaries and no

parliaments of doves and in a blinding flash America became a part

of the scorched earth of the world

And a wind of ashes blows across the land

And for one long moment in eternity

There is chaos and despair

And buried loves and voices

Cries and whispers

Fill the air

Everywhere

History of the Airplane by Lawrence Ferlinghetti Analysis

The the poem talks about the Wright brothers and how they made the first successful airplane that started it all. The poem explains the evolution of the airplane. Airplanes were getting bigger, faster and began carrying guns and bombs. The poem talks about the Wright brothers wanting they're invention to bring peace to this earth but that things took a turn for the worst and lead the world to war and destruction. The poem has a serious mood and a certain sadness to it. The poem talks about the Wright brother's inventing a machine that can rise up into the sky and up into the heavens but then explains the tragic outcome of they're invention. The destruction and chaos that came with that invention. "And they kept flying and flying until they flew right into the 21st century and then one fine day a Third World struck back and stormed the great planes and flew them straight into the beating heart of Skyscraper America''. The disaster that killed the lives of many people in there own nation the reason Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote this poem.