230:, nearly empty, not yet fully set up (Ginsberg being too poor, for example, to get telephone service). The poem contains repeated images of opening or being open: open doors, empty sockets, opening flowers, the open womb, leading to the image of the whole world being "open to receive." The "H.P." in the poem is Helen Parker, one of Ginsberg's first girlfriends; they dated briefly in 1950. The poem ends on a Whitman-esque note with a confession of his desire for people to "bow when they see" him and say he is "gifted with poetry" and has seen the creator. This may be seen as arrogance, but Ginsberg's arrogant statements can often be read as tongue-in-cheek (see for example "I am America" from "America" or the later poem "Ego Confessions"). However, this could be another example of Ginsberg trying on the Walt Whitman persona (Whitman who, for example, called himself a "kosmos" partly to show the interconnectedness of all beings) which would become so integral to his image in later decades. Ginsberg says this of his mind frame when composing "Transcription of Organ Music", in reference to developing his style after his experiments with "Howl": "What if I just simply wrote, in long units and broken short lines, spontaneously noting prosaic realities mixed with emotional upsurges, solitaries?
298:, stated that the poem suffered from the fact that it was meant as a personal statement. In his letters, Snyder argued that the poem contained repetitions of familiar dualisms that were not present in other works by Ginsberg during the era. However, in an interview published February 12, 2008, Snyder discussed the beneficial aspects of the poem and its reflection of society as it appeared to both Ginsberg and the public: "He was already very much at home in the text, and it clearly spoke -- as everyone could see -- to the condition of the people".
22:
123:
146:" is a poem in a conversation form between the narrator and America. When the narrator says "It Occurs to me that I am America", he follows with "I am talking to myself again." The tone is generally humorous and often sarcastic though the subject is often quite serious. He references several heroes and martyrs of significant movements such as the labor movement. These include:
210:"Footnote to Howl": "The world is holy!"). The structure of this poem relates to "Howl" both in its use of the long line and its repetition of the "eyeball kick" (paratactical juxtapositions) at the end. Ginsberg says in relating his thought process after the experiments of "Howl," "What about a poem with rhythmic buildup power equal to
183:
whose "Ode to Walt
Whitman" was an inspiration in writing "Howl" and other poems. In relation to his experiments with "Howl", Ginsberg says this: "A lot of these forms developed out of an extreme rhapsodic wail I once heard in a madhouse. Later I wondered if short quiet lyrical poems could be written
166:
living in
Tangier, and how his mother, Naomi, would take him to Communist meetings when he was seven. "America" can be seen as a continuation of the experiment he started with the long line and fixed base of "Howl." Ginsberg said, "What happens if you mix long and short lines, single breath remaining
287:
describes
Ginsberg as a poet who, while not addressing the need to support the homosexual community directly, used a "Comically carnivalesque" tone to paint a picture of the situation facing the homosexual in 20th-Century society. As the poet in "Supermarket in California" addresses the grocery boy
209:
reading "Ah, Sunflower": "Blake, my visions." (See also line in Howl: "Blake-light tragedies" and references in other poems). The theme of the poem is consistent with
Ginsberg's revelation in his original vision of Blake: the revelation that all of humanity was interconnected. (See also the line in
310:
attracted criticism on the tone and style of the Beat poets. Norman
Podhoretz, in a 1958 article entitled "The Know-Nothing Bohemians", writes that "the plain truth is that the primitivism of the Beat Generation serves first of all as a cover for an anti-intellectualism so bitter that it makes the
305:
criticized
Ginsberg along with his audience by suggesting that "Howl" and other Ginsberg works presented an immature view of the modern society. To Trilling, the audience and Ginsberg shared a relationship that had little to do with literature, and she writes that the "Shoddiness" of the poems
275:
Who were the CIA-sponsored intellectuals? I asked
Ginsberg when we talked in Marin in 1985. Lionel Trilling, Norman Podhoretz, and Mary McCarthy, he replied. In his eyes they contributed to the unhealthy climate of the Cold War as much as the cultural commissars behind the Iron Curtain
271:. Ginsberg claimed that the CIA was partially responsible for his rejection by publishers, an accusation that Raskin suggests might have carried merit, even as there was no tangible evidence supporting the theory. Having discussed the issue with Ginsberg himself, Raskin writes:
114:: "I greet you at the beginning of a great career. When do I get the manuscript?" Originally, Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti assumed "Howl" would be long enough to take up the entire book, but they later decided to add some similar poems Ginsberg had completed around that time.
