A Study Guide for Charles Bukowski's "The Tragedy of the Leaves"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Charles Bukowski's "The Tragedy of the Leaves," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Sep 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535840149

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08

The Tragedy of the Leaves

Charles Bukowski

1963

Introduction

The Tragedy of the Leaves is a narrative poem by Charles Bukowski, a German-American author who is noted for his heavily autobiographical stories of survival and his life as a heavy drinker existing on the fringes of society. His writing deals with raw emotion and harsh experiences, conveyed in simple, direct language and violent and sexual imagery. It is often set in the Skid Row areas of Los Angeles, the city that Bukowski called home for much of his life. The Tragedy of the Leaves first appeared in the collection It Catches My Heart in Its Hands: New and Selected Poems, 1955-1963 (1963). It is also available in Run With the Hunted: A Charles Bukowski Reader (1993), and is the first poem in the collection Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame (1983).

The Tragedy of the Leaves is reminiscent of Blues songs in that it describes a tragic and critical point in the life of the speaker, a probable alcoholic who is down on his luck. He wakes in a room surrounded by empty bottles: the potted plants are dead, his woman has left him, and his landlady is screaming for the rent, which is overdue. The poem is typical of Bukowski's work in that it explores the theme of lowlife existence through the persona of a downtrodden and marginalized individual.

Author Biography

The American poet, novelist, and short story writer Charles Bukowski was born Henry Charles Bukowski, Jr., in Andernach, Germany, on August 16, 1920. He was the only child of an American soldier (Henry Charles Bukowski, Sr.) and a German mother, Katherine Fett Bukowski. In 1922, the family immigrated to the United States, settling in the Los Angeles area around 1925, where Bukowski spent most of his life. The city was later to become an integral part of his writing. He grew up in working-class neighborhoods where other children ridiculed