The philosophically complex poem Dog, by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, describes the carefree, independent wandering of a curious yet serious inquisitor of life and meaning in an urban environment. Dog appears in a collection of seven “oral messages” conceived specifically for jazz accompaniment, rather than as poems written for the printed page. They all appeared, however, on the printed page of a book titled A Coney Island of the Mind (1958).
The Poet
For his vivid imagery and classical mythology references, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is one of my favorite poets. He played a crucial role of publisher through his City Lights Bookstore in the San Francisco literary “Beat” scene. He is better placed with the pre-beats like Gary Snyder, Kenneth Rexroth, and William Carlos Williams. That said, this poem and others in the collection embody core tenets of the Beat literary movement: individuality, rejection of societal norms and hierarchies, and an emphasis on authentic existence, curiosity, and direct experience.
The Poem
Dog’s meandering and observing through the streets of San Francisco—his flânerie, if you will—begs us to question our assumptions of reality. Ferlinghetti’s personification of the dog challenges us to question our biases and filtered sense of reality, constrained, as we are, by social rules and expectations.
Dog
The dog trots freely in the street
and sees reality
and the things he sees
are bigger than himself
and the things he sees
are his reality
Drunks in doorways
Moons on trees
The dog trots freely thru the street
and the things he sees
are smaller than himself
Fish on newsprint
Ants in holes
Chickens in Chinatown windows
their heads a block away
The dog trots freely in the street
and the things he smells
smell something like himself
The dog trots freely in the street
past puddles and babies
cats and cigars
poolrooms and policemen
He doesn’t hate cops
He merely has no use for them
and he goes past them
and past the dead cows hung up whole
in front of the San Francisco Meat Market
He would rather eat a tender cow
than a tough policeman
though either might do
And he goes past the Romeo Ravioli Factory
and past Coit’s Tower
and past Congressman Doyle
He’s afraid of Coit’s Tower
but he’s not afraid of Congressman Doyle
although what he hears is very discouraging
very depressing
very absurd
to a sad young dog like himself
to a serious dog like himself
But he has his own free world to live in
His own fleas to eat
He will not be muzzled
Congressman Doyle is just another
fire hydrant
to him
The dog trots freely in the street
and has his own dog’s life to live
and to think about
and to reflect upon
touching and tasting and testing everything
investigating everything
without benefit of perjury
a real realist
with a real tale to tell
and a real tail to tell it with
a real live
barking
democratic dog
engaged in real
free enterprise
with something to say
about ontology
something to say
about reality
and how to see it
and how to hear it
with his head cocked sideways
at streetcorners
as if he is just about to have
his picture taken
for Victor Records
listening for
His Master’s Voice
and looking
like a living questionmark
into the
great gramaphone
of puzzling existence
with its wondrous hollow horn
which always seems
just about to spout forth
some Victorious answer
to everything
Analysis
Dog starts as a naively curious and instinctual canine. But by exploring a series of images, following his eyes, nose, and ears through the city-scape, the dog becomes ever more human. In the end, Ferlinghetti’s dog is a sad and serious inquisitor of the reality of existence and the meaning of life. I profer Ferlinghetti’s dog transcends the role of a mere pet and becomes a perfect metaphor for our Flâneur Moderne et Inquiet.
The major themes of the poem include (1) a democratic spirit of freedom, independence, and individualism, (2) an unbiased, unfiltered perception of reality, and (3) an ongoing quest for meaning and the nature of existence. Now let’s go through Ferlinghetti’s eighty-four lines of free verse, beyond the surface imagery, allusions, similes, and metaphors, to find these deeper themes.
Democratic Spirit of Freedom, Independence, and Individualism
The poem begins, by introducing “dog” as a free and independent creature that “trots freely in the street.” This idea is reiterated in lines 9, 16, 19, and 47. This reiteration—repetition—effectively emphasizes the dog’s freedom. In lines 23 and 24 we first learn of the dog’s indifference to authority figures, in this case, a policeman. Later in lines 33 and 35, we learn this indifference extends to prominent political figures. Policemen he would eat if he had to (lines 29-30), but he considers the congressman no better (or more useful?) than a fire hydrant (lines 44-46).
Aside: Congressman Doyle
Clyde Gilman Doyle was elected as a Democrat to the 79th and 81st Congress as a representative of California’s 18th and 23rd districts. It was his service on the House Un-American Activities Committee that probably caused him to be herein not feared but compared to a fire hydrant. Ferlinghetti was a self-identified philosophical anarchist and espoused Scandanavian-style democratic socialism. The American government’s investigation of free speech it believed to be communist, socialist, or “un-American,” was the job of the HUAC. Ferlinghetti’s democratic dog would find this “discouraging,” “depressing,” and “absurd.”
Despite the “sad young dog[’s]” disillusionment from the news of Congressman Doyle, we see that he rejects control and censorship—“he will not be muzzled” (line 43). Line 39, “to a sad young dog like himself,” is a reference to Dylan Thomas’ Portrait of an Artist as a Young Dog, (that I have never read, so don’t ask me what that means).
