Throughout time there have been many writers and poets. And with these many writers and poets their work has been different in what they write about. And their work has made an impact on society and on others. And yet in this time some writers have influenced the work of others. Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg who are separated by a time gap have a kind of connection. Both of these amazing writers wrote pieces of work that are considered a catalyst for the Beat Generation. These two courageous writers went against the norm and wrote about something different. Although they are different they both explored new topics. Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” and Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” have similarities right from the first page. The first thing that they both have in common is the structure of their work. Both “Howl” and “Song of Myself” have long lines and they keep like that. Having these long lines makes the story flow. Doing this in these two works made it have some kind of steady rhythm so it was easy to read. Also another similarity Whitman had on Ginsberg was at the beginning of each sentence. In “Howl” the beginning would always start with “who”. In “Song of Myself” the first word of the line is “Nor.” This would be happening quite often. Ginsberg and Whitman both wrote about topics against what other writers would talk about. Whitman would write about sexuality/the human body and it scared off some of his readers. For example in “Song of Myself” on page 28-29:
Walt Whitman is commonly known as the bard of America, a poet who wrote about the common man of the country as had never been done before. He was able to do so because he was a common man, as can be seen in lines such as "This is the city and I am one of the citizens." Within his poetry he often used certain tools of the typical epic tale, borrowed from such tales as The Iliad, and The Odyssey. All of these tools can be seen within the lines of his lengthy poem of fifty-two sections "Song of Myself." The first of these tools include an invocation of the muse, as can be seen in the lines "I loafe and invite my soul," which appears to be an invocation of a muse, or his own
Gianna Cichocki AP Language and Composition Dr. Biseca March 8, 2024. Song of Myself Rhetorical Analysis Song of Myself by Walt Whitman is a classic piece written during the transcendentalism movement. The 1855 poem expresses ideas of self identification, self appreciation, and the natural world. Whitman passionately juxtaposes a suffocating and liberating environment and utilizes rhetorical questions to evoke a sense of individual freedom and connectivity to the Earth.
Walt Whitman is one of americas greatest poet’s. He was born on long Island at a time before it became a city it was all fields and farms at that time. He left school at age 11; but he kept on educating himself especially he was reading the works of emerson who was a famous author and lecturer. Whitman worked as a newspaper editor in Manhattan but he had the hope and desire to become a Poet. He read emersons essay, “the Poet”, and he started to work on his most famous of all his works which was called “Leave’s of Grass”. It was not a hit at-the-time, the public mostly called it scandalous; because it dealt in part with sexual desire and passion. However, he sent a copy of it to emerson, Emerson was one of the few who praised it. Whitman
Century apart, Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman share similar cultural, political and moral values, which they express in their literary work. Whitman’s writing is considered controversial for the eighteen hundreds. He sets the stage for generations to come breaking way from the strict Victorian poetic tradition by writing in free verse. Ginsberg follows his footsteps when composing his poem “Howl” by writing in long lines almost resembling prose and subdividing the poem into several parts. Likewise, he uses numerous repetitions to achieve rhythmicity of his verse. Ginsberg’s poem is heavily influenced by Whitman’s philosophy. The works “Song of myself” and “Howl” are similar in ideas, structure and underling themes. The two authors protest against old traditions imposed on the individual by corrupt society, stand against conformity and put emphasis on the need for change. They identify with their generation and dwell on themes such as sexuality, religion and the state of American society.
Although often associated with two completely different eras in American history, both Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman share a great deal in common as two of America’s most famous poets. When it comes to the craft of poetry, both men grew to become extremely influencing figures both within the field and within American society. For example, as mentioned in his biography by Ed Folsom and Kenneth Price, Whitman has had such an influence on others that, “Poetic responses to Whitman sometimes fall into his cadences and in other ways mimic his style” (Folsom and Price). Additionally, Whitman has also influenced, “fiction, film, architecture, music, painting, dance, and other arts” (Folsom and Price) and is known world-wide. Likewise, Ginsberg influenced poetry, for “the Beats”, “encouraged a break from traditional values, supporting drug-use as a means of enlightenment”
"So these poems are a series of experiments with the formal organization of the long line... I realized at the time that Whitman's form had rarely been further explored..." (636). Therefore Allen Ginsberg went on to attempt this form that so inspired him and it is of no coincidence that Ginsberg's style is often analogous with Whitman's.
