“Steps” by Frank O’Hara: A Critical Analysis

Introduction: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

“Steps” by Frank O’Hara first appeared in 1964 in the collection Lunch Poems, compressing a single exuberant New York morning into a rapid series of vivid urban vignettes—pop-culture name-drops (“like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime,” “where’s Lana Turner”), tender domestic scenes (the vacated apartment “by a gay couple”), small civic details (the Seagram Building, the delicatessen), and intimate confession (“and love you so much”)—that together register a celebration of city life, immediacy, and erotic companionship. O’Hara’s conversational free verse, spare punctuation, and jump-cut images create a spontaneous, “in-the-moment” tone that makes ordinary sights feel cinematic and culturally saturated, which critics and readers have long praised as a signature of Lunch Poems and a key reason for the poem’s popularity. Because it both names and enacts the pleasures of urban attention—“we’re alive,” the poem insists—it functions as an accessible manifesto of the New York School’s convivial, everyday modernism and continues to attract readers for its cheer, intimacy, and pop sensibility.

Text: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

How funny you are today New York
like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime
and St. Bridget’s steeple leaning a little to the left

here I have just jumped out of a bed full of V-days
(I got tired of D-days) and blue you there still
accepts me foolish and free
all I want is a room up there
and you in it
and even the traffic halt so thick is a way
for people to rub up against each other
and when their surgical appliances lock
they stay together
for the rest of the day (what a day)
I go by to check a slide and I say
that painting’s not so blue

where’s Lana Turner
she’s out eating
and Garbo’s backstage at the Met
everyone’s taking their coat off
so they can show a rib-cage to the rib-watchers
and the park’s full of dancers with their tights and shoes
in little bags
who are often mistaken for worker-outers at the West Side Y
why not
the Pittsburgh Pirates shout because they won
and in a sense we’re all winning
we’re alive

the apartment was vacated by a gay couple
who moved to the country for fun
they moved a day too soon
even the stabbings are helping the population explosion
though in the wrong country
and all those liars have left the UN
the Seagram Building’s no longer rivalled in interest
not that we need liquor (we just like it)

and the little box is out on the sidewalk
next to the delicatessen
so the old man can sit on it and drink beer
and get knocked off it by his wife later in the day
while the sun is still shining

oh god it’s wonderful
to get out of bed
and drink too much coffee
and smoke too many cigarettes
and love you so much

Annotations: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

Stanza	Simple Annotation	Literary Devices
1. “How funny you are today New York…”	The poet compares New York to a movie star and notices the city’s humor and charm.	Simile (NYC like Ginger Rogers) 🎭, Personification (city as funny) 🎭, Visual imagery 🎭
2. “Here I have just jumped out of a bed full of V-days…”	He describes waking up playfully and seeing even traffic as a form of closeness.	Wordplay (V-days vs. D-days) ❤️, Metaphor (traffic halt as intimacy) ❤️, Tone of spontaneity ❤️
3. “Where’s Lana Turner… Garbo’s backstage at the Met…”	The city is filled with celebrities, dancers, and theatrical everyday scenes.	Allusion (Lana Turner, Garbo) 🌟, Irony (rib-watchers) 🌟, Juxtaposition (dancers vs. worker-outers) 🌟
4. “The apartment was vacated by a gay couple…”	Notes social change, irony of timing, politics, and shifting urban life.	Irony (moving too soon) 🏙️, Satire (stabbings/population) 🏙️, Symbolism (Seagram Building) 🏙️
5. “And the little box is out on the sidewalk…”	Everyday comic scene of an old man drinking beer, knocked off later by his wife, under sunshine.	Everyday realism 🍺, Humor 🍺, Symbolism (box as fragile life) 🍺, Juxtaposition (sun vs. quarrel) 🍺
6. “Oh god it’s wonderful…”	Closing in joy: waking, coffee, cigarettes, and love—ordinary life as celebration.	Anaphora (“and”) ☀️, Hyperbole (“too much”) ☀️, Tone of exclamation ☀️, Carpe diem theme ☀️

Literary And Poetic Devices: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

