Live Acts (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Charles Bernstein
- First Published: 1980
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Language or languages, Sex or sexuality, Authors or writers, Linguistics or linguists, Poetry or poets, Reading
The Poem
“Live Acts” is a twenty-line poem in free verse. The title suggests a sign on a marquee outside a strip joint, one that would read in full, “Live Sex Acts.” There is little in the poem, however, to bear out that legend; rather, the title resonates with the suggestions of something simulated—either the act itself or the passion of those engaged in it, as in a staged sex show. This resonance is often encountered in Charles Bernstein’s poetry, in which the poet examines the question of sincerity and falseness in language and poetry.
Although the pronoun...
[The entire page is 1291 words long]
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