204:
in a railroad yard, the discovery of a sunflower covered in dirt and soot from the railroad yard, and the subsequent revelation that this is a metaphor for all humanity: "we are not our skin of grime." This relates to his vision/auditory hallucination of poet
288:
by saying "Are you my Angel?", Bergman suggests that the questions are rhetorical and meant to point out the relationship between the poet and popular culture by using the market as a "symbol of petit bourgeois society".
267:, suggesting that Ginsberg, more than any other 20th-Century American poet, used literature to vent his criticism of the American government's treatment of the people and the diabolic actions of the CIA during the
134:
Though "Howl" was
Ginsberg's most famous poem, the collection includes many examples of Ginsberg at his peak, many of which garnered nearly as much attention and praise as "Howl." These poems include:
70:
found
Ferlinghetti not guilty of the obscenity charge, and 5,000 more copies of the text were printed to meet the public demand, which had risen in response to the publicity surrounding the trial.
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attested to the fact that they were created to relate to cynical popular culture rather than provide an artistic statement. Along with others in the Beat generation, the popularity of
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74:
contains two of the most well-known poems from the Beat
Generation, "Howl" and "A Supermarket in California", which have been reprinted in other collections, including the
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179:, one of Ginsberg's biggest idols. The image of Whitman is contrasted with mundane images of a supermarket, food often being used for sexual puns. He references
646:
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Ginsberg, Allen. "Notes Written on Finally Recording 'Howl.'" Deliberate Prose: Selected Essays 1952-1995. Ed. Bill Morgan. NY: HarperCollins, 2000.
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192:(written same day) fell in place later that year. Not purposely, I simply followed my angel in the course of compositions".
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Some editions also include earlier poems, such as: "Song," "In Back of the Real," "Wild Orphan," "An Asphodel," etc.
122:
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the rule of measure? I didn't trust free flight yet, so went back to fixed base to sustain the flow, 'America'."
62:", "In the Baggage Room at Greyhound", and some of his earlier works. For printing the collection, the publisher
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members). He includes several events of personal significance including his Uncle Max coming over from Russia,
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66:, another well-known poet, was arrested and charged with obscenity. On October 3, 1957, Judge
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234:(sensual data), strange writing which passes from prose to poetry and back, like the mind".
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226:"Transcription of Organ Music" is an account of a quiet moment in his new cottage in
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Snyder, Gary. Qtd in "Gary Snyder on hitchhiking and "Howl" at Reed". Jeff Baker.
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With audio clips, poems, and related essays, from the Academy of American Poets
175:"A Supermarket in California" is a short poem about a dreamlike encounter with
85:
but, upon Carr's request, his name was later removed from all future editions.
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104:. Ferlinghetti was so impressed, he sent a note to Ginsberg, referencing
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927:
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published November 1, 1956. It contains Ginsberg's most famous poem, "
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20:
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428:; Hyde, Lewis (1984). "Notes Written on Finally Recording Howl".
710:
555:
311:
ordinary American's hatred of eggheads seem positively benign".
570:
50:", which is considered to be one of the principal works of the
560:
126:
Ginsberg's fame drew the attention of celebrities such as
955:
National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
130:. This photograph of Dylan and Ginsberg was taken in 1975
58:", "Transcription of Organ Music", "Sunflower Sutra", "
380:. Virgin Publishing Ltd., 2000. 0753504863. pg. 194.
970:
898:
799:
763:
674:
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200:"Sunflower Sutra" is an account of a sojourn with
539:Podhoretz, Norman. "The Know-Nothing Bohemians".
263:explores Ginsberg's "conspiratorial" themes in
214:without use of repetitive base to sustain it?
218:... did that, it surprised me, one long who."
100:soon after hearing Ginsberg perform it at the
582:
8:
1061:Industrial Workers of the World in fiction
647:The Fall of America: Poems of These States
589:
575:
567:
530:by Alexander Bloom. Oxford U P (1986)p.302
81:The collection was initially dedicated to
1066:LGBT-related controversies in literature
466:
464:
420:
418:
416:
341:
339:
337:
402:. Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003.
