ALLEN GINSBERG

By: Charles Sherrod Mac Owen Ritter HeYdIn MurFy

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed bymadness, starving hysterical naked,dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawnlooking for an angry fix.- Howl (ln. 1)

Who is Allen Ginsberg?

Allen Ginsberg was born in 1926 on June 3rd. He was born into a very unique family, and lived a unique childhood. He is regarded as the figurehead of the beat generation. He is regarded as a very controversial part of the middle-to-late 20th century.

Allen Ginsbergs Background

Allen was born into a Jewish house-hold on the coast of New Jersey. Because of his location and his family he had a very liberal political mindset. His mother, Naomi, was a psychological nudist as well as a communist. His father, Louis, was a poet and a high-school teacher. He had a brother named Eugene, whom he disregards in his life.

Allens Mother

Allens mom was a radical communist and took Allen and Eugene to Communist Party meetings. She often told him stories at bed time that were similar to this: The good king rode by his castle and saw his workers suffer and he healed them. His mother often had delusions where she would believe that the government had implanted listening devices, and she thought that her mother-in-law was going to kill her. She spent the majority of Allens life in a mental institution.

His Fathers Impact

Allen respected his fathers career, and he had learned a lot from what his father had taught him. His father exposed him to the poetry of Walt Whitman, who is his greatest influence.

Life As A Child

He was often taken to metal hospitals with his mother, so he knew the nature of his mother. He resented his mother, and soon the religion that she held to. He was allegiant to his political views, and by his Junior year in high-school, he had written countless numbers of letters to the New York Times.

College

Allen attended the University of Columbia in New York. He had the intention of studying labor law in a means to support Communism. In 1955 he dropped out of school, he did so on the advice of his psychiatrist. It was during this time that Howl was written.

The Start Of His Career

During his freshman year, he had met a fellow poet Lucien Carr. Carr introduced Allen to many modern beat poets Together they formed New York Beats. Allens most well-known piece Howl was written during this time. It was around this time that Allen really started to move away from Communism.

Allens Move To The West

In 1954 Allen moved to San Francisco. Allen quickly became a member of the San Francisco Renaissance- which is similar to the New York Beats. With a few of the members of this societyincluding Allen- a magazine was constructed. It was called The Beatitude Poetry Magazine. Also in San Francisco, Allen decided to embrace homosexuality. He met his life partner Peter Orlovsky.

The Death Of His Mother

Naomi died in 1956. She did not have a traditional Jewish funeral, like that which was a norm among The Jewish of that time and place. Upon her death, she sent Allen a letter, in which she urged him to stay away from drugs. In response, he cursed at his mother.

Life In Paris (1957)

After San Francisco, Allen and his partner moved to Paris to help spread the word of Beat Poetry. They moved into an apartment above a bar. This is where many of the notions of beat poetry come from. They called this The Beat Motel.

Trip To India In 1963

Allen and his partner went to India on a trip in a means to alleviate the growing monotonous lifestyle that Paris promoted. In India, Allen learned much about the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Needless to say, he made friends with more poets in Bengal.

Life In England

Allen moved to London in 1964. He wished to singularly pursue his poetry career. He would perform his massive library of original poetry for free. Sometimes he would perform for crowds well beyond 7,000 people. Tom McGrath wrote: This could well turn out to have been a very significant moment in the history of England or at least in the history of English Poetry.

Health Issues

In the 1970s Allen suffered from 2 significant strokes, which had stemmed from Bells Palsy. He had suffered mild paralysis at unexpected times due to Reynaud's Disease. He also constantly suffered from chronic high blood pressure. These were all signs of Allens stress, but with rising fame he could not afford to slow down.

Allens Last Years And Death

Allen spent the rest of his life with Peter. He received many various awards from many people for many different things. In 1986, Allen received the Gold Wreath from the Strunga Poetry Evenings. He was the second American to receive this award. In 1988, Allen became a distinguished professor of English at Brooklyn College. Allen died at the age of 70 from hepatitis, he was surrounded by friends and family.

