Critical survey of poetry. Beat poets PDF
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Critical Survey of Poetry Beat Poets Editor Rosemary M. Canfield Reisman Charleston Southern University Salem Press A Division of EBSCO Publishing, Ipswich, Massachusetts Cover photo: Allen Ginsberg(© Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis) Copyright © 2012, by Salem Press, A Division of EBSCO Publishing, Inc. Allrightsinthisbookarereserved.Nopartofthisworkmaybeusedorreproducedin anymannerwhatsoeverortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicorme- chanical,includingphotocopy,recording,oranyinformationstorageandretrievalsys- tem,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthecopyrightownerexceptinthecaseofbrief quotationsembodiedincriticalarticlesandreviewsorinthecopyingofimagesdeemed tobefreelylicensedorinthepublicdomain.Forinformationaddressthepublisher,Sa- lem Press, at [email protected]. ISBN: 978-1-58765-898-3 ISBN: 978-1-42983-647-4 CONTENTS Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv BeatPoets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 PaulBlackburn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 RichardBrautigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CharlesBukowski. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 GregoryCorso. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 DianediPrima. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 RobertDuncan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 WilliamEverson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 LawrenceFerlinghetti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 JackGilbert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 AllenGinsberg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 ThomGunn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 AnselmHollo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 BobKaufman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 PhilipLarkin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 MichaelMcClure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 CharlesOlson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 KennethPatchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 MariePonsot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 KennethRexroth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 GarySnyder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 GilbertSorrentino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 JackSpicer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 DianeWakoski. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 PhilipWhalen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 ChecklistforExplicatingaPoem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 GuidetoOnlineResources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 GeographicalIndex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 CategoryIndex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 SubjectIndex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 iii CONTRIBUTORS John Alspaugh Thomas C. Foster Rebecca Kuzins Richmond, Virginia University of Michigan-Flint Pasadena, California Franz G. Blaha Morgan Gibson William T. Lawlor University of Nebraska- Urbana, Illinois University of Wisconsin- Lincoln Stevens Point Sarah Hilbert David Bromige Pasadena, California Leon Lewis Sonoma State University Appalachian State Tracy Irons-Georges University Susan Butterworth Glendale, California Salem State College C. Lynn Munro Maura Ives Belton, Missouri Ann M. Cameron Texas A&M University Indiana University, Kokomo David Peck Philip K. Jason Laguna Beach, California David A. Carpenter United States Naval Eastern Illinois University Academy Mark Rich Cashton, Wisconsin Richard Collins Lesley Jenike Xavier University of Columbus College of Art and William Skaff Louisiana Design Baltimore, Maryland Desiree Dreeuws Mark A. Johnson Martha Modena Vertreace- Sunland, California Central Missouri State Doody University Kennedy-King College Thomas L. Erskine Salisbury University Sheila Golburgh Johnson Donald E. Winters, Jr. Santa Barbara, California Minneapolis Community Jack Ewing College Boise, Idaho Leslie Ellen Jones Pasadena, California iv BEAT POETS Thelabel“beat”designatesagroupofwritersandtheirfriendsandaffiliateswho metatColumbiaUniversityinNewYorkandgainedfameandnotorietyintheperiod between1944 and1961 astheBeatgeneration.Themeaningandoriginoftheword “beat” are subject to some debate, and