Poetry & Advertising
In the Aesthetic Realism class I am reporting on, conducted by Class Chairman Ellen Reiss, we had the great privilege and pleasure of hearing a tape recorded lecture Eli Siegel gave on August 23, 1967, entitled, “Poems Have Been Found in Advertisements.”
In this class we were learning from Eli Siegel why it is so important for the life of every person to know what true poetry is. Poetry he explained, has the structure of reality, the opposites, in a true and beautiful relation, and therefore, in order for us to have good and happy lives, we have to learn how to put these same opposites together in ourselves, and poetry can teach us how to do and efficient and beautiful job.
Mr. Siegel began the lecture by saying, “I am always looking for a chance to find something current that will take one to the beginning questions of poetry.” In this great and surprising lecture, Eli Siegel showed that true poetry could be found in one of the most unexpected places: advertisements. As a person who has worked in advertising for many years, I am very grateful to be seeing this field in a new way, to see meaning in it I hadn’t seen before.
“Poets,” Mr. Siegel said, “have been called two things: finders and makers,” and he explained, “The feeling still is that a poet is visited by something; he’s inspired, it could be from himself or it could be from the spirit of God. The question that has been at the beginning of poetry,” he continued, “is what is the relation of finding and making or creating?” And he noted, “A big thing happened in the field of art with photography, which is still the most found art. But with all the finding,” he continued, “the most important thing to see is that value is still what it is.”
He then looked at an article on the subject of found poems from the New York Times of August 17, 1967. The author, Harry Gilroy, writes: “The searcher of a found poem keeps an alert eye on billboards, newspapers and magazines for an unpremeditated bit of poetry appearing in a prose text.”
“This article,” Mr. Siegel said, “is useful,” but “the large thing lacking in it is that the found poems, like poems that are created, aren‘t seen critically enough.” One found poem given in the article comes from a sign on the Avenue of the Americas:
Next he presented instances of poetry in ads he had looked for and found especially for this lecture, in newspapers and magazines of the time. The first was in an advertisement in the Daily News, about ear piercing. “This,” he said, “is a masterpiece. It has a madness, a thoroughness, a quality of American history, and it is poetic. Poetry has energy and expansiveness, also definition and precision.” And he put this ad into line structure:
Next, a found poem by Mark Twain, which Mr. Siegel said, “is part of American literature.” This was based on a trolley car transfer slip that Mark Twain had seen which affected him so much he wrote an essay about it. “He couldn’t get this transfer slip out of his mind,” Mr. Siegel said and he read the found poem:
Continuing, we heard advertisements of many kinds—from Wehman’s American National Songs of 1891; a book review by Norman Mailer printed in an ad in the Paris Review; a 1961 ad from the London Times Literary Supplement about a book for children. And current advertisements in the real estate and help wanted section of the newspaper. Each illustrated what Mr. Siegel said at the beginning of the lecture, “With all the finding, the most important thing to see is that value is still what it is,” and “that while advertisements that are seen as poetic can be anywhere, if one thinks you are going to see them often, you are fooling yourself. It is not so.”
He said about an advertisement for a public auction of the estate of the wife of Matthew Woll, the assistant to Samuel Gompers of the AFL-CIO, “There is a mingling of the labor movement and place that makes for historic and universal charm in this. It is like the basis of most good photographs—the world itself will arrange itself charmingly.” And he put the advertisement into lines:
In the discussion at the conclusion of the lecture, someone asked about the relation of form and substance in found poetry and whether in a found poem, it was the substance that made it poetic. Ellen Reiss explained that form and substance complete each other. She said: “Like any opposites, if they are not one, you don’t have art. In any instance of art, one opposite can seem to predominate, but we have the drama of both.”
I had seen advertising as standing for the commercial and even the cutthroat—something whose purpose was inevitably to deceive and manipulate people. This class showed me something new, and I’m very grateful.
“Advertising, “ Mr. Siegel said, “was an attempt in words to make something more desirable and sellable.” And he continued, “The relation of commerce, poetry, and art is a very big thing. Toulouse Lautrec was hired to have people come to dance halls. The posters remain while the dance halls are forgotten.”
