Allen Ginsberg

* ***Irwin Allen Ginsberg (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet, philosopher, and writer.***

#### **Background**

      Allen Ginsberg is the greatest poet who plays a vital role in the beat generation and known as a leading figure. He was one of many influential American writers of his time. His style of writing against militarism, materialism and sexual repression. He savoured many poems of *the Transcendentalists*, especially American poet Walt Whitman with free verse style and the epic. Ginsberg was highly opposed to the promise of American democracy, and we can find that he always tried to pursue the spiritual quest for the truth of everyday existence through his writings. After his mother passed away, he wrote one of his famous masterpieces “Howl”, which indicates protest as cry, cry for all exploitation and subjugation and eventually attracted lots of eyeballs among readers and garnered worldwide attention for him. In the 1940s, Ginsberg was admitted to Columbia University. Then he sat up a close relationship with William S. Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and Jack Kerouac, all of whom became dominating figures of the Beat Movement.

### **Allen Ginsberg’s childhood**

Allen Ginsberg was born on June 3, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, and brought up near Paterson. His father was a poet and a schoolteacher and his mother was a leading member of the Communist Party but unfortunately, she was attacked by mental sickness. Ginsberg spent most of his youth with his mother in a mental hospital. According to biographer Barry Miles, “Naomi’s illness gave Allen an enormous empathy and tolerance for madness, neurosis, and psychosis.” His experiences with his mother and dealing with her psychological illness were a major inspiration for his two famous works, "Howl" and “Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg”.Ginsberg began writing some articles about political and social issues and expressed his own thoughts to The New York Times in his youth. During his high school spare time, he was addicted to reading Walt Whitman’s poems, which inspire him a lot and help him create his own style of writing.
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### **Allen Ginsberg Poems:**

Iron Horse (The Coach House Press, 1972)
Planet News, 1961–1967 (City Lights, 1968)
Reality Sandwiches, 1953–1960 (City Lights, 1963)
The Yage Letters (with William S. Burroughs, 1963)
Kaddish and Other Poems (City Lights, 1961)
Empty Mirror: Early Poems (Totem Press, 1961)
Howl and Other Poems (City Lights, 1956)

#### **“Howl” summary**

One of Allen Ginsberg’s well-known poems, “Howl”, are repelled because of its rejection to the real society, religious, and sexual values of American capitalism. This piece of the poem is composed of three parts. Ginsberg said the reason why he willing to use the long line in Howl because inspired by Walt Whitman. That is an attempt to “free speech for emotional expression.” After reading, I was deeply touched by this piece because Ginsberg adds his own personal experiences and thoughts towards the social phenomenon of that time into this poem in order to give voice to those silenced by the dominant culture, to produce from their silence.

* ===**Allen Ginsberg’s death**===

Ginsberg was treated for a tropical disease in 1960 and died at the age of 70 on April 5, 1997, of liver cancer complicated by hepatitis. At the time of his death, he was surrounded by his family members and friends.

### Resources:

1.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen\_Ginsberg

2.http://www.supersummary.com/howl/summary/

3.https://beatniksubculture.weebly.com/impact.html

4. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/allen-ginsberg-136.php