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Jonathan Dayton High School

Poem of Rebirth Essay

Lana Turner has Collapsed

Ava Fidalgo

Honors Western Civ. Pd. 3

Mr. Balletto

21 December 2020
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1 Lana Turner had collapsed!

2 I was trotting along and suddenly

3 It started raining and snowing

4 And you said it was hailing

5 But hailing hit you on the head

6 Hard so it was really snowing and

7 Raining and I was in such a hurry

8 To meet you but the traffic

9 Was acting exactly like the sky

10 And suddenly I see a headline

11 LANA TURNER HAS COLLAPSED!

12 There is no snow in Hollywood

13 There is no rain in California

14 I have been to lots of parties

15 And acted perfectly disgraceful

16 But I never actually collapsed

17 Oh, Lana Turner we love you get up

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Ava Fidalgo

Mr. Balletto

Honors Western Civilization

21 December 2020

Poem of Rebirth Essay

Poetry is used to express ideas and opinions about any subject or time period. In the

poem Lana Turner had Collapsed, by Frank O’Hara, the lines of the poem made a connection to

certain parts of the Italian Renaissance and reformation. By interpreting the words into things

that happened hundreds of years ago, a connection can be made between a piece of poetry and a

time in history. During the reformation, religion began to change and people were confused on

why all of this change was happening. In Lana Turner had Collapsed, the poet describes an old

actress who has somehow collapsed. In doing that the poet also begins to describe the weather,

which is more than what it seems. Taking simple terms and phrases and interpreting them to be

compared to a different subject is how the poem and the reformation were compared.

In line one of the poem, a comparison can be made between the word “collapsed” and the

phrase of the church beginning to be taken apart. When the rebirth began, churches and religious

officials were losing control over their followers. People started to realize that not only were

there other religions other than Christianity that they could follow, but that the problems they had

with their religion were valid. In lines two and three of the poem, everything started off small,

“trotting and suddenly it started raining and snowing”. Martin Luther’s 95 theses started off as a

document nailed onto a church door then ‘suddenly’ everything changed. His theses focused on

the imperfections of the church, specifically indulgences in which a grant is given by a religious

official for the remission of the temporal punishment in purgatory. Many followers of
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Christianity switched to follow other religions and some people even created their own. New

religions formed and the questionable actions of the church were being addressed and soon

corrected.

Line four of the poem states, “And you said it was hailing”, which is turned into an

analogy for other beginning to follow in Martin Luther’s footsteps and questioning their religion.

Lines five and six correlate with this by stating, “But hailing hits you on the head hard so it was

really snowing and”. Those who supported Christianity did not like their religion being

questioned. Similarly, monarchs also did not like their people separating from the Christian

Church and its teachings. Things commenced slowly, but as this movement progressed, like from

rain and snow to hail, high officials panicked. They did not know what to do or why so many

people were leaving the church that most people had supported for so long.

As the poem progresses, so does the ‘rebirth’. Lines seven and eight begin to show how

more and more people were questioning their beliefs and some rulers even started their own

religions. As rulers and higher officials were creating their new religions, they were gaining

followers, and quickly. Time almost seemed to slow down because even though everyone’s eyes

were opening up to modern ideas, they were also contemplating all that was going on. Line nine

and ten state, “Was acting exactly like the sky and suddenly I see a headline”. This is similar to

how Martin Luther opened the eyes of many people. Furthermore, Martin Luther started his own

religion that he called Lutheranism. Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism,

the denomination of Christianity, that followed the teachings of Martin Luther. Martin Luther’s

efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church that originally launched what is

Protestantism. Martin Luther started the reformation and by starting his own religion, he paved
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the way for others to do the same. Now, people were creating their own religion, following new

religions, and beginning to fight for their religious freedom.

In line eleven of the poem, the word phrase is capitalized. When writing is capitalized, it

is emphasized to show importance. Moreover, the phrase, “Lana Turner has collapsed” is

repeated in this line. Repetition in writing is used to help emphasize a point and make a speech

easier to follow. The importance of this line can be compared to the introduction of Calvinism

and Protestantism. Many rulers realized that large changes were happening and that they must

adapt to them. When John Calvin and others who were creating their own religions, important

changes were happening that would impact history. The word collapsed, in this context means,

“(of a person), having fallen down and become unconscious”. Collapsing can be used to describe

the downfall of the Christian religion supremacy and of rulers having all of their subjects

following the same religion. When the author of the poem states that Lana has collapsed, one can

infer that by comparing this statement to the reformation would mean that through people

creating new religions, the overpowering Christian religion can no longer control its followers.

In lines twelve and thirteen, the author writes, “There is no snow in Hollywood, there is

no rain in California”. This can be translated to be interpreted as the Christian religion followers

who were overwhelmed with the sudden changes of the people all around them choosing new

religions to believe in. Those who had supported Christianity were overwhelmed because they

were unsure on whether or not to continue following Christianity, or change their beliefs to a

different religion, even if they wanted to support a religion at all. In lines fourteen and fifteen, a

comparison can be made to show that during the reformation, come people stuck with their

religion despite their concerns. They now realize that they could change what they believed in

even if they had supported the same religion for their entire lives prior to the creation of new
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religions. People also began to realize that now religion was best and the people were being

sucked into thinking that everything their religious rulers and what their monarchs said and did

was not justified. Simple because a monarch was considered to be an all controlling ruler, their

subjects had the right to choose what religion they would like to follow. The words the author

uses, such as, “I have been to lots of parties”, is compared to the way that people, for generations

before, have followed and supported the same religion. By writing, “and acted perfectly

disgraceful”, show how despite following a certain religion, one religion and its’ religious

officials will never be ‘perfect’.

Line sixteen of the poem represents how no religion ‘collapsed’, necessarily, but people

continued to follow new religions and discover the problems in their own religion. Although

Christianity did not collapse and cause its’ followers to change their beliefs, some people did so

anyway. As new religions were formed, those who followed the same the religion their entire

lives decided they wanted to choose their own religion to follow. The final line of the poem, line

seventeen states, “Oh, Lana Turner we love you get up”. The theme of loving someone for

making an impact on you and possibly others show the strength and power one person can have.

By comparing the idea of loving someone that you hope they are okay, the inference made is that

the people who lived and were impacted during the reformation owe the drastic changes being

made to Martin Luther. The people, whose lives were changed in a positive way, so to speak,

loved Martin Luther for what he had done for them. The people who were grateful for Martin

Luther were grateful for the fact that he started a revolution and changed people’s perspective on

religion and their right to choose what they want to believe in.

To conclude, the poem Lana Turner had Collapsed, is a great representation of what

happened during the reformation. By comparing words and phrases to things that happened
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during the reformation, a person can infer that writing and times in history, even if they are not

alike, can be compared. The reformation was a largely impactful time in history in which

religion was one of the more important topics. Taking a poem and translating it to compare it to a

time in history is how the poem Lana Turner has Collapsed, is compared to the reformation.