explanations range from “downtrodden” and “wearyoftheworld”to“beatific”and“angelic.”However,thereisgeneralagreement thatJackKerouac(1922-1969)firstusedthetermin1948tocharacterizehimselfanda smallgroupoffriends:AllenGinsberg(1926-1997),WilliamBurroughs(1914-1997), Neal Cassady (1926-1968), and Herbert Huncke (1915-1996), with Cassady and Hunckeservingmainlyasearlyliterarymodelsandmusesfortheirwriterfriends.Alit- tlelater,GregoryCorso(1930-2001)joinedthem.Closelyassociatedwiththispioneer- inggroupwereLucienCarr(1925-2005),whointroducedKerouac,Ginsberg,andBur- roughstooneanother,andJohnClellonHolmes(1926-1998),whosenovelGo(1952) is the first semifactual chronicle of the early life of the Beats. Thename“Beatgeneration”wasdesignednotonlytosignifythedowntrodden,ren- egadepositiontheyoungmenwereproudtoholdinanincreasinglyconformist,sta- tus-conscious,andmaterialisticsocietybutalsotohintattheiraffinitytothelostgener- ation,asimilarlydisaffectedgroupofAmericanwritersintheperiodafterWorldWarI. Likemanyartistsandintellectualsoftheirtime,theearlyBeatpoetsweredisillusioned becausetheendofWordWarIIhadnotledtoaspiritualandculturalreawakening.On thecontrary,theColdWaranditsthreatofnuclearannihilationloomedoverthenation, partoftheexpansionofAmericancapitalistinfluenceintheworldwiththehelpofan ever-more-powerful military-industrialcomplex. Themaingoalof McCarthyism—a campaigntodriveoutcommunistsympathizersledbySenatorJosephMcCarthyinthe mid-1950’s—wastoenlistAmericansinthestruggleagainstcommunism,anditshos- tilitywasnotlimitedtocommunismanditssympathizersbutextendedtoallindividual- istsandthosewhodeviatedfromthewhiteProtestantnorm.Therefore,itshouldcome asnosurprisethatU.S.senatorJosephMcCarthyoncebrandedtheBeatgenerationas one of the greatest dangers in the United States. TheearlyBeatpoetswereconfrontedbytheproblemfacedbyallindividualistsin repressivesocieties,namely,howtomaintaintheirautonomyandintegrityasindividu- alsagainsttheoverwhelmingpressuretoconformandtofitin.Theanswerwasanopen flouting of accepted social, sexual, and literary norms; the confrontation of a cold, mechanisticworldwithunabashedromanticism;andareturntotraditionalAmerican formsofliteraryexpressioninreactiontotheprevailingmodernistpoetryandtheNew Criticism that supported it. Most Beat poets agreed with the assessment of William Carlos Williams(1883-1963) thatT. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922) had setback Americanpoetrybytwentyyears;theyfullyintendedtocorrectthismisstepbywriting 1 Beat Poets Critical Survey of Poetry spontaneous, open-form Dionysian poetry in defiance of the prevailing structured Apollonian poetry of the formalists. TheBeatpoetsthereforesawthemselvesnotonlyasaliterarymovementbutalsoas acounterculturemovementinwhichtheabandonmentoftheliteraryformsandstruc- turesofformalistpoetrywastheobviousexternalparalleltotheirrejectionofthevalues ofAmericanmainstreamculture.Ratherthanusingpoliticalactivismasanagentfor change, which would have meant the sacrifice of their individualism to a collective, theychosetoremainanopen,interactivecollectionofindividuals,unitedonlybytheir oppositiontoprevailingsocialconditionswithinverywidelyvaryingparameters:the subjugationofformtocontent;therejectionoftraditionalChristianityformoremysti- cal,meditativereligions,suchasBuddhismandHinduism;anattractiontoandidentifi- cationwithoppressedminorities;thebeliefinspontaneous,unrevisedexpression(first thought/bestthought);andtheliberationofpreconscioustruthfromcenturiesofratio- nalandsocialbrainwashing,withtheaidofmeditationorhallucinogens.Onlywhen thisspiritualliberationoftheindividualhadbeenachievedwould meaningful social change be possible. Literary antecedents Despitetheircarefullycultivatedimageas“holybarbarians,”theBeatpoetswere wellread,andtheirworkisfullofintertextualreferencestopastandcontemporarywrit- erswhomtheysawastheirliteraryancestors.Mostofthosementionedarewriterswho sawthemselvesasbeinginconflictwiththeirmainstreamcultures.Ofparticularimpor- tance to the Beat poets were the British Romantic poets Percy Bysshe Shel- ley(1792-1822)andespeciallyWilliamBlake(1757-1827),whomGinsbergclaimsto haveseenandheardinhallucinatoryvisionsin1948andwhomheconsideredapower- fulinfluenceonhisearlypoetry.Blake’s“darkSatanicmills”surelyservedasaninspi- rationforGinsberg’sfigureofMolochinhismasterpiece“Howl”(1955).Theworksof AmericanRomanticpoetHenryDavidThoreau(1817-1862),withtheiranticonformist, antitechnologicalmessage,wereamongthefavoritebooksofmanyBeatpoets,andthe