Here’s an essay I just finished a few days ago. I’m submitting it to an essay contest for the The Columbia Review.
America I’m Addressing You
An Examination of the Poem ‘America’ by Allen Ginsberg
With the approaching chaos of the sixties and seventies right around the corner, late 1950’s America was on the brink of social revolution. The Cold War was in full swing as suburbia flourished and the ‘American Dream’ was generally being sought out by each working man. McCarthyism and the Red Scare were prevalent during a time in which political disloyalty to ‘democracy’ in favor of communist or socialist thought was highly sought out and suppressed. Consumerism appeared to grow with the introduction of many new home appliances as United States factory production increased. The country had become a lily white exaltation of the working heterosexual white male. It appeared on the surface as if every citizen was happy with this way of life in which everyone thought predictably the same and never vocalized any conflicting thought that did not coincide with the popular American visions of the day. That is, except for some groups that chose to challenge the molding. One of those groups was the Beats, a collection of writers and artists who created work that challenged the status quo. Together this group wrote honestly and intently, and slowly began to offer a voice to a growing sentiment of change that would challenge the ideas of what it meant to be American.
Of this group, one poet’s voice stands out as a contributor to the growing literary revolution encased with the Beats. That poet was Allen Ginsberg. Never since Walt Whitman, has one poet so passionately and effectively addressed the state of America. Whatever poetic torch was left behind by Whitman, Allen Ginsberg chose to pick it up and run with it. Allen Ginsberg single-handedly built his career around the notion of speaking directly, honestly, critically, and supportively with America as a geographical location, a nation, and as an ideal. Born in 1926, in Newark New Jersey, Ginsberg attended Columbia would become a traveling leader of the counter-culture movement (Felver 194). Though Ginsberg was a prolific writer, there is one poem which specifically stands out as a testament to his vision of America. This poem is America.
Published in 1956 by City Lights Books, in a collection titled Howl and Other Poems, America presented to its readers a uniquely poetic take on the issues facing the country in the late fifties (Felver 194). In what perhaps was an updated version of Vistas by Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg crafts a poem in a uniquely Beat style involving stream of consciousness writing that portrays a conversation the poet is having with America. The reader is offered a personal view of the poet’s ruminations and opinions on the issues of the day. In this work, Ginsberg successfully outlines the problems facing his generation. Ginsberg brings to light many issues that American’s were feeling, but not talking about. He raises questions of politics and policies, consumerism, religion and spirituality, media, war, communism, racism, and homophobia all in one piece. The poet’s direct approach and candid vocalizations as opposed to a symbolic, overly metaphorical presentation, provides an opportunity for readers of all literary levels to understand his message. In order to get a clearer picture of the themes, style, and effectiveness in this work, it is useful to move through the poem to analyze what key lines offer.
In America, Allen Ginsberg personifies the United States of America, and speaks directly to his country of residence. By personifying the country, he allows himself to humanize the larger notion of the ‘State’ so that he may have a one on one conversation. He questions the State and holds it accountable just like he would a friend whose actions he might have disagreed with. The poetic function of personifying the nation allows the reader to sympathize with and understand Ginsberg’s concern for his country’s state of affairs. While Ginsberg is speaking consciously as a citizen, he is also speaking for other citizens that may share his sentiments. Throughout the poem, Ginsberg moves between extremely personal confessions which during 1956, the year of America’s creation, were heavily repressed to more general comments on his reaction to policies enacted by the country.
In the opening lines of the poem, Ginsberg names that which he is speaking to: America. “America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing” (line 1). For a generation living through the Cold War in which fear, repression, jingoism, and hyper-patriotism were ‘essential,’ Ginsberg comes out to state that he has given his country his whole existence and is now sucked dry of livelihood. This establishes ‘America’ as an all consuming, insatiable entity that is never satisfied with what its citizens can offer it.
In the second line, Ginsberg offers his audience a personal snapshot, “America two dollars and twenty seven cents January 17, 1956.” In conjunction with clarifying himself as poor and lower class, he also sets a very concrete date upon which he is writing this poem for a point of reference. This sets a particular tone for the poem, because the audience realizes this poem is written by a lower class person expressing his experience surviving in his nation instead of a rich lofty poet speaking down to the masses.
