awakening is no doubt evidence of a spirit world
and a process of shamanic awakening in McClure’s
poetry. To Shaman dreams were important
gradients in the interpretation and transduction of
meaning and information. In “Premonition for
Theodore Roethke” McClure tells us that “My
bones ascend by arsenics of light”. Here we see
McClure being transported to a spirit world once
again, in an experience of apparent ecstasy that is
no doubt shamanic, possibly peyote induced.
VI
Influenced by the French Symbolist poets,
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, translated Jacques Prevert
and Passolini throughout his illustrious career,
summating a body of work that crosses many
genre boundaries. His poetry appears like a
montage, a dream-like veneer over something
more vital, which remains hidden. Ferlinghetti is
very conscious of his position and his
responsibility. As he says himself “We have to
raise the consciousness” (Reisman, 2012). This was
done throughout his career mainly through
activism, from picketing for united farm workers
to anti-nuclear protests to advocating against
whaling. Ferlinghetti is significant as a "leader of
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