So that there is nothing left to question, we are told the dog:
he has his own free world to live in (41)
and has his own dog’s life to live (48)
and to think about (49)
a real live/barking/democratic dog (57-59)
engaged in real/free enterprise (60-61)
Unfiltered, Unbiased, Non-judgemental Perception of Reality
Right up front, in lines 2, 5, and 6, we learn the dog “sees reality,” “and the things he sees are his reality.” Hinting at a sense of wonder, we are told he sees things that are “bigger than himself” (line 4). Furthermore, he is also curious about things that are “smaller than himself” and even things that are “something like himself” (line 18).
The dog is “serious” in his wanderings. He is both introspective about “his own dog’s life to live/and to think about/and to reflect upon,” and curious of the world “touching and tasting and testing everything/investigating everything/without benefit of perjury.”
Again, in line 54, we are told he is “a real realist.” Because of this realism, he has “something to say/about ontology/something to say about reality/and how to see it/and how to hear it.” It is here where the dog transitions from just experiencing with all five senses to philosophizing about reality.
Aside: Ontology
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, ‘ontology’ is “a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being” or “a particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds of things that have existence.”
Ontology is the branch of metaphysics that investigates the nature of existence, what all entities have in common, and how they are divided into basic categories of being.
Wikipedia.org
The term ‘ontology’ can also refer to a specific ontological theory within a discipline and can also mean a conceptual scheme or inventory of a particular domain. There are various schools of thought in ontology. Apropos to the poem is Realism. We have already learned that the dog is a “real realist.” Ontological Realism is the view that there are objective facts about what exists and what the nature and categories of being are.
An Ongoing Quest for Meaning and the Nature of Existence
After the reiteration of “The dog trots freely in the street” (line 47), the poem reaffirms the dog’s introspective and inquisitive nature—having “his own dog’s life to live/and to think about/and to reflect upon” (lines 48-50). The dog’s curiosity comes up again in lines 51-52 where he is “touching and tasting and testing everything/investigating everything,” and again “with his head cocked sideways/at street corners/as if he is just about to have/his picture taken” (lines 68-71).
The rhythm of the free verse gives you a sense of the meandering nature of the dog’s journey, enhanced perhaps by the wandering away from the flush margins in lines 58-59, 61, 63, 65-67, 69, and 71-84. It’s in this section that the rhythm and pace seem to rush us towards a final point.
What is the point to which the dog, and the reader therewith, is headed? We’ve already mentioned ontology—that branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature of existence. In lines 73-74 dog is “listening for/His Master’s Voice/and looking/like a living questionmark/into the/great gramophone/of puzzling existence.”
Finally, in lines 80-84, the gramophone as a metaphor “with its wondrous hollow horn/which always seems/just about to spout forth/some Victorious answer/to everything.” Are we disappointed at the lack of an answer? Not if we understand the journey is the meaning, not the destination.
Dog as Flâneur?
By now this shouldn’t be too hard to imagine. First, dog seems to be heartily engaged in what Honré de Balzac called “gastronomy of the eye.”
Fish in newsprint
Ants in holes
Chickens in Chinatown windows
their heads a block away
…
and past the dead cows hung up whole
in front of the San Francisco Meat Market
He would rather eat a tender cow
than a tough policeman
though either might do
…past the Romeo Ravioli Factory
This matches Charles Baudelaire’s “passionate spectator” who he described as an avid observer and connoisseur of the urban experience, able to find beauty in life’s transient, fugacious aspects.
Drunks in doorways
Moons on trees [lamp posts, I think]
…
past puddles and babies
cats and cigars
poolrooms and policemen
…
touching and tasting and testing everything
investigating everything
without benefit of perjury
Walter Benjamin describes the flâneur as an amateur detective and investigator—navigating the city with a detached yet observant demeanor—witnessing the ebb and flow of city life without direct engagement or influence.
he’s not afraid of Congressman Doyle
although what he hears is very discouraging
very depressing
very absurd
to a sad young dog like himself
to a serious dog like himself
Constellation of Flâneur Characteristics
Let’s match Dog to the characteristics of a Flâneur Moderne et Inquiet.
Flâneurs are peripetetic wanderers
The dog trots freely in the street
…
The dog trots freely thru the street
Flâneurs are observers
and sees reality
and the things he sees
are bigger than himself
and the things he sees
are his reality
…
and the things he sees
are smaller than himself
…
and the things he smells
smell something like himself
Flâneurs are documentarians
with a real tale to tell
and a real tail to tell it with
…
with something to say
about ontology
something to say
about reality
and how to see it
and how to hear it
Flâneurs are experimenters
touching and tasting and testing everything
investigating everything
without benefit of perjury
Flâneurs focus on the present
But he has his own free world to live in
His own fleas to eat
…
and has his own dog’s life to live
Flâneurs seek meaning
and to think about
and to reflect upon
…
listening for
His Master’s Voice
and looking
like a living questionmark
into the
great gramophone
of puzzling existence
with its wondrous hollow horn
which always seems
just about to spout forth
some Victorious answer
to everything
That’s all I have to say about that.
Check out this video to hear Ferlinghetti reciting Dog as he meant it to be done with a jazz accompaniment.
