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Allen Ginsberg (3 June 1926 – 5 April 1997 / Newark, New Jersey)
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Irwin Allen Ginsber was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression. Ginsberg is best known for his epic poem "Howl", in which he celebrated his fellow "angel-headed hipsters" and harshly denounced what he saw as the destructive forces of capitalism and conformity in the United States. This poem is one of the classic poems of the Beat Generation. The poem, which was dedicated to writer Carl Solomon, opens:
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
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Quotations
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''who scribbled all night rocking and rolling over lofty incantations which in the yellow morning were stanzas of gibberish.''
Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926), U.S. poet. Howl (l. 51). . . Allen Ginsberg: Collected Poems 1947-1980 (1984) Harper and Row.
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Real holy laughter in the river! They saw it all! the wild eyes!
Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926), U.S. poet. Howl (l. 93). . . Allen Ginsberg: Collected Poems 1947-1980 (1984) Harper and Row.
the holy yells! They bade farewell! They jumped off the roof! to
solitude! waving! carrying flowers! Down to the river! i...
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''who cooked rotten animals lung heart feet tailborscht & tortillas
Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926), U.S. poet. Howl (l. 52). . . Allen Ginsberg: Collected Poems 1947-1980 (1984) Harper and Row.
dreaming of the pure vegetable kingdom,''
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''angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to
Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926), U.S. poet. Howl (l. 3. . . Allen Ginsberg: Collected Poems 1947-1980 (1984) Harper and Row.
the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,''
i love the irreverence
Why is Howl not part of his poems on this website, since it is actually his most famous poem?
@Ray Davis You know? I think this a good point. I enjoyed Howl and for the better part of month or so I've been trying to like Ginsberg, I wanted to, but I honestly feel like its laughably adolescent gibberish. Too many times I finish one of his poems and think...ooooook...great. Whatever.
He wrote a poem on our Liberation War 1971 standing on the street of my city Jessore. I feel proud of it.