Device	Example from Poem	Detailed Explanation
Alliteration 🔊	“smoke so many cigarettes”	The repetition of the ‘s’ sound mimics the hiss of smoke and breath, adding rhythm and sound texture to the line. It reflects both the excess and the everyday rituals of urban life.
Allusion 🌟	“like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime”	By invoking a glamorous Hollywood star, O’Hara links the city to cinematic elegance. The allusion brings high energy and popular culture into the poem, merging daily life with art.
Anaphora 🔁	“and drink too much coffee / and smoke too many cigarettes / and love you so much”	Repetition of “and” creates a piling effect, emphasizing abundance and excess. It conveys the speaker’s overflowing joy and his indulgent approach to life and love.
Antithesis ⚖️	“even the stabbings are helping the population explosion / though in the wrong country”	A stark contrast: violence (stabbings) and growth (population). This shocking pairing highlights absurd contradictions in global politics and human affairs, underlining O’Hara’s ironic wit.
Apostrophe 🙏	“oh god it’s wonderful”	The speaker directly addresses God, though casually, expressing gratitude and awe. This device blends sacred language with ordinary pleasures, elevating simple joys into spiritual experiences.
Assonance 🎶	“oh god it’s wonderful”	The ‘o’ vowel repeats, stretching sound and slowing the pace. This creates a musical, chant-like tone, emphasizing wonder and emotional fullness.
Carpe Diem ☀️	“oh god it’s wonderful / to get out of bed”	A classic “seize the day” sentiment: celebrating waking, drinking coffee, and loving life. O’Hara stresses that joy lies in ordinary moments rather than grand achievements.
Colloquialism 🗨️	“why not”	Casual, conversational phrasing makes the poem feel like friendly talk rather than formal verse. This draws the reader into O’Hara’s immediate, personal experience of New York.
Contrast ⚡	“the apartment was vacated by a gay couple… they moved a day too soon”	Contrast between absence and presence, departure and opportunity. It suggests how timing shapes experience in the city, adding irony to daily life’s unpredictability.
Enjambment ➡️	“and even the traffic halt so thick is a way / for people to rub up against each other”	The sentence spills into the next line, mirroring the flow and lack of pause in city life. It captures both physical closeness and the ceaseless rhythm of the metropolis.
Hyperbole 🔥	“drink too much coffee / and smoke too many cigarettes”	Overstatement conveys intensity and vitality. The exaggeration humorously dramatizes everyday habits, making them feel grand and essential to the poet’s joy.
Imagery 🎨	“the park’s full of dancers with their tights and shoes / in little bags”	Vivid, concrete images paint New York’s artistic life. The description allows the reader to see the dancers, their routines, and the cultural vibrancy of the city.
Irony 🤡	“even the stabbings are helping the population explosion”	A grim event (stabbings) is presented as beneficial. The irony critiques how society trivializes violence or distorts meaning, using humor to underline seriousness.
Juxtaposition 🎭	“Garbo’s backstage at the Met / everyone’s taking their coat off”	High culture (Garbo, the Met) is set against a mundane act (removing coats). The pairing collapses cultural hierarchies, showing how both art and daily gestures belong to the city’s theater.
Metaphor 🔗	“traffic halt so thick is a way / for people to rub up against each other”	A traffic jam is likened to intimacy, turning congestion into closeness. This metaphor transforms frustration into a sign of human connection.
Parataxis ⏩	“where’s Lana Turner / she’s out eating / and Garbo’s backstage”	Short, side-by-side clauses with no logical connectors mimic casual conversation and quick observation, capturing the spontaneity of thought.
Personification 🏙️	“How funny you are today New York”	The city is treated as a person capable of humor. This humanizing makes New York feel like a companion or lover, central to O’Hara’s affection.
Pop Culture Reference ⚾	“the Pittsburgh Pirates shout because they won”	Reference to a sports team places the poem in its cultural moment. It democratizes the poem by including mass culture alongside art and love.
Satire 🎯	“all those liars have left the UN”	A mocking critique of politics, exposing hypocrisy and dishonesty. O’Hara uses humor to puncture authority and highlight global absurdities.
Simile 💃	“like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime”	New York is compared to a graceful dancer, emphasizing elegance, rhythm, and movement. The simile makes the city’s vitality glamorous and light-footed.

Themes: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

🌆 Urban Life and the City: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara presents New York City not just as a backdrop but as a living, breathing character. From the opening lines—“How funny you are today New York / like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime”—the poet personifies the city, highlighting its humor, elegance, and unpredictability. Everyday details like the “traffic halt so thick” or the “little box… next to the delicatessen” anchor the poem in real urban settings, while cultural landmarks like the Seagram Building and the Metropolitan Opera blend ordinary life with grandeur. Through this, O’Hara turns the city into a stage where high culture, politics, and street life coexist, making urban vitality central to the poem’s identity.

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❤️ Love and Intimacy: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara also celebrates intimacy, weaving private affection into public spaces. The speaker longs for “a room up there / and you in it,” suggesting that love and companionship give meaning to the urban experience. Even the seemingly mundane acts—“oh god it’s wonderful / to get out of bed / and drink too much coffee / and smoke too many cigarettes / and love you so much”—transform into rituals of devotion. Here, love is excessive, messy, and inseparable from daily rhythms, reflecting the poet’s characteristic blending of the personal and the communal. The city becomes not just a social landscape but also the canvas on which personal love is painted.

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🎭 Pop Culture and Art: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara brims with references to celebrities and artistic culture, underscoring the theme of pop culture as an essential part of lived experience. Figures like Lana Turner, Greta Garbo, and Ginger Rogers appear alongside dancers in the park and “worker-outers at the West Side Y,” mixing high art with everyday spectacle. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ victory is set on the same plane as the Seagram Building’s architecture or Garbo at the Met, flattening hierarchies between high and low culture. This theme reflects O’Hara’s New York School aesthetic, where art and popular culture collide, showing how life, cinema, sports, and painting are woven into the same vibrant tapestry.