The primary focus for Song of Myself, contrary to popular belief, is not so much as solidified through some self-absorbed, or narcissistic ideal. Whitman’s focus is actually established within the dual-consciousness of man as the center of his own universe, sure, but strictly from the perspectives to come by legitimately broader outreach, from what’s seen extending beyond ourselves. Therefore, if we end up central to everything else, it’s by his deliberate move of framing us as some kind of arbitrator of things on alternating ends of a spectrum, or an opposing side of a coin, that our horizons are loosened to dichotomies, or wholesale contradictions formerly unrecognized. The ability to see things as more than they appear, though grounded
“Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does.” Allen Ginsberg believed this wholly and based his means of poetry by what he said in this sentence. One cannot censor thoughts, just as one can’t censor expression. Ginsberg faced controversy for sexual content and profanities that he used in his poetry, but those were merely his private thoughts that he brought to the public. His poetry fueled a whole generational revolution in the 1950s. In times of cookie cutter uniformity Allen Ginsberg went against norm and wrote explicit poetry for the sake of expressing a
When I read Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of myself”, it took me a minuet to realize that it was a collection of poems written into one long poem. Once I learned that I made reading it easier.
The Beat Generation began in the 1950’s with a group of writers who took part of this movement were Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, Bob Dylan, and William S. Burroughs. They were a group of rebellious free thinkers as well as famous authors during their time. As time progressed into the 1960’s, these men were known as hippies. The Beat Generation was a literary movement. Their radical ways of thinking helped shape what allowed literary figures to publish. The poem “America” written by Allen Ginsberg is one of the many creative works written during the 1950’s. Ginsberg’s poem contains a free verse style, voices such as anger and hatred towards society, and themes such as materialism and The Cold War. This form of writing is what makes his literary works tie into being a
The Beat Generation of poets was created by a group of poets in the 1950s that were part of a new culture in literature. They chose to use their experiences in their writings which were widely criticized as well as loved by many readers. Two of the most influential Beat Poets of that Generation of writers were Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The Beat Generation poetry was the first poets to write about non-conventional subjects as well as using different forms of expression in their works. This generation of poets greatly influenced poets such as Anne Sexton, who wrote about personal experiences as well. The Beat Generation’s style of poetry have influenced many generations of poets after them.
Title- The song of myself sounds like a poem of self expression, and a gospel of Walt Whitman's’ self beliefs. When his optimistic outlook on life is brought into perspective, one could also conclude that the poem was about his positive and radical outlook on life, because it is a song of himself, his personal expression.
The thoughts most people are scared to share they was not. Ginsberg writing showed a lot of people how to express themselves. I am learning how to express myself more by reading Ginsberg’s poetry. Nowadays Ginsberg is still a motivator. I wished the poet was still alive. He would change a lot of things other than literature. The beat generation made people want to come together and work as a team. Ginsberg went through a lot of things growing up. He was wise. He knew how to lead his fellow beats. He had the experience. Allen prayed for the better, but prepared for the worse. It felt like he wasn’t afraid of what would happen to him. Nothing he experienced in his life lead him to have those thoughts. Nothing I had experienced in my life led me to expect what would happen to me in my loneliness(Morgan,2006). I wish I had Ginsberg’s mindset. He had 20/20 vision. That is what his fellow beats loved about him. Allen didn’t want to take all the credit for all his work and accomplishments. He wanted his fellow beats to be recognized as well. They did things together from city to city and Ginsberg wanted everyone to know that. I like the fact that Ginsberg wasn’t a greedy person that wanted all the attention. Some people want to take the credit for every single
Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was an important figure in the Beat Generation Movement that took place right before the revolutionary American 60¡¦s. Other major beat writers (also called ¡§beatnicks¡¨) were: Gregory Corso, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs. The beat poetry was meant to be oral and very effective in readings. It developed out of poetry readings in underground clubs.(a beautiful image of these secret clubs can be found in the movie called ¡§Dead Poet¡¦s Society¡¨ with Robin Williams playing the main character). Some argued that it was the grandparent of rap music. The term ¡§Beat
Walt Whitman is regarded as one of the most influential poets in American history while Allen Ginsberg was and still is considered a leading figure of the Beat Generation. Both of these poets have similar poetic tendencies even though they were almost a century apart from each other. Walt Whitman helped to inspire many literary descendants ranging from writers to poets alike. One of his most famous poems is in his book, “Leaves of Grass”, called “Song of Myself”. Allen Ginsberg can be considered one of Walt Whitman’s literary descendants due to the numerous similarities between “Song of Myself” and Ginsberg’s “Howl”, which is about the real experiences of Americans after World War II.