Allen Ginsberg: Poet
Allen Ginsberg was born on June 3, 1927. While in high school, he discovered and fell in love with the poetry of Walt Whitman. But despite his interest in poetry his father wanted him to become a lawyer. So Ginsberg studied law at Columbia University, where he met many of his life-long friends and influences. His new group of friends didn't really encourage his studies, and eventually he got suspended from Columbia for various small offenses. He hung around people like Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Lucien Carr, and Neal Cassady, who later became known as the "Beat Authors." Ginsberg was the youngest and most innocent in the "circle," but was soon corrupted and became equally obsessed ...
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Ginsberg believed in open, spontaneous poetry, speaking his thoughts and emotions in a raw and "uncensored" way. This rawness seemed to transcend the censoring imposed on his poetry by his digressors who considered his writing un-publishable. His main influences in writing were Kerouac and William Blake. This particular poem, America, was written in Berkley in 1956. Basically, "America" has 3 parts to it: Ginsberg questioning America, Ginsberg "rambling" on, and Ginsberg saying "I am America". I will also talk about Ginsberg's life, other authors interpretations of this poem and comments on Ginsberg. Ginsberg starts off "America" by questioning the country, as if it were an actual person, asking it why it is the way it is. Ginsberg writes, "America, when will you be angelic? When will you take off your cloths?" (8-9) The irony here is, of course, that many Americans still believed that they, along with the government, were angelic since they were God's "chosen people." ...
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though it is not very clearly presented that way. He also briefly talks about his own life and his family life in this part of the poem. After this he focuses back on America, in a more straight forward way. He says " It occurs to me that I am America. I am talking to myself again." Allen Ginsberg speculated on the condition of the United States. Had there actually been a Communist attack on America as people feared due to the red scare, the government would have taken the appropriate steps to prepare for war. Since Ginsberg realized, "I am America," he followed that paranoia to its logical conclusion by considering his "national resources" in preparation. Among his resources were ...
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Allen Ginsberg: Poet. (2007, June 2). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Allen-Ginsberg-Poet/65793
"Allen Ginsberg: Poet." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 2 Jun. 2007. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Allen-Ginsberg-Poet/65793>
"Allen Ginsberg: Poet." Essayworld.com. June 2, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Allen-Ginsberg-Poet/65793.
"Allen Ginsberg: Poet." Essayworld.com. June 2, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Allen-Ginsberg-Poet/65793.
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