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☀️ Joy in Everyday Life: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara ultimately radiates a theme of delight in ordinary existence. The exclamation “oh god it’s wonderful” anchors the final stanza, where drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and simply loving are exalted as sources of happiness. Even darker notes—“even the stabbings are helping the population explosion”—are folded into a broader affirmation of being alive. The refrain-like “we’re alive” captures the spirit of celebrating existence despite flaws or absurdities. O’Hara’s spontaneous, conversational style mirrors the immediacy of life itself, making the poem’s central message one of carpe diem: that joy can be found in small, everyday moments.

Literary Theories and “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

Theory	Reference from Poem	Explanation
New Criticism 📖	“oh god it’s wonderful / to get out of bed / and drink too much coffee / and smoke too many cigarettes / and love you so much”	From a New Critical lens, the focus is on the poem’s structure, imagery, and unity of meaning. The repetition of “and” creates rhythm, while the juxtaposition of ordinary acts (coffee, cigarettes) with an exclamation of wonder demonstrates the coherence of everyday excess as a central theme.
New Historicism 🏛️	“all those liars have left the UN” and “the Seagram Building’s no longer rivalled in interest”	Examined historically, the poem reflects the Cold War era and 1960s New York culture. References to the UN, celebrity figures like Garbo, and architectural icons situate the text within political tensions and cultural modernism, revealing how O’Hara’s spontaneity is tied to his historical moment.
Queer Theory 🌈	“the apartment was vacated by a gay couple / who moved to the country for fun”	This line openly references queer presence in urban life. Through a queer theoretical lens, the poem foregrounds same-sex intimacy as part of New York’s social fabric, rejecting invisibility and celebrating love and desire in both private and public spaces.
Postmodernism 🌀	“where’s Lana Turner / she’s out eating / and Garbo’s backstage at the Met”	The playful mixing of celebrity culture, art, politics, and daily life demonstrates postmodern fragmentation. O’Hara collapses boundaries between high and low culture, using collage-like references and parataxis to reflect a world without a single, unified meaning.

Critical Questions about “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

Literary Works Similar to “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

• 🌆 “The Day Lady Died” by Frank O’Hara
  Like “Steps”, this poem captures the pulse of New York City through spontaneous, conversational language, blending daily errands with cultural moments.
• ❤️ “Having a Coke with You” by Frank O’Hara
  Similar to “Steps”, it merges love and ordinary routines, showing how intimacy and affection transform simple acts into profound joys.
• 🎭 “A Step Away from Them” by Frank O’Hara
  This poem resembles “Steps” in its collage of urban details, pop culture references, and reflections on being alive within the bustling city.
• ☀️ “Song” by Allen Ginsberg
  Like O’Hara’s work, it celebrates everyday pleasures, intimacy, and spontaneous emotion through free verse and unpolished immediacy.
• 🏙️ “Personism: A Manifesto” (poetic statement) by Frank O’Hara
  Though a playful manifesto rather than a standard poem, it shares with “Steps” the conversational tone and prioritization of personal, direct experience in poetry.

Representative Quotations of “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

Quotation	Context in Poem	Theoretical Perspective
🌆 “How funny you are today New York / like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime”	The poem opens by personifying New York and comparing it to a glamorous dancer.	New Criticism: close reading shows the simile and personification create tone and unity.
❤️ “all I want is a room up there / and you in it”	Expresses desire for intimacy embedded in the city space.	Queer Theory: highlights personal, possibly same-sex love in an urban setting.
🎭 “where’s Lana Turner / she’s out eating / and Garbo’s backstage at the Met”	Celebrities appear in casual everyday scenarios.	Postmodernism: collapse of high and low culture; blending celebrity with daily life.
☀️ “we’re alive”	A triumphant statement in the middle of the poem.	Existentialism: affirms being and vitality despite absurdity.
🏙️ “the Seagram Building’s no longer rivalled in interest / not that we need liquor (we just like it)”	References iconic NYC architecture with humor about consumer culture.	New Historicism: situates the poem in 1960s urban modernism and corporate culture.
⚾ “the Pittsburgh Pirates shout because they won”	Inserts sports victory into the poem’s tapestry of urban events.	Cultural Studies: celebrates democratization of culture where sports = art.
🎨 “the park’s full of dancers with their tights and shoes / in little bags”	Vivid description of dancers mistaken for gym-goers.	Formalism: imagery highlights aesthetic form and rhythm of everyday scenes.
🎯 “all those liars have left the UN”	A satirical jab at politics.	Political Criticism: critiques institutions and Cold War-era hypocrisy.
🤡 “even the stabbings are helping the population explosion / though in the wrong country”	Darkly comic treatment of violence.	Irony Theory (classical rhetoric): exposes contradictions through bitter humor.
🔁 “oh god it’s wonderful / to get out of bed / and drink too much coffee / and smoke too many cigarettes / and love you so much”	The poem ends with a joyful celebration of ordinary life and intimacy.	Carpe Diem (Humanism): elevates small daily rituals as sources of meaning and love.

Suggested Readings: “Steps” by Frank O’Hara

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