FREE ESSAY ON ALLEN GINSBERG'S POETRY

ALLEN GINSBERG'S POETRY

Themes and Values of the Beat Generation
As Expressed in Allen Ginsberg's Poetry
Perhaps one of the most well known authors of the Beat Generation is a man we call Allen
Ginsberg, who expresses the themes and values in his poetry. He was, in fact, the first
Beat Writer to gain popular notice when he delivered a performance of his now famous
poem, Howl, in October of 1955. The Beat Generation is typically
described as a vision, not an idea and being hard to define. It is characterized as
a cultural revolution in process, made by a post-World War II generation of
disaffiliated young people...without spiritual values they could honor (Charters
XX). Although first condemned and criticized, it became a national phenomenon. Allen
Ginsberg expressed the intangible beliefs of this generation in his poems about his
childhood, curiosity, war, freedom of thought, and other people. Through Allen
Ginsbergs ideal individualism, he has been able to express the themes and values
of the Beat Generation.
Because of Allen Ginsbergs tormented childhood, many of his poems were about his
relationship with his mother and his own mental problems. Allen Ginsberg was born in
Patterson, New Jersey to Louis and Naomi Ginsberg on June 3, 1926. His mother became
insane during Ginsbergs formative years. She was described as a paranoid
schizophrenic, believing she was in danger from assassins and was spied on by everyone,
including her own family members. For example, in the poem, Howl,
Ginsberg writes  I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,
starving hysterical naked... (Charters 62) of his mother, Naomi. This statement
employs him as a witness to the destruction. Her struggle for sanity eventually led to
the deterioration of her sons sound mind. Kaddish is a poem written by Ginsberg for his
mother. It is 
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a relatively confessional poem and indirectly addresses the reader, or in this case, his
mother. It is also seen as an autobiographical elegy that reveals many private
experiences which shaped Ginsbergs life and a confession of personal necessity.
Kaddish, the term, comes from a Judaic prayer and suggests the poem is in memory of his
mother. Kaddish becomes a song for the dead indicated by the first six words:
Strange now to think of you. This indicates one of the
poemss themes, his mother. For instance, it is written, Death is
that remedy all singers dream of (Litz 319). The singer represents the poet and
his own turmoil. The fourth section, Lament, is a list of regrets for his
mother, illustrating his obsession with her. The fifth, called Litany,
reiterates major episodes of Naomis sickness. Finally, the fifth section of
Kaddish, Fugue, represents his own turmoil of emotion and
problems which render the poet incapable of articulating anything other than the poems
ending, Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw (Charters
98). Howl also describes Ginsbergs own mental problems shown when
he locates the core of corruption as a monster of mental consciousness
(Ginsberg 48), or Moloch, a Fire God. This part of the poem is written in chaotic chants.
Ginsbergs poems about his childhood express the value that Beat writers are
very tired people-tired of living before one has started living (Charters
XXIV) forced upon Ginsberg by his mother and his own mental problems.
In the same way Ginsbergs poems were stemmed from his childhood, many were
stemmed from his undying curiosity. In 1943, he entered Columbia University intending to
become a labor lawyer. Though, he soon fell in love with a group of wild students and non
students including Lucien Carr, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady.
Indeed, 
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he wrote of the group and himself in Howl by saying who passes
through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating.../who were expelled from the
academies for crazy and publishing obscene odes on the windows of skull... (Litz
308). This is where his use of drugs came into being, and he was suspended from school
for various small offenses. He began experimenting with Benzedrine and marijuana and
going to gay bars. Most of Kaddish was written while on the drugs nitrous
oxide, ayahausco, LSD, and mescaline. He used them to widen the area of
consciousness (Litz 320), shown in the stream like quality and lack of
punctuation in the poem itself. In brief, Ginsbergs experience of school at
Columbia and his use of drugs affected his poetry to illustrate the value shared by the
Beat writers that a New Vision, or new light, must be reached through any means.
