Speak Out

Essay text:

In this poem, however, "Speak Out!" by famous Beat Poet and painter, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, composed in March of 2003, Ferlinghetti is choosing to send his message in a very direct manner. His images cast indirect blame, but listen to whom he is really speaking to. SPEAK OUT! By Lawrence Ferlinghetti And a vast paranoia sweeps across the land 1 And America turns the attack on its Twin Towers 2 Into the beginning of the Third World War 3 The war with the Third World 4 And the terrorists in Washington 5 Are shipping out the young men 6 To the killing fields again 7 And no one speaks 8 And they are rousting out 9 All the ones with turbans 10 And they are flushing out 11 All the strange immigrants 12 And they are shipping all the young men 13 To the killing fields again 14 And no one speaks 15 And when they come to round up 16 All the great writers and poets and painters 17 The National Endowment of the Arts of Complacency 18 Will not speak 19 While all the young men 20 Will be killing all the young men 21 In the killing fields again 22 So now is the time for you to speak 23 All you lovers of liberty 24 All you lovers of the pursuit of happiness 25 All you lovers and sleepers 26 Deep in your private dream 27 Now is the time for you to speak 28 O silent majority 29 Before they come for you! 30 Purpose: Being 85 yrs old and having served in WW II as a ship's commander, Lawrence Ferlinghetti has experienced war first hand and as a result of expressing his opinions through poetry he became known as a poet in the beat generation ? "beats were the anarchists in a time of general post-war conformism"...