This lecture is a part of the evidence that Mr. Siegel gave that all reality has a structure, the oneness of opposites, and this is the only true basis for the world honestly to be liked. Eli Siegel was true to reality all his life. In this class, through how he showed how poetry could be found in advertising, we were learning that much more meaning can be found in things than we had thought.
Mr. Siegel concluded the lecture, “As soon as art takes things from the street, the idea of being fair to a notion of value and beauty should be just as strong as ever. Chance is just as discriminating as Homer.” I want all persons to have the great good fortune I have—to learn that which will enable them to have lives they like.
In this class we were learning from Eli Siegel why it is so important for the life of every person to know what true poetry is. Poetry he explained, has the structure of reality, the opposites, in a true and beautiful relation, and therefore, in order for us to have good and happy lives, we have to learn how to put these same opposites together in ourselves, and poetry can teach us how to do and efficient and beautiful job.
Mr. Siegel began the lecture by saying, “I am always looking for a chance to find something current that will take one to the beginning questions of poetry.” In this great and surprising lecture, Eli Siegel showed that true poetry could be found in one of the most unexpected places: advertisements. As a person who has worked in advertising for many years, I am very grateful to be seeing this field in a new way, to see meaning in it I hadn’t seen before.
“Poets,” Mr. Siegel said, “have been called two things: finders and makers,” and he explained, “The feeling still is that a poet is visited by something; he’s inspired, it could be from himself or it could be from the spirit of God. The question that has been at the beginning of poetry,” he continued, “is what is the relation of finding and making or creating?” And he noted, “A big thing happened in the field of art with photography, which is still the most found art. But with all the finding,” he continued, “the most important thing to see is that value is still what it is.”
He then looked at an article on the subject of found poems from the New York Times of August 17, 1967. The author, Harry Gilroy, writes: “The searcher of a found poem keeps an alert eye on billboards, newspapers and magazines for an unpremeditated bit of poetry appearing in a prose text.”
“This article,” Mr. Siegel said, “is useful,” but “the large thing lacking in it is that the found poems, like poems that are created, aren‘t seen critically enough.” One found poem given in the article comes from a sign on the Avenue of the Americas:
Wedding gowns“This is taking, ”Mr. Siegel explained, because of the paradox in it. “Whether is has enough poetry” he said, “is a question. It is the quality of what you find that is still the big thing.”
For all occasions
Next he presented instances of poetry in ads he had looked for and found especially for this lecture, in newspapers and magazines of the time. The first was in an advertisement in the Daily News, about ear piercing. “This,” he said, “is a masterpiece. It has a madness, a thoroughness, a quality of American history, and it is poetic. Poetry has energy and expansiveness, also definition and precision.” And he put this ad into line structure:
To tell the Truth,“For the moment,” said Mr. Siegel, “piercing one’s ears becomes the greatest thing in America.” It thrilled me to see how in an ad about something that could seem so primitive, non-elegant, non-poetic, Mr. Siegel saw the opposites of large and small, energy and precision, intensity and calm—“piercings” that are “painless.”
It’s the rage!
HAD YOUR EARS
PIERCED YET?
Expertly…Painlessly
FREE!
By Sol J. Kahn
America’s Original and
Foremost Ear-Piercer
This is
Our Only Store—
No connection
Or Relation with
Any Other Stores!
Publicized Since 1947 in Major
Newspapers and Magazines
Over 40 years,
Of ‘know-how”
__more than
400,000
painless
piercings
to Date
(ages 2 weeks to 86 years)
Including
Stars of
Stage,
Screen & TV
(names on request)
Next, a found poem by Mark Twain, which Mr. Siegel said, “is part of American literature.” This was based on a trolley car transfer slip that Mark Twain had seen which affected him so much he wrote an essay about it. “He couldn’t get this transfer slip out of his mind,” Mr. Siegel said and he read the found poem:
Conductor, when you receive a fare,Another ad, about Heinz 57 Varieties, Mr. Siegel said was deeply poetic because of its substance. “Vinegars,” he explained, “Like perfumes, are mysterious, “ and he read these lines which he said, “have the mystery of taste and smell in them.”