Furthermore, Ginsbergs feelings about war inspired him to write, what some
critics say, some of his best poetry. Beat writers, for the most part, share the same
antiwar feelings. They are typically against all sorts of armed conflict and also the
oppression that war causes everyone. Ginsberg became a very familiar face at protests
against the Vietnam war (Holmes 8). Beatniks protested their countrys excess on
the front lines (Charters XXXI). They were not only against the war itself, they were
against war against humanity. Perhaps Ginsbergs poem America best
describes his and other Beat writers attitudes towards the war itself and war
against humanity. Granted, Ginsberg writes, America Ive given you all and
now Im nothing / America when will we end the human war? / Go *censored* yourself
with your atom bomb / I dont feel good dont bother me. (Charters
74) This poem also illustrates Ginsbergs obsession with an atomic fallout and
radiation sickness. Ginsberg called this the idea of transience of phenomena -
Not a morbid 
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interest in death but the realization of the mortal turn. (Charters XIX)His
belief was also spread by the fear and tension of the cold war when people realized he
was speaking out against it. Howl also fought for an enlightenment from
the war and a hope for an end to all forms of it. Ginsbergs poems about war share
the groups beliefs and values against war and everything that it entails.
Moreover, his poems about other people than himself illustrate the Generations
beliefs in a personal attitude, as said by an interviewer of the Beats, Stanley Fisher.
The most important individual Ginsberg wrote about is the man who most influenced him,
Walt Whitman. A Supermarket in California is a narrative poem about he
and Whitman. Ginsberg tries to follow in Whitmans footsteps in writing, and, in
the poem, walks in Whitmans footsteps in the supermarket (Barr 1). To illustrate,
Ginsbergs lines What thoughts I have of you, Walt Whitman / I saw you
Walt Whitman / Where are we going Walt Whitman? (Charters 71-72) illustrate
Ginsbergs admiration of the man. While at Colombia University, Ginsberg met and
pronounced his love for Jack Kerouac, who was a heterosexual. They continued only a
friendship. Sunflower Sutra is a poem about Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac and
their friendship together. It illustrates the importance of his friends and fellow
writers in his life. Ginsberg then met Neal Cassady, who he desperately falls in love
with. He believed Cassady incapable of loving him in the way he needed. They eventually
broke up, sending Ginsberg into a great bought of severe depression. Allen wrote him many
letters begging for his love and him back. Ginsberg wrote two important poems to him,
Do We Understand Each Other? and A Lovers Garden. To
illustrate Ginsbergs obsession with Cassady, he wrote in A Lovers
Garden, As seconds on the clock do move, Each marks another thought of
love, and we devise, Each minute to antitheses... 
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(Litz 311) After his time in depression, Ginsberg met Peter Orlovsky, who became his
lifetime companion. The greatest poem about love written by Allen Ginsberg was
Song. It was his definition and belief of what love was. Indeed, he
wrote: The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the
burden of dissatisfaction the weight, the weight we carry is love. (Charters 99)
Altogether, Ginsbergs poems about love and other people illustrate the Beat
Writers belief in personal attitude.
Finally, Ginsbergs never-ending freedom of thought expressed the Beatniks
beliefs in non-conformity and instinctive individuality. These, perhaps, are the most
important of the beliefs and values of the Beat Writers. They all believed in shocking
people and stirring things up, even if it did get them into a bit of trouble, such as
Ginsbergs suspension from school, a brief time in a psychiatric hospital, and a
short time in jail. Ginsberg also spoke out against America and against government in
general. He believed that America has reneged on its promise of opportunity, freedom, and
liberty (Barr 3). In 1965, Ginsberg was invited to both Cuba and Czechoslovakia. He was
expelled from both countries for his condemnation of their policies and governments. He
had been invited because of his ability to speak out against his own country. These two
countries believed Ginsberg would accept their policies because of this. He was not
afraid to stand up for what he believed in. In the poem, America,
Ginsberg attacks Americas faults by mimicking the foolishness of the public and
the government. He believed anyone who can attack evil (to him, the government) is no
longer so helplessly its victim. For example, Ginsberg writes in his poem,
America, My mind is made up theres going to be trouble. /
You should have seen me reading 
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Marx. (Charters 75) Thus addressing his and the Beats non-conformist beliefs. His
public announcement of his own sexuality was also a stand against conformity. Although
the Beats have many beliefs in common, they are known for their instinctive
individualism. No two are the same, or even close for that matter. They each expressed
their individualism differently. They all wanted some breakthroughs of consciousness or a
new consciousness. They all reached for it differently. Allen Ginsberg did so by speaking
his mind at any time, appropriate or not. In writing Howl, Ginsberg
accomplished the creation of a territory for writing that was radically different from
the narrow, nearly exhausted modes of expression approved by the literary establishment
(Lewis 3). His writing expressed the beliefs of Beats in non-conformity and
individualism.