free-versepropheticpoetryofWaltWhitman(1819-1892)clearlyinspiredGinsberg’s best poems, including “Howl.” BeatpoetryalsocontainsfrequentreferencestotheFrenchSymbolistpoets.Arthur Rimbaud(1854-1891),inparticular,fascinatedmanyofthemwithhiswildBacchantic poetry and his dissolute lifestyle, including his homosexuality, which frightened the bourgeoisie of his time. Closertotheirownera,DadaismandSurrealismdirectlyinfluencedtheworksofthe Beatpoets,sinceanumberofthemhaddirectcontactwithDadaistandSurrealistpoets. KennethRexroth(1905-1982)andLawrenceFerlinghetti(born1919)translatedtheir poetry;GinsbergandCorsoaresaidtohavemetMarcelDuchamp(1887-1968), and GinsbergallegedlykissedDuchamp’sshoeattheoccasion.WhatattractedtheBeatsto 2 Beat Poets Beat Poets alloftheseearlierpoetswastheirfloutingofsocialandliteraryconvention,aswelltheir shockingthetimidandconventionalbourgeoisiewiththeirabrasiveandoftenvulgar attacks on middle-class morality. The Beat moves west DuringtheformativeyearsoftheBeatpoets,roughlybetween1945and1955,the literaryestablishmenttooknonoticeofthematall.OnlyKerouacandHolmesmanaged topublishsubstantialworks(TheTownandtheCity,1950,andGo,respectively),while CorsolanguishedinjailandBurroughsmovedfirsttoTexasandfromtheretoAlgiers andMexico,writingnovelsthatwouldbepublishedmuchlater.Duringtheseyears,the originalNewYorkBeatpoetswerediscussingandexchangingbookswhiletraveling acrosstheUnitedStatesandabroad,gatheringmaterialfortheirfuturepublications,and exchangingtheirworks-in-progressinmanuscriptformanddebatingtheirmeritheat- edlyincoffeehousesandjazzclubs.WhiletheBeatpoetstoiledinalmostcompleteob- scurityduringtheseyears,nearlyalltheworksthatbroughtthemfameandnotoriety were completed before 1956, including Kerouac’s novels On the Road (1957), The DharmaBums(1958),VisionsofCody(1960,1972),andTheSubterraneans(1958),as well as his long, epic poem, Mexico City Blues (1959). During the same period, GinsbergattractedtheattentionofthepoetWilliams.HesentsomeofhispoemstoWil- liams,who becameGinsberg’s mentor. Despiteallthiscreativeactivity,none of the NewYorkBeatpoetsmanagedtobreakintotheveryexclusiveandsnobbishNewYork literaryestablishment,firmlycontrolledbytheacademicformalistpoets,anditbecame apparent to Ginsberg that a change of scenery was necessary. FollowingKerouac,whodidsomeofhisbestwritingwhilelivingwithCassadyand hiswifeinSanFrancisco,GinsbergmovedinwiththeCassadysforawhilebutthen tookajobwithamarketingfirmindowntownSanFranciscoin1954.Armedwithalet- ter of introduction by Williams, he discovered an already vibrant bohemian literary communitypresidedoverbyRexrothandconsistingofagroupofpoetswhoweretry- ingtoreviveearlieropenformsofpoetryandwhoemphasizedspokenpoetry,oftenac- companiedbyjazz,overtheprintedform.Asabonus,JamesLaughlin,thepublisherof NewDirectionsmagazine,gavethemanoutletfortheiravant-gardepoetrythathadnot beenavailabletotheBeatpoetsinNewYork,wheretheirWestCoastcounterpartswere knownaseccentricprovincials.Itisthisfortuitousmeetingoftheyouthful,iconoclastic EastCoastBeatpoetswiththemoreestablishedso-calledFirstSanFranciscoRenais- sance that led to the genesis of Beat literature as it is presently defined; indeed, this meldingofEastCoastandWestCoastavant-gardepoetryissometimesandconfusingly calledtheSecondSanFranciscoPoetryRenaissance,althoughthelabelBeatgeneration isthemorefrequentlyusedterm.TheNewYorkBeatpoetswerenowsupplementedby thelikesofGinsberg’sloverandlifepartnerPeterOrlovsky(born1933),GarySnyder (born1930),MichaelMcClure(born1932),Ferlinghetti,PhilipWhalen(1923-2002), 3 Beat Poets Critical Survey of Poetry and Lew Welch (1926-1971), as well as former members of the now defunct Black Mountain College, such as Charles Olson (1910-1970) and Robert Creeley (1926-2005).ApartfromconfirmingtheNewYorkBeatpoetsintheirformalinnova- tions—inthedirectionofopen-verseforms,aswellastowardspontaneityandspoken poetry—theWestCoastBeatsinstilledinthemagreaterawarenessofNativeAmerican and Latino cultures and reinforced their incipient interest in Asian mysticism and ecological themes. From anonymity to fame ThebreakthroughfortheBeatpoetsthateventuallycatapultedthemtonationalfame occurredonOctober7,1955,attheSixGalleryinSanFranciscoatapoetryreadingthat hasbecomeanintegralpartoftheBeatlegend.ThereadingwassuggestedbyMcClure toGinsberg,whoatfirstrefused,claimingthathehadnothingtocontribute;hechanged hismindaftercomposingthefirstpartof“Howl.”Theparticipantsinthereadingrepre- sentaninterestingcross-sectionofalltheelementsofBeatliterature.Rexroth,theelder