The third line is an interesting choice in, “I can’t stand my own mind.” By making this statement three lines in, the reader is left wondering whether Allen Ginsberg is insane or incredibly brilliant. He creates the image that his mind and he are at constantly struggling, even though Allen himself would like to lead a peaceful existence. He is a poet who constantly lives in a revolving world of cognitions. In relation to ‘America’ there is the question that Ginsberg might be coming clean about a personal madness of his, the usefulness of which is undetermined except that in the Beat stream of consciousness style, this establishes that the reader is in the mind of the poet.
After the first three lines, in which Allen introduces his status, both void of energy and money and constantly at war with his own mind, he begins to address his concerns and questions his country. He makes a transition in tone to signal a conversational poem with language involving ‘we’ as if he’s speaking to a group that comprises ‘America.’ In line four he asks, “America when will we end the human war?” followed promptly by, “Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb” (5). Not only did these lines create a censorship uproar during the repressive late fifties with their wording, but Ginsberg comes out to state that he is highly opposed to war and the atom bomb, both of which his country was responsible for. This resistance to nuclear weapons and war would become a key feature in Allen’s life work placing him at odds with the pro-war decisions being made in government at the time. Many of his other poems would address similar themes. Now that Allen had introduced politics and his stance on war into the poem, he continues to address his concerns for the country by asking pointed questions and making blanket statements. He holds his country up to its own standards and lays bare what he envisions should change to make the nation less hypocritical and more in line with the image it wishes to have. A further examination of particular lines in the poem will explain Ginsberg’s hopes.
In line eight, Ginsberg initiates a series of seven questions which cause those reading the poem to reflect on America’s potential and its failings. He opens the questioning by inquiring, “America when will you be angelic?”(8). By asking such a question, one could believe that Ginsberg views his nation as having the potential to be perfect authentically achieving its claim to ‘Freedom and Democracy.’ This question also leads one to believe that Ginsberg currently witnessed hypocrisy in what his country claimed to be, and what it was behaviorally. This sentiment is backed up by his next line, “When will you take off your clothes?” (9). Symbolically, this question of disrobing is perfectly placed after the question of Anglicism. When a person disrobes, they are laid bare and vulnerable, open and honest offering an innocence or cherubic quality. Clothes are a form of concealment which Ginsberg sees as perhaps the ‘image’ of America. Ginsberg wanted to see the true ‘America,’ the ‘Walt Whitman’ version of America that was under the late fifties image of America. He then proceeds to question his country in such a way to create ultimate reflection.
The next three questions of the poem are, “When will you look at yourself through the grave? / When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites? / America why are your libraries full of tears?”(10-12). The first of these questions begs his country to perceive itself as a dead person reflecting on whether his or her life was well lived. Clearly Allen believes his nation is acting in an irresponsible way, irreverent of the history it is writing for itself. This sentiment is backed up by the question he poses about ‘libraries full of tears.’ The poet is stating his observation on the history his country has already created for itself; one of pain. One can only assume a library full of tears would be a result of bad history in which many people suffered under the nation’s previous decisions. Though these questions are reflective and intense, Allen wanted to see action. He wanted to see his nation attempt to move towards a positive direction from there on out.
After presenting some questions to his nation, Ginsberg then surprises his audience with a change of tone from condemnatory inquisitions to stating in line 16 that, “America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world.” This line is stunning for a few reasons.
First and foremost the poet aligns himself with America claiming that the two of them are perfect. He does not isolate himself or his country here but rather joins his efforts for enlightened living with his country’s efforts to gain enlightenment. In the same breath, by stating that the two are perfect and NOT the next world, Ginsberg indicates immediacy. The phrasing tells the audience that instead of talking about the future or setting lofty goals to achieve down the road, both the poet and his country should recognize that the present moment is the precious moment; the moment in which one should act diligently and with care in mind.
From this point on in the poem, Ginsberg and ‘America’ seem to have some kind of argument or discussion. Instead of questioning his country, he makes rhythmic statements which act as a sort of protest. Ginsberg fights against everything that was being held down in the late fifties, and he does so in list form. From the wording Ginsberg used, it is clear that he was not only protesting the oppressive policies of his country, but he was doing so without being apologetic for standing up to the status quo.