Allens Poetry

Allens poetry was primarily beat, with some exceptions. The words of his most famous poems are usually confessions, political/social thought, sex, or based out of being high- often they overlap.

Beat Poetry

Beat poetry is free-verse usually, but there are some cases of rhyme. There is a difference between slam-poetry and beat, beat emphasizes the rhythm of the syntaxrather than traditional syllables- while slam lacks rhythm completely. A unique factor in Allens beat poetry is the monotone nature in which he said his words. Often in formal readings, a tambourine will lightly keep the beat. His most famous works are Howl and America.

Howl

Howl is regarded as Allens most successful and meaningful poem.

America

America is a confessional poem, in which he expresses his beliefs, what he has done, as well as expressing what the flaws in America are. There are several allusions to his life, such as the portion about going to the Communist Meetings with his mother. He criticizes Americas emotional life, by saying, Our emotional life is run by Time Magazine.

Controversy

Allen was a open Homosexual and he was an avid supporter of gay rights. He was an avid supporter of NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association.) Allen was at one point in his life a Communist, but later would shift to a milder socialism belief. He was a Buddhist. Although this is not a bad thing, it was contrary to the social norms and the way that he was raised. Allen was a drug addict. He stood in firm opposition of the Vietnam War.

Homosexuality And Gay Rights

Allen is regarded as one of the earliest proponents of gay activism and rights. He discovered within him Mountains of homosexuality. Allen was not always gay, in fact, he was engaged to Elise Nada Cowen.

NAMBLA (North American ManBoy Love Association)

Allen was for NAMBLA because he said he believed in free speech. He believed love was not contingent upon age, and should be allowed regardless. It is up to speculation whether or not Allen was a pedophile because he was in a life-long partner ship with Peter.

Communism

Allen was proud of his roots in Communism. So much of his childhood was wrapped around this idea. As seen in America, The party was wonderful back in 1935. His beliefs changed when he started advocating free speech. The Czechoslovak government labeled him as an Immoral menace because of his Ideas.

Religion

Allen was raised to be a Jew, and he maintained this belief until his trip to India. While he was in India, there was an immediate attraction to Buddhism because it fit his life style. He maintained this belief until he died. This was very odd, because he did not contest Buddhism, but it was very socially welcoming to the counter-culture movement, in which his work flourished.

Drugs

Allen Ginsberg was an open acid and marijuana user. However popular these were with his crowds, who often partook as well, it was a major turnoff for many of the people that lived in his hometown and in the communities in which he resided later in life. He was an advocate for the legalization of pot, but was against the tobacco industry. In both Howl and America he is open about drug use and its necessity.

Vietnam Protests

He was very open about the Vietnam War protests and the political ideas behind them. In California, during the Hells Angels attack on the mob that formed, he screamed profanity and called them all Communists. In 1968, he signed a petition that said he would not pay taxes due to the wars continuation. He participated in the Thompsons Square Riot. Also he provided an eye-witness account to the New York Times, in which he chronicles the nature of the attack in him, and explains the refusal to press charges.

The Influence Of Ginsberg

Allen pushed for major change in modern poetry with the initiation of the beat age. He had influenced many people of his time with his lifestyle.

Minus five!

Quiz

Where was Allen from? What party was his mother a part of? What is his fathers name? What is his brothers name? What news paper did Allen write to as a high-school student? What were Allens aspirations as a freshman in college? Name the 2 places in the United States that he had an influence in. Other than the US, where did Allen live? What was his partners name? What kind of poetry did Allen mostly write? What are 3 controversial issues that Allen advocated. What is Allens most known poem?

Answers

New Jersey The Communist Party Louis Eugene The New York Times To be a labor lawyer New York, San Francisco France, India, England Peter Beat NAMBLA, Marijuana Legalization, Vietnam Protests, Communism, The Gay Rights movement. Howl