statesmanofthefirstpoetryrenaissance,wasthemoderatorandintroducedthepoets. Hisfriendandcohort,PhilipLamantia(1927-2005),readnothisownsurrealisticpo- emsbuttheworkofarecentlydeceasedfriend,andthreemembersoftheyoungerWest Coastgenerationreadpoemsthatillustratedtheirecologicalandmysticalcontribution toBeatliterature.McClurerecited“PointLobosAnimism”and“FortheDeathofOne HundredWhales,”bothofwhichhavebeenfrequentlyanthologized;Snyderread“A BerryFeast”;andWhalenrecited“PlusÇaChange.”Alsopresentwasanincreasingly intoxicatedKerouac,whorefusedtoreadhisownworkbutcheeredtheotherpoetson; he recounts the event in his novelThe Dharma Bums. The crowning point of the evening, however, was Ginsberg’s first reading of “Howl,”whichproducedasensationandalmostsingle-handedlycatapultedtheBeat poets to fame. Ferlinghetti, who had opened City Lights Bookstore in 1953, had re- centlyexpandeditintoapublishingventureandaskedGinsbergforpermissiontopub- lish the poem in a famous telegram modeled after the one Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)senttoWhitmanattheoccasionofthefirstappearanceofLeavesofGrass (1855),exactlyonecenturybefore.Havingreadwhatarenowparts1and3ofthefinal version,Ginsbergquicklycompletedparts2and4(“FootnotetoHowl”),andthecom- pleteworkwaspublishedbyFerlinghettiasnumberfourofthePocketPoetsseriesin 1956,afterconsiderablerevision.Thisslimvolume,Howl,andOtherPoems,remains inprintmorethanfiftyyearslaterandiswithoutquestionthemostfamousandenduring work of Beat poetry. “Howl”isaverycleverlystructuredwork,amazinglyso,sinceitwaswrittenina drug-assistedfrenzyandundertheinfluenceofKerouac’stheoryofspontaneous,unre- visedcomposition.ThefirstpartpresentsanightmarishvisionofmodernAmerica,in whichthespeakerpropheticallyenvisions“thebestmindsofmygeneration”marginal- 4 Beat Poets Beat Poets izedanddriventodesperateactsorlandinginmentalinstitutionsfortheir“deviant”life- styles.Thesecondpartidentifiesthoseelementsincontemporarysocietythatarere- sponsible for this dire state of affairs: materialism, conformity, and mechanization leading toacataclysm.The metaphor for theseforces isMoloch, thebiblicalidolto whomtheCanaanitessacrificedchildren.Thespeakerclaimsthatthecharacterspor- trayedinpart1havebeensacrificedtothisidol.Molochisalsothenameofanindus- trial,demoniacfigureinFritzLang’sfilmMetropolis(1927),whichGinsbergacknowl- edges as a direct influence. Part 3 uses a specific person, Ginsberg’s friend Carl Solomon,withwhomhespentsometimeinaNewYorkmentalhospital,asanillustra- tionfortheperniciousinfluenceofMoloch.Thehellishvisionofthefirstthreepartsis finallymitigatedby part 4, the“Footnote toHowl,” thatends thepoem on anote of redemptionbydeclaringthateventhisnightmarishworkispartofadivineplanand therefore “holy.” The golden age NewsoftheeventsattheSixGalleryreadingquicklyreachedtheEastCoast,despite thefactthat“Howl”didnotappearinprintuntilayearlater.Forthefirsttime,theEast- ern establishment showed some interest in the West Coast poets, and The New York TimessentRichardEberhart,anestablishmentpoetandacademic,towriteareporton theSanFranciscoRenaissance.In“WestCoastRhythms,”publishedinTheNewYork TimesBookReview(September2,1956),EberhartnotedthatwithregardtotheBeatpo- ets,“Ambiguityisdespised,ironyisconsideredweakness,thepoemasasystemofcon- notationsisthrownoutinfavoroflong-linedenotativestatements....Rhymeisout- lawed. Whitman is the only god worthy of emulation.” About Ginsberg, he wrote: Themostremarkablepoemoftheyounggroupis“Howl”...ahowlagainsteverythinginour mechanisticcivilizationwhichkillsthespirit....ItisBiblicalinitsrepetitivegrammatical build-up....Itlaysbarethenervesofsufferingandspiritualstruggle.Itspositiveforceand energycomefromaredemptivequalityoflove,althoughitdestructivelycataloguesevilsof our time from physical deprivation to madness. Whilethiswasaconsiderablestepforward,mostEasternreviewersandcriticsre- mainedscathingintheircondemnationoftheWestCoast“barbarians.”Whatreallyat- tractedtheattentionofthepublictotheBeatpoetswasaseriesofhighlypublicizedob- scenitytrials,mostnotablytheoneinvolvingGinsberg’s“Howl”in1957.Thejudge’s decisionthat“Howl,”despitemanyobjectionablepassages,wasnotobscenebecauseit had“someredeemingsocialimportance”createdasensationandforeverchangedpor- nographylawsandprosecutionsintheUnitedStates.Ferlinghetti,whoseCityLights Publishers was a codefendant in the trial, facetiously recommended a medal for the prosecutor,becausemorethantenthousandcopiesofthebookweresoldduringand immediately after the trial. 5
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