The poet Ginsberg juxtaposes his claim of perfection in regards to his country by delivering the line: “Your machinery is too much for me” (18). It is unclear what the poet meant by machinery, but one can guess that he either meant bureaucratic political machinery, or the machinery of society. As the nature of this poem is the personal political, one would not assume that he intends to highlight industrial machinery or in other words, the industrial production of the United States. By claiming that the [political] machinery is ‘too much for me,’ the poet expresses disapproval of the way the country is being run. It’s as if he would accept partaking in the governmental and or societal structures if they properly functioned like a well-oiled machine.
From here the poet reveals to his audience his slight confusion about his relationship to his country. He brings to light that he is indeed involved in an argument by declaring that “There must be some other way to settle this argument.”(20). He then goes on to ask ‘America,’ “Are you being sinister or is this some form of practical joke?”(22). With these two lines, Ginsberg began to admit the struggle his relationship to United States was causing him. The reader literally feels the weight of his country upon the poet’s shoulders in attempting to solve his problems with ‘America’ some other way. He even goes as far as to question whether his country is ‘playing’ with him in some sinister fashion. One can sense that ‘America’ is pushing him to make some resolution and move on. Ginsberg uses language as if he were on trial as he states, “I’m trying to come to the point. / I refuse to give up my obsession. / America stop pushing I know what I’m doing.” (23-25).
This notion of being on trial is then followed up by a series of confessions that the poet realizes will place him in direct opposition to the approved of behavior for an American citizen in the late 1950’s. His testimonies are as follows:
“America I feel sentimental about the Wobblies
America I used to be a communist when I was a kid I’m not sorry.
I smoke marijuana every chance I get.
I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet.
When I go to Chinatown I get drunk and never get laid.
My mind is made up there’s going to be trouble.
You should have seen me reading Marx.
My psychoanalyst thinks I’m perfectly right.
I won’t say the Lord’s Prayer.
I have mystical visions and cosmic vibrations.” (29-38).
If one is to analyze these statements, one can ascertain that there were numerous taboos existing in late fifties America. Ginsberg wanted to speak up and admit that his citizenry involved multiple beliefs and actions deemed inappropriate by both the government and the American Public. Ginsberg’s sentimentality about the Wobblies would have been looked down upon as the Wobblies were members of the Industrial Workers of the World labor organization who dedicated themselves to the overthrow of capitalism (“Wobblies” Dictionary.com).
By admitting that he has care for this group, the poet aligns himself with a highly suspicious organization that threatened the narrow-minded government. He backed up this statement by announcing to his country, during the Cold War, that he was a communist as a child and that he wasn’t sorry. This statement spoke for the communists that did exist in the country and were being actively persecuted for their political persuasions. Ginsberg’s outright identification with this group instantly gave them a powerful voice. He iterates this thought by letting America know that he’s reading Marxist literature in line 34, which at the time was banned literature.
Also in this group of statements is Ginsberg’s confession that “he smokes marijuana every chance he gets,” and “sits in his house for days and stares at the roses in the closet” (31-32). At the time the poet wrote America, marijuana was (and still is) illegal and heavily persecuted in American society. Again, he is boldly claiming that he smokes it every chance he gets which indicates to the reader a tone of pride and honesty versus sorrow and guilt. His “sitting for days and staring at the roses in the closet” can easily be an acknowledgment that he enjoys being stoned and immobile in his home, also taboo for the workaholic late fifties. It is also possible that ‘roses in the closet’ is a metaphor for the poet’s homosexuality in which the roses are actually his closeted self.
Line 37 is brilliantly placed and incredibly pertinent to the message of the poem. His reference to his psychoanalyst’s approval is perhaps Ginsberg’s attempt to debunk any criticism upon his sanity. He is backing up his claims against his country with ‘science’ albeit psychological sciences. Line 37 is successfully used as poetic proof that perhaps solid mental health allows for the thoughts and actions that encompass this particular poet’s existence. He is stating that it is not necessary to get societal, cultural, or political approval to have these sentiments towards one’s own country. A very poignant line indeed, followed by even more radical statements.
Lines 38 and 39 witness Allen Ginsberg going for the throat of the American Christian religious stronghold. By coming out and stating that he won’t say the Lord’s Prayer, but instead has mystical visions and cosmic vibrations, he is refuting the necessity for Christianity in his own spiritual life replacing it with a freer personal relationship to the universe. In some eyes, these claims are the keystones of insanity. Having mystical visions and cosmic vibrations has been historically stereotyped to belong to gypsies, psychics, and schizophrenics. Ginsberg is using his poem to own his own spirituality and claim that he does not in fact need the Lord’s Prayer to be spiritually guided.
