Lawrence Ferlinghetti, After the Cries of the Birds

Gina Wisker (University of Brighton)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1967

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

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One of the themes to which Lawrence Ferlinghetti has often returned is the idea that there is a real America still to be discovered. This becomes the subject of a later poem, “After the Cries of the Birds”. Ferlinghetti's poetry derives from the way in which his honesty and creativity mix with his responses to actuality, be it life in San Francisco, social inequality or oppression, politics or travel. In July 1966 Ferlinghetti, who was already much travelled in the external world, took an internal journey by taking LSD for the first time. There might well be a relationship between this event and “After The Cries Of The Birds”. It is plain enough that the poem is a response to both interior and external voyages and discoveries.

The poem was published in December 1966 in both The

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675 words

Citation: Wisker, Gina. "After the Cries of the Birds". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6818, accessed 04 May 2024.]

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