What is your interpretation of this poem?

Question

Don't let that horse


Don't let that horse
eat that violin
cried Chagall's mother

But he
kept right on
painting

And became famous

And kept on painting
The Horse With Violin In Mouth
And when he finally finished it
he jumped up upon the horse
and rode away
waving the violin

And then with a low bow gave it
to the first naked nude he ran across

And there were no strings
attached


By Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Don't let others prevent you from moving forward, and if you continue to keep moving forward, you have the comfort of being responsible for it, rather than knowing it was because of someone else.

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Asker's Comment:

Thanks!!

Answer 2

What the heck my interpretation is some one must have caught in the act while being in the middle of a murder that's my first interpretation

Answer 3

It's one of those flights of fancy for which Ferlinghetti was famous. Sounds like something from his "A Coney Island of The Mind." I'd say it's more or less surrealistic, like the paintings of Salvador Dali.

It could be he means Chagall did right in going ahead with his painting -with what he really wanted to do- in spite of his mother's fears and warnings ... and that, as a result of his persistence, everything turned out happily for him ... & so, perhaps, by implication, we too, like Chagall, would do best to pursue our own goals, in spite of the fears or warnings of others. Ferlinghetti didn't necessarily mean that, but it lends itself to that interpretation.

Source(s):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Fe…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=…