From this point on in the poem, the poet departs from confessional statements and begins to list important issues relevant to the current events of that time period. He does this while occasionally breaking the rhythm with a line or two that identified him as America itself and the conversation thus becomes one existing in his mind. This identification is heavily set off by lines 41 through line 50.
In line 41, the poet reminds America that “I am addressing you.” This device is used to once again grab the attention of both his audience and his subject. He has just spent 40 lines questioning and confessing to his nation who in the personified sense might have lost interest in his poetic rambles. Line 41 makes sure that ‘America’ is paying attention.
Between lines 41 and 50, Ginsberg makes the claim that the United States’ emotional life is being controlled by Time Magazine, which Ginsberg admits, is his obsession. This statement is incredibly interesting because Ginsberg is voicing concern over the media establishments running the country in the later part of the fifties. In his view, policies were being formed by opinions written into the major publications of the time and he saw this as wrong. Because Ginsberg was a poet he, much like Walt Whitman, recognized how impactful literature can be on a nation’s psyche. Perhaps the poet claims his obsession as a recognition that he has observed how the average citizen obsessed over Time. By line 50, a fascinating revelation comes into the poem. The poet is reflecting on his interaction with Time Magazine when he admits, “It occurs to me that I am America / I am talking to myself again” (49-50).
The juxtaposition with line 41 in which the poet claims that he is addressing America as a separate entity to now claiming that he is America and that he is addressing himself is a fascinating device within this piece. The metaphorical purpose of the change in person is necessary to illuminate the idea that America is based on democratic participation in which not only does one have the right to voice opinions to the government, but one also has every right to form the government, to be the government. The poet recognizes that his country is ideally made up of citizens who each contribute to the creation of the country and its representation in the world. The success of this metaphor is Ginsberg’s ability to place responsibility on himself and his readers. He wanted his audience to realize that the preceding forty lines of protest against the then current policies weren’t an attempt to marginalize himself as a writer and thinker, but instead to prove his patriotism and American citizenry.
He continues with the metaphorical identification throughout the next ten lines by using first person language, speaking as if he were America and the American consciousness. In line 51, the poet acknowledges that Asia is rising against him (America). At the time, jingoism against communist nations was rampant. Paranoia led to suppression of diverse political ideals, and led the United States into constant preparations for war. Ginsberg is speaking to that paranoia as if it were his own. Ginsberg claims, “I’d better consider my national resources” (53). Mockingly, the poet admits that “My national resources consist of two joints of marijuana millions of genitals an unpublishable private literature that jetplanes 1400 miles an hour and twenty-five mental institutions.” (54-56). These lines serve the purpose of humor in the face of such a serious question of national resources for war, a poetic tactic to lessen the intensity of the paranoia similar to the way that Stanley Kubric made fun of nuclear war paranoia in his film Dr. Strangelove.
In the last third of the poem, Ginsberg opts to switch back into an identity as poet speaking to his country. He no longer writes lines in the first person, but instead reverts back to his list form. He lists all the enemies of the state that existed during his time, and promptly defends them. He implores: “America free Tom Mooney / Save the Spanish Loyalists / America Sacco & Vanzetti must not die / America I am Scottsboro boys.” (65-68). He claims that as a child, his mother took him to “Communist meetings in which all participants were angelic and sincere.” (69-70). By begging America not to condemn the enemies he’s listed, he is attempting to bridge the gap of marginalization that existed as a direct result of the Cold War. Ginsberg clearly voiced opinions favoring groups that were thought to be evil in an attempt, once again, within the confines of this poem, to have America wake up and live up to its own stated standard of ‘freedom for all.’ Ginsberg viewed these condemnations as injustices and inconsistencies with the democracy his very country was warring to protect. The poet goes on to inform his nation that, “America you don’t really want to go to war” (77), in an attempt to pull his country out of its fervent obsession with fighting communism.
From lines 80 onward, he continues to nominate groups that his nation has isolated. Line 80 holds Ginsberg stating in a mocking tone, “America it’s them bad Russians / Them Russians and them Chinamen / And them Russians.” From here he elevates the absurdity of fear that existed in his country’s paranoid state claiming in lines 84-88, “The Russia wants to eat us alive. /The Russia’s power mad/ She wants to take our cars from out our garages/ Her wants to grab Chicago / Her needs a Red Reader’s Digest / Him big bureaucracy running our filling stations.” With these far from earnest images, Ginsberg effectively paints and plays into the paranoid absurdity circling the Cold War, knowing full well their effect on the American psyche.
