Dog (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Lawrence Ferlinghetti
- First Published: 1958
- Type of Work: Satire
- Genres: Satire, Poetry
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Dogs, California, West, U.S., Politicians, San Francisco, Pacific Northwest, Animals, Insects, Smell, Odors
The Poem
“Dog” is composed in free verse, a style that can preserve the blunt effect of common speech. Without either “a” or “the” preceding it, the word “dog” has a linguistically rudimentary quality that is in keeping with the poem’s subject. “Dog” also spells “god” backward and thus anticipates one of the central concerns of the poem.
The poem begins with the dog of its title demonstrating that the canine is the measure of all things in its world. The first eighteen lines catalog the drunks, moons, fish, ants, and chickens that are the large...
[The entire page is 1684 words long]
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