Punch in the presence of the passenjare
A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare,
A buff trip slip for a six-cent fare.
A pink trip slip for a three-cent fare,
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!
…Expert chefs have for‘There’s quality here,” said Mr. Siegel. “The purpose of advertising is to make it seem that if you fail to get this product, you have sinned before the Lord. One can have an emotion from this reality vinegar, put forth in this commercial view.”
years been insisting on Heinz Vinegars, realizing that the
aroma, purity and flavor of these vinegars were the secret
behind many of their most tasty dishes. Now that they are
packed in
bottles, everyone can make sure of the genuine.
Continuing, we heard advertisements of many kinds—from Wehman’s American National Songs of 1891; a book review by Norman Mailer printed in an ad in the Paris Review; a 1961 ad from the London Times Literary Supplement about a book for children. And current advertisements in the real estate and help wanted section of the newspaper. Each illustrated what Mr. Siegel said at the beginning of the lecture, “With all the finding, the most important thing to see is that value is still what it is,” and “that while advertisements that are seen as poetic can be anywhere, if one thinks you are going to see them often, you are fooling yourself. It is not so.”
He said about an advertisement for a public auction of the estate of the wife of Matthew Woll, the assistant to Samuel Gompers of the AFL-CIO, “There is a mingling of the labor movement and place that makes for historic and universal charm in this. It is like the basis of most good photographs—the world itself will arrange itself charmingly.” And he put the advertisement into lines:
Held on the Premises—Estate of the Late“This advertisement,” said Mr. Siegel, presents the world as it is, something which is old fashioned as anything and perky as the next successful magazine.” Earlier in the class, he said that the matter of found and created in poetry has very much to do with the oldest pair of opposites: substance and form. Substance is what the world itself is, and form is how the world shows itself. It was these opposites that Mr. Siegel was pointing to as he read an ad which he said was “one of the most romantic ever.”
Mrs. Matthew Woll (Celeonor Dugas)
520 East Saddle River Road
Friday & Saturday – August 25th
&26th – 10 AM each day
Friday: China, incl. sets of old Paris and
Meissen, etc., Blown, Cut, Waterford
Tiffany & Latique Glass, Sterling Silver…
Signed letters by Roosevelt, Truman, Gompers,
Smith. Outside Statuary, Benches
Urns, Figures, Fountains, etc. …
Cadillac Coupe de Ville 2,511 mi.
1951 Cadillac 4-door Sedan 58,000 mi.
Cameras and Equipment
REWARD—Lost manuscript, $100“Occasionally,” Mr. Siegel commented, “the language of an advertisement is unusual. The substance here is that thing that makes for poetry.”
Reward for hand-written manu-
script on 17th Century India, in
orange Tweed suitcase at Mohawk
Sect. of La Guardia Airport.
PL 2-1975
In the discussion at the conclusion of the lecture, someone asked about the relation of form and substance in found poetry and whether in a found poem, it was the substance that made it poetic. Ellen Reiss explained that form and substance complete each other. She said: “Like any opposites, if they are not one, you don’t have art. In any instance of art, one opposite can seem to predominate, but we have the drama of both.”
I had seen advertising as standing for the commercial and even the cutthroat—something whose purpose was inevitably to deceive and manipulate people. This class showed me something new, and I’m very grateful.
“Advertising, “ Mr. Siegel said, “was an attempt in words to make something more desirable and sellable.” And he continued, “The relation of commerce, poetry, and art is a very big thing. Toulouse Lautrec was hired to have people come to dance halls. The posters remain while the dance halls are forgotten.”
This lecture is a part of the evidence that Mr. Siegel gave that all reality has a structure, the oneness of opposites, and this is the only true basis for the world honestly to be liked. Eli Siegel was true to reality all his life. In this class, through how he showed how poetry could be found in advertising, we were learning that much more meaning can be found in things than we had thought.
Mr. Siegel concluded the lecture, “As soon as art takes things from the street, the idea of being fair to a notion of value and beauty should be just as strong as ever. Chance is just as discriminating as Homer.” I want all persons to have the great good fortune I have—to learn that which will enable them to have lives they like.
© 2005 Harvey Spears
posted by Spartan | 10:27 PM
