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User Rating:
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7.6
/10
(68 votes)
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I met a genius on the train
today
about 6 years old,
he sat beside me
and as the train
ran down along the coast
we came to the ocean
and then he looked at me
and said,
it's not pretty.
Charles Bukowski
| Submitted Date |
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Monday, January 13, 2003 |
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Read poems about / on: ocean, today, running
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Comments about this poem (I Met A Genius
by
Charles Bukowski
) |
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Walter Durk (9/27/2007 7:56:00 PM)
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Here is the full text of the poem:
I met a genius on the train
today
about 6 years old,
as he sat beside me
and as the train
ran down along the coast
we came to the ocean
and then he looked at me
and said,
it's not pretty
it was the first time I'd
realized
that.
A brief analysis:
He was concerned with self-autonomy with regard to life and art, and the influence greater society plays in stripping the self of autonomy. Athough people are conditioned to 'see' in a certain way, that is not necessarily the way to 'see'.
As an example, we usually think of a pastoral scene as being beautiful, or nature as being good or beautiful. But we need to question this approach to thinking, question assumptions. Do we experience the world the way we are conditioned to, or do we view it with control over our own ideas, our own individual vision.
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Walter Durk (9/27/2007 7:07:00 PM)
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The ending is:
it was the first time I'd
realized
that.
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Derek R. Audette (9/16/2007 2:11:00 PM)
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Incredible! There is a universe of hidden, simple wisdom and truth in this poem of only ten lines - if you can see it.
Bukowski was such a master.
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Anna Davies (1/26/2005 1:37:00 PM)
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i dont know what it is. but i cant stop reading it. and sometimes it makes me sad. but i like it. it makes a lot of since.
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