As these stream of consciousness thoughts are laid out on the page, Ginsberg begins to highlight the racism and ethnicism that was ever present during the late fifties, “Ugh. Him make Indians learn read / Him need big black niggers / Hah / Her make us all work sixteen hours a day / Help.” (89-90). In speaking that Russia, not America, was in need of these ostracized groups Ginsberg is providing an insulting deliverance of disapproval for the way African-American’s and Indians had been treated in this country. By making it come off as though the Russian’s needs and desires were evil when in fact, they were the very needs and desires feeding American society, he perfectly aligned the United States with Russia, the bitter enemy of the Cold War. Poetically, Ginsberg blew the divisions between communism and the Reds, from those of the patriots in the Democracy of the United States and made the two seem no more or less evil than the other. To wrap up his sentiments, he informs America that at least, “This is the impression I get from looking at the television set / America is this correct?” (92-93).
By asking this final question of his poem, it’s as if the poet is acknowledging that these impressions and thoughts aren’t fabricated or based in some alternative vision of reality. He’s pointing out that he gets his information from TV much to his own amazement and disbelief (America is this correct?). He is driving home that these practices and policies are absolutely unacceptable in his opinion.
To conclude his poem, he made two parting statements. His first, “I don’t want to join the Army or turn lathes in precision parts factories.” (95-96). His stance of desiring to stay out of the Army during a Cold War mobilization period, right before the dawn of the United States’ entry into the Vietnam War, was both a forecast of oncoming war protests but also very unpopular. In late fifties America, it was highly unacceptable to be against joining the Army. For one, there were plenty of World War II veterans that enforced the notion that it was noble to fight in the United States Army, and secondly, such a defiant act was considered very unpatriotic and suspicious. Ironically, Ginsberg wanted this statement involved in his patriotic address to the nation. The notorious closing line of America ends by Ginsberg signing off with, “America I’m putting my queer shoulder to the wheel” (97).
With this statement, a few things occur. First and foremost, the poet reveals his homosexuality to his country in naming his shoulder as ‘queer.’ It can be assumed that he did not intend ‘odd’ as it would have been inconsistent with the other groups he highlighted in the poem. Just like the Indian, African-Americans, Russians, and Chinamen, Ginsberg was aware that homosexuals were equally if not more harshly condemned during this American era. He is unapologetically stating his orientation to an already close minded and scared society. The rest of the final sentence indicates a sort of departure (putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.) Though it is possible that he intended otherwise, it is likely that Ginsberg was indicating the steering wheel of a car that he would be driving. So to close the cognitive poem, to end this discussion with his country, one gets the image that he stopped to say what he needed to say, and now he’s gone again, driving onto the next issue, the next poem he would write.
Since the beginning of civilization, poetry has always been an art form whose utility is useful in reflecting the conditions of a society whether they are good or bad. Included in the poet’s job is the necessity to be able to speak to his or her peers in such a way that evokes emotion within the confines of a subject. If a poet is successful, then his or her work will affect the need for change if a society happens to need it. It is important for the poet to decide which method is most effective in reaching his or her audience, which involves considerations of style, language, and phraseology.
Rarely does a poet come along that can so poignantly affect a large audience like Allen Ginsberg did. Ginsberg met the call of the poet’s duty and his poem, America, was an example of his brilliance. Ginsberg triumphantly addressed the many problems of a nation, at a crucial moment in time by writing a brutally honest and provocative poem. His choice of presenting the piece in a conversational tone, free of lofty language, brings any reader into an attentive place whereby they can be instantly stirred with reactions. Without Ginsberg’s America, it is possible that the late fifties American people would have moved into the early sixties fearfully, without any way to voice their dissent against an increasingly militant and repressive government.
Works Cited
1. Felver, Christopher. BEAT. San Francisco: Last Gasp, 2007.
2. Ginsberg, Allen. Collected Poems 1947-1980. New York: Harper & Row,
1984.
3. “Wobblies.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,
Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 23 Jan. 2008
<Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Wobblies>
Currently Reading: Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs; Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe edited by Miguel Algarin and Bob Holman.
On this day: 1861- American Miner’s Association formed; 1918- Germany: General Strike in large cities.
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