Like many of us, Ginsberg did not quite know what he wanted to do or be when he graduated from high school. After graduating from the Paterson Eastside High School in 1943 his father wanted him to be a labor lawyer. “Ginsberg quickly dropped this aspiration and settled into his niche in the university's English Department. Professor Lionel Trilling became his mentor, encouraging Ginsberg to write poetry” (Beat Bios). He went on to Columbia University, it was there that he would meet, Lucien Carr, William Burroughs, and Columbia dropout and ex-football player Jack Kerouac. In 1945, he was suspended from the university for letting Jack Kerouac sleep in his dorm room. Later on, he would also get expelled for offensive and/or racist graffiti.
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He died on April 5th, 1997 in East Village Loft at 70 years of age (Bio.com). He died and was known as one of the most respected the writers of his generation. He almost totally changed the traditional poetry of the 50’s. He was a literal “Rags to Riches” poet. After learning that he had liver cancer he wrote 12 short poems. He later went into a coma and had a stroke 2 days later. William Burroughs remembered him as a great person with worldwide influence. It has also been acknowledged that there has never been an American poet as public as Allen Ginsberg. He had intentions to remake or restore American Poetry codes for dimensions and many believe that by the time he passed away in 1997 he had completely fulfilled those …show more content…
This poem was written as a tribute to one of the people who inspired Ginsberg, Walt Whitman. This poem was written in free verse, it has no pattern in any way. The theme of this poem is simply, Walt Whitman. There are also some minor themes. These include; sexuality, remembrance of literature and a very materialistic America. Some of the symbols are; the fakeness of life, the falseness of love and the economics of the 1950’s. It is obvious that the speaker in this poem is somewhat delusional but possibly, also a lonely dreamer. This may be why he imagined Walt Whitman there with him in that neon supermarket in California. It is very important that Ginsberg put the word “neon” into this poem. It suggests that everything is harsh and seems to be fake or too good to be true. This is exactly how Ginsberg saw America, as a very harsh, materialistic, judgmental, racist, unloving and attention drawing
He died on April 5th, 1997 in East Village Loft at 70 years of age (Bio.com). He died and was known as one of the most respected the writers of his generation. He almost totally changed the traditional poetry of the 50’s. He was a literal “Rags to Riches” poet. After learning that he had liver cancer he wrote 12 short poems. He later went into a coma and had a stroke 2 days later. William Burroughs remembered him as a great person with worldwide influence. It has also been acknowledged that there has never been an American poet as public as Allen Ginsberg. He had intentions to remake or restore American Poetry codes for dimensions and many believe that by the time he passed away in 1997 he had completely fulfilled those …show more content…
This poem was written as a tribute to one of the people who inspired Ginsberg, Walt Whitman. This poem was written in free verse, it has no pattern in any way. The theme of this poem is simply, Walt Whitman. There are also some minor themes. These include; sexuality, remembrance of literature and a very materialistic America. Some of the symbols are; the fakeness of life, the falseness of love and the economics of the 1950’s. It is obvious that the speaker in this poem is somewhat delusional but possibly, also a lonely dreamer. This may be why he imagined Walt Whitman there with him in that neon supermarket in California. It is very important that Ginsberg put the word “neon” into this poem. It suggests that everything is harsh and seems to be fake or too good to be true. This is exactly how Ginsberg saw America, as a very harsh, materialistic, judgmental, racist, unloving and attention drawing