Beats Generation
The Beats Generation evolved during the 1940s in both New York and the west coast. Beats poets like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Gregory Corso began to question mainstream politics and culture with the end of World War II. Poets of the Beats Generation were interested in creating a cosmopolitan and carefree world. Breaking down the barrieries of social conformity and literary tradition were central themes of Beat Generation poems. Click the button below to read an amazing poem by Allen Ginsberg!
Poem Analysis
Allen Ginsberg's poem, Cosmopolitan Greetings, is the epitome of Beats Generation poetry. Cosmopolitan Greetings is written in the perspective of a man depicted as unorthodox during his time period, but would be seen as normal today. For example in the 1940s religion, specifically Christianity, was a standard part of life as was blind loyalty to your country. So in line when it states, "Stand up against governments, against God." it is a sort of shock. Was Ginsberg not afraid of being persecuted for being openly atheist and unpatriotic? I believe Ginsberg was trying to make a point, maybe he knew he would receive negative criticism for the first line, thus demonstrating the change he believed was needed in order to create a cosmopolitan society. The structure of the poem led me to think it was a list of advise for a cosmopolitan society as well as a list a qualities a cosmopolitan generation should exhibit. For example, lines 14 & 15 sound like advice. In lines 14 and 15 Ginsberg tells the reader to advise himself/herself and not to rink too much. I believe Ginsberg wrote Cosmopolitan Greetings as a tribute to future generations. It is like he knew change was coming, it just might take a while.
Literary Devices
- Ginsberg's use of the literary device oxymoron is evident in line four of his poem. In line 4 Ginsberg states, "Absolutes are Coercion" , the definitions of these two words would suggest that they are opposites, yet the line is still relevant. Absolutes are values that are not dependent on outside factors, but what line four suggest is that absolutes are dependent on force. I believe what Ginsberg was trying to say was that what people regard as their independent values, are actually forced upon them by what society finds acceptable. A example would be religion, some people believe that the religion they practice is their individual choice, but in some cases the religion a person chooses to practice may have been influenced by their family or the society they live in.
- Line 25 of Cosmopolitan Greetings compares the "inside skull" to the "outside skull" using the word as, making this line a simile. Line 25 is actually comparing the depth of the mind to the vastness of the world. What Ginsberg is saying is that the amount of knowledge a person can obtain is as boundless as the the size of the world.