Lunch Poems
Encyclopedia
Lunch Poems is a book of poetry by Frank O'Hara
published in 1964 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
’s City Lights
, number 19 in their Pocket Poets series. The collection was commissioned by Ferlinghetti as early as 1959, but O'Hara delayed in completing it. Ferlighetti would badger O'Hara with questions like, "How about lunch? I'm hungry." "Cooking," O'Hara would reply. O'Hara enlisted the help of Donald Allen
who had published O'Hara's poems in New American Poetry in 1960. Allen says in his introduction to The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara, “Between 1960 and 1964 O’Hara and I worked intermittently at compiling Lunch Poems, which in the end became a selection of work dating from 1953 to 1964.”
The poems in this collection contain O'Hara's characteristically breezy tone, containing spontaneous reactions to things happening in the moment. Many of them appear to have been written on O’Hara’s lunch hour. The poems contain numerous references to pop culture and literary figures, New York
locations, and O’Hara’s friends. One common theme is a desire for personal connection, whether the one on one connection of two friends or two lovers or a broader connection to strangers, in the face of tragedy, for example. The following are examples of this:
“A Step Away From Them” begins, “It’s my lunch hour, so I go/for a walk among the hum-colored/cabs.” He references Edwin Denby
, Federico Fellini
, The Armory Show, and Pierre Reverdy
, and New York locations like Juliet’s Corner and the Manhattan Storage Warehouse. He talks about his friends Jackson Pollock
, John Latouche, and Bunny Lang who have died and says, “Is the earth as full as life was full, of them?”
“The Day Lady Died” begins, “It is 12:20 in New York a Friday/three days after Bastille day, yes/it is 1959 and I go get a shoeshine.” In the poem, he references Paul Verlaine
, New World Writing, Brendan Behan
, Jean Genet
’s plays The Balcony
and The Blacks
and New York locations like the Golden Griffin and the Ziegfeld Theatre. At the end of the poem, he discovers that Billie Holiday
is dead and remembers having heard her sing, recalling that “she whispered a song along the keyboard...and everyone and I stopped breathing.”
“Personal Poem” begins, “Now when I walk around at lunchtime/I have only two charms in my pocket.” It is about O’Hara’s conversation with LeRoi Jones about Miles Davis
, Lionel Trilling
, Henry James
, and Herman Melville
. At the end, he says, “I wonder if one person out of 8,000,000 is thinking of me.”
Frank O'Hara
Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara was an American writer, poet and art critic. He was a member of the New York School of poetry.-Life:...
published in 1964 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...
’s City Lights
City Lights Bookstore
City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected titles related to San Francisco culture. It was founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence...
, number 19 in their Pocket Poets series. The collection was commissioned by Ferlinghetti as early as 1959, but O'Hara delayed in completing it. Ferlighetti would badger O'Hara with questions like, "How about lunch? I'm hungry." "Cooking," O'Hara would reply. O'Hara enlisted the help of Donald Allen
Donald Allen
Donald Merriam Allen , influential editor, publisher, and translator of contemporary American literature. He is perhaps best known for his project The New American Poetry 1945-1960 , among the several important anthologies of contemporary American innovative writing he made available to the public...
who had published O'Hara's poems in New American Poetry in 1960. Allen says in his introduction to The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara, “Between 1960 and 1964 O’Hara and I worked intermittently at compiling Lunch Poems, which in the end became a selection of work dating from 1953 to 1964.”
The poems in this collection contain O'Hara's characteristically breezy tone, containing spontaneous reactions to things happening in the moment. Many of them appear to have been written on O’Hara’s lunch hour. The poems contain numerous references to pop culture and literary figures, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
locations, and O’Hara’s friends. One common theme is a desire for personal connection, whether the one on one connection of two friends or two lovers or a broader connection to strangers, in the face of tragedy, for example. The following are examples of this:
“A Step Away From Them” begins, “It’s my lunch hour, so I go/for a walk among the hum-colored/cabs.” He references Edwin Denby
Edwin Denby
Edwin Denby may refer to:* Edwin Denby , U.S. poet, novelist, dance critic* Edwin Denby , U.S. politician, Secretary of Navy, noted in the Teapot Dome Scandal...
, Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
, The Armory Show, and Pierre Reverdy
Pierre Reverdy
Pierre Reverdy was a French poet associated with surrealism and cubism.Pierre Reverdy was born in Narbonne and grew up near the Montagne Noire in his father's house. Reverdy came from a family of sculptors. His father taught him to read and write. He studied at Toulouse and Narbonne.Reverdy...
, and New York locations like Juliet’s Corner and the Manhattan Storage Warehouse. He talks about his friends Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
, John Latouche, and Bunny Lang who have died and says, “Is the earth as full as life was full, of them?”
“The Day Lady Died” begins, “It is 12:20 in New York a Friday/three days after Bastille day, yes/it is 1959 and I go get a shoeshine.” In the poem, he references Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
, New World Writing, Brendan Behan
Brendan Behan
Brendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...
, Jean Genet
Jean Genet
Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
’s plays The Balcony
The Balcony
The Balcony is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. Since Peter Zadek directed its first production at the Arts Theatre Club in London in 1957, the play has attracted many of the greatest directors of the 20th century, including Peter Brook, Erwin Piscator, Roger Blin, Giorgio Strehler, and...
and The Blacks
The Blacks (play)
The Blacks: A Clown Show is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. Published in 1958, it was first performed in a production directed by Roger Blin at the Théatre de Lutèce in Paris, which opened on 28 October 1959....
and New York locations like the Golden Griffin and the Ziegfeld Theatre. At the end of the poem, he discovers that Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
is dead and remembers having heard her sing, recalling that “she whispered a song along the keyboard...and everyone and I stopped breathing.”
“Personal Poem” begins, “Now when I walk around at lunchtime/I have only two charms in my pocket.” It is about O’Hara’s conversation with LeRoi Jones about Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Lionel Trilling
Lionel Trilling
Lionel Trilling was an American literary critic, author, and teacher. With wife Diana Trilling, he was a member of the New York Intellectuals and contributor to the Partisan Review. Although he did not establish a school of literary criticism, he is one of the leading U.S...
, Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
, and Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
. At the end, he says, “I wonder if one person out of 8,000,000 is thinking of me.”