Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg was an American poet who became the central figure of the Beat Generation in the 1950s and 60s.
His long poem "Howl" (1956), with its opening line "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness," defined an era of literary rebellion and faced an obscenity trial that became a landmark for free expression.
Ginsberg remained a countercultural icon through the hippie movement and beyond, championing Buddhist spirituality, gay liberation, and anti-war activism until his death in 1997.
Ginsberg's iconic 1956 poem
- KaddishJewish prayer honoring dead
- verseMetered poetic passage
- incantationSpoken magical formula
- prophetic voiceUtterance foretelling future events
breath line · free verse · long line · catalog · anaphora · mantra · chant · lament
Sixties counterculture member
- psychedelicInducing altered perception
- anti-establishmentOpposing dominant institutions
- Vietnam protestOpposition to military involvement
- flower powerNonviolent resistance ideology
Haight-Ashbury · Timothy Leary · LSD · marijuana · consciousness expansion · Ken Kesey · Chicago Seven · underground
Antiwar moral stance
- anti-warOpposed to armed conflict
- free speechProtected verbal liberty
- LGBTQ rightsProtections for sexual minorities
- gay liberationMovement for LGBTQ rights
censorship · obscenity trial · civil liberties · demonstration · Vietnam War · draft resistance · nonviolent · First Amendment
Enlightenment-seeking Eastern religion
- meditationFocused attention practice
- mantraRepeated focus phrase
- Tibetan BuddhismHimalayan tantric spiritual tradition
- dharmaCosmic moral order
Krishna · Blake · visionary · mysticism · transcendence · om · mindfulness · Zen
Beat Generation novelist
- CorsoItalian main street
- bebopFast, complex jazz style
- spontaneityActing without forethought
- jazz poetryPoems echoing improvisational music
Burroughs · On the Road · Naked Lunch · coffeehouse · hipster
Howl
Ginsberg's iconic 1956 poem
- KaddishJewish prayer honoring dead
- verseMetered poetic passage
- incantationSpoken magical formula
breath line · prophetic voice · free verse · long line · catalog · anaphora · mantra · chant · lament · elegy
hippie
Sixties counterculture member
- psychedelicInducing altered perception
- anti-establishmentOpposing dominant institutions
- Vietnam protestOpposition to military involvement
flower power · Haight-Ashbury · Timothy Leary · LSD · marijuana · consciousness expansion · Ken Kesey · Chicago Seven · underground · alternative press
pacifism
Antiwar moral stance
- anti-warOpposed to armed conflict
- free speechProtected verbal liberty
- LGBTQ rightsProtections for sexual minorities
gay liberation · censorship · obscenity trial · civil liberties · demonstration · Vietnam War · draft resistance · nonviolent · First Amendment · PEN
Buddhism
Enlightenment-seeking Eastern religion
- meditationFocused attention practice
- mantraRepeated focus phrase
- Tibetan BuddhismHimalayan tantric spiritual tradition
dharma · Krishna · Blake · visionary · mysticism · transcendence · om · mindfulness · Zen · guru
Kerouac
Beat Generation novelist
- CorsoItalian main street
- bebopFast, complex jazz style
- spontaneityActing without forethought
Burroughs · jazz poetry · On the Road · Naked Lunch · coffeehouse · hipster
beard
Facial hair growth
- glassesCorrective eyewear or tumblers
- harmoniumFoot-pumped keyboard instrument
- chantingRhythmic repetitive vocalization
prophet · bard · Jewish · Newark · Columbia · bohemian · provocateur · teacher · mentor · sexuality
- Jewish PoetsRachel, Zelda, Emma Lazarus
- AuthorsShakespeare, William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald
- poetspoet, Homer, Dante, Milton, Emily Dickinson
- 20th Century AuthorsErnest Hemingway, Hemingway, William Faulkner, Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald
- American PoetryWalt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes
- countercultureflower power, flower children, free love, hippie communes, Summer of Love
Allen GinsbergJ. Edgar Hoover
Joseph McCarthy · Richard Nixon · Ayn Rand · Rush Limbaugh · neoconservatives
Allen GinsbergPat Boone
Billy Graham · Norman Rockwell · Bob Hope · Bing Crosby · square