Poetry #1

1. From what poem/author does this commercial borrow (without credit)?
The 2011 Levi's commercial titled "Go Forth" utilizes the poem "The Laughing Heart" written by Charles Bukowski.

2. Why might the use of this poem by a corporation be considered ironic?
The use of the poem can be considered ironic for multiple reasons. For example line one and two of the poem read, "your life is your life/ don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission...", and being that the commercial is trying to convince people to submit and buy their product, the Levi's brand is simply ignoring the poem it is trying so hard to utilize.

3. Does the poem reflect the reputation of the author? Why/why not?
I do feel that "The Laughing Heart" is an accurate representation of Charles Bukowski's reputation as a poet. Charles Bukowski was considered a "hard-lived" poet who accurately represented the lack of hope in urban life and the downtrodden and defeated working class in American society, and although this poem represents hope and possibilities it still contains the gritty and realistic style that Bukowski was famous for.

4.How did you find the answers to #1 & #3? Describe your research process and your sources in detail.
My first attempt at trying to discover the title and author of the poem was an epic fail. At first I tried to listen to the audio in the commercial itself and after searching for the poem I thought it was titled "Go Forth", but that turned out to be poetry by Walt Whitman. Thankfully I searched a second line in attempt to verify my results and instead found the correct poem which turned out to be "The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski.

Then trying to discover Bukowski's reputation as a poet I read a few samples of his poetry and read an article on him from the site Poetry Foundation, which described his poetic style in great detail.

Sources Utilized:
The Poetry Foundation
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/charles-bukowski

Just Poetry BlogSpot
http://milan-poetry.blogspot.com/2007/03/laughing-heart-charles-bukowski.html