333:
76:Norton Anthology of American Literature
1071:Obscenity controversies in literature
7:
474:. U of California P. (2006) p. xiii.
243:"In the Baggage Room at Grey Hound"
96:offered to publish "Howl" through
14:
780:Songs of Innocence and Experience
186:A Strange New Cottage in Berkeley
918:International Poetry Incarnation
816:Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg
747:Hadda Be Playing on the Jukebox
431:On the Poetry of Allen Ginsberg
400:The Beats: A Literary Reference
345:Morgan, Bill and Joyce Peters.
160:Industrial Workers of the World
222:"Transcription of Organ Music"
1:
840:Allen Ginsberg Live in London
171:"A Supermarket in California"
42:is a collection of poetry by
1056:City Lights Publishers books
436:University of Michigan Press
232:Transcription of Organ Music
1046:American poetry collections
945:Counterculture of the 1960s
690:A Supermarket in California
561:Allen Ginsberg on Poets.org
190:A Supermarket in California
56:A Supermarket in California
1097:
487:.U of Mass P (1983) p.104.
732:September on Jessore Road
526:Trilling, Diana. qtd. in
1076:Poetry by Allen Ginsberg
623:Kaddish and Other Poems
498:Strange Prophecies Anew
398:Edited by Matt Theado.
496:Snyder, Gary. qtd in
278:
131:
34:
16:Book by Allen Ginsberg
1010:Lawrence Ferlinghetti
378:Ginsberg: A Biography
273:
184:using the long line.
181:Federico García Lorca
125:
94:Lawrence Ferlinghetti
64:Lawrence Ferlinghetti
24:
990:William S. Burroughs
848:Corso: The Last Beat
725:Wichita Vortex Sutra
615:Howl and Other Poems
164:William S. Burroughs
72:Howl and Other Poems
39:Howl and Other Poems
940:Central Park be-ins
906:Six Gallery reading
216:The Sunflower Sutra
106:Ralph Waldo Emerson
102:Six Gallery Reading
89:Publication history
27:Pocket Poets Series
888:Kill Your Darlings
663:White Shroud Poems
631:Reality Sandwiches
556:Allen Ginsberg.org
156:Sacco and Vanzetti
132:
35:
1081:Works about labor
1041:1956 poetry books
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364:Columbia Magazine
196:"Sunflower Sutra"
118:The "Other Poems"
31:City Lights Books
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912:Hydrogen Jukebox
788:Deliberate Prose
772:The Yage Letters
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517:. Feb 12, 2008.
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470:Raskin, Jonah.
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108:'s response to
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52:Beat Generation
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1051:Beat poetry
1020:Gary Snyder
995:Lucien Carr
950:Human Be-In
764:Other works
665:: 1980–1985
639:Planet News
607:collections
504:. pp.49-50.
292:Gary Snyder
238:Other poems
98:City Lights
83:Lucien Carr
1035:Categories
935:Beat Hotel
864:Chicago 10
824:The Source
739:Iron Horse
410:. pg. 242.
329:References
980:(partner)
790:1952–1995
251:Criticism
138:"America"
128:Bob Dylan
986:(father)
756:" (1978)
749:" (1975)
734:" (1971)
727:" (1966)
720:" (1961)
713:" (1958)
706:" (1956)
699:" (1956)
692:" (1956)
315:See also
269:Cold War
228:Berkeley
928:Beatnik
899:Related
718:Kaddish
697:America
144:America
60:America
971:People
891:(2013)
883:(2010)
875:(2010)
867:(2009)
859:(2007)
851:(2007)
843:(2005)
835:(2000)
827:(1999)
819:(1993)
811:(1959)
742:(1973)
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642:(1968)
634:(1963)
626:(1961)
618:(1956)
605:Poetry
442:
406:
150:, the
800:Films
675:Poems
283:, in
29:from
880:Howl
832:Beat
711:Ignu
704:Howl
440:ISBN
404:ISBN
322:Howl
308:Howl
296:Howl
276:did.
265:Howl
212:Howl
188:and
48:Howl
500:by
255:In
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