Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes

Poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

"Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes" is a poem by American poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.[1] Up until 2010, the poem was studied by English school children as part of the GCSE AQA Anthology.

Description

The poem describes four people stuck at traffic lights in downtown San Francisco - two are garbage collectors and two are an elegant couple in a Mercedes. The poem is about the contrast between these people and the gap that is developing between the rich and poor even in the USA which is meant to be a 'democracy'.[1][2] The description of the couple as "Beautiful People" is perhaps ironic as the term was first used to describe those had held countercultural ideals during the 1960s.[2] The poem questions whether America can be called a Russian scam given the disparities in wealth between those, rich and poor.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Web Archive - GCSE Bitesize - Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Two Scavengers in a Truck". BBC. Archived from the original on 2010-10-31. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  2. ^ a b c Andrew Moore. "Different Cultures-AQA Anthology for GCSE". Teachit.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  • Web archive - BBC Bitesize page
  • Web Archive - A Slideshow of the poem (Flash must be enabled)
  • v
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AQA Anthology (2004)
Poems from
Other Cultures
Cluster 1
  • "Limbo" by Edward Kamau Brathwaite
  • "Nothing's Changed" by Tatamkhulu Afrika
  • "Island Man" by Grace Nichols
  • "Blessing" by Imtiaz Dharker
  • "Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
  • "Night of the Scorpion" by Nissim Ezekiel
  • "Vultures" by Chinua Achebe
  • "What Were They Like?" by Denise Levertov
Cluster 2
Seamus Heaney
Gillian Clarke
Carol Ann Duffy
Simon Armitage
  • "Mother, any distance greater than a single span"
  • "My father thought it..."
  • "Homecoming"
  • "November"
  • "Kid"
  • "Those bastards in their mansions"
  • "I've made out a will; I'm leaving myself"
  • "Hitcher"
Pre-1914
Prose