Today to celebrate National Poetry Month is a link to Ginsberg's Howl. Which was the cool rant rave gay sexual political revolution poem of the 1950s, despite the fact the Ginsberg wrote it for a private audience. It's too long to post here. Read it elsewhere.
Ginsberg was interviewed by the Kinsey Foundation, and ushered in a new generation of homosexual artists in the New York, San Francisco, and Colorado scene.
One of the cooler things I ever did was attend a reading by Ginsberg at the University Of Ky in about '82. We sat in the front row, and my friend got his copy of Howl signed. He also sang several songs, accompanying himself on harmonium.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree: Ginsburg wasn't writing a gay rant, he was writing a polemic. Every time I read that poem, I find new things in it, but I have to argue that the gay imagery is not used to be gay, or promote homosexuality - it's used as a metaphor.
ReplyDeleteAh, but it is one of my all time favorite poems! I rode to San Francisco on my Royal Enfield (4,000 miles, in 2 weeks; it was quite a ride!) to get a copy of the poem at City Lights. Purchasing it was, well, anti-climatic. To say the least! (Well, I did get my hair cut by an artist of the scissors, just up the street. So it wasn't a total blow out. :-)
Carolyn Ann
I agree with you...Gay rant was too simplistic. Though much of the homosexuality was real, not just metaphorical. Yes, it does not promote homosexuality, but it does/did bring a lifestyle to light that was marginalized...Sounds awesome, your ride...
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