Poetry Project

Nick Bolyard
Mrs. Reidenbaugh
Humanities 6-7
22 April 2008

Paving the Way for the Future: The Works of Allen Ginsberg



The exuberating works of Allen Ginsberg has amazed many people and has influenced people throughout the world. Three specific poems I have been lucky enough to have come across. These poems are: Feb. 29, 1958, Hum Bom!, and Five A.M. These works and many others have paved the way for modern day poets.

First, I read and studied the poem Feb. 29, 1958 is a one stanza poem that brings the works of deceased poets such as Zanzibar, Lindsay, and others such as Mayakovsky. In this poem, Ginsberg uses figurative language to describe a dream that he had about T.S. Eliot. Towards the end of the poem, Ginsberg begins to ask questions after awakening from the dream. At the end of the poem, Ginsberg writes “Last night I dreamed of Allen Ginsberg. T.S. Eliot would not be ashamed of me(40-41).” This brings that you can dream that you are going to be something great, as long as you remember who you are.

Next, I came across the poem Hum Bom!, which is about the bombing on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In this poem, Ginsberg uses a style that resembles a conversation between a Japan and America. A negative that sticks out is that the poem repeats the same concept throughout, without changing many of the words. I think that this would seem more like a children’s song during school recess. I can see this because at the time this poem was made, many children wanted to support the war effort.

Finally, I had the opportunity to come across the poem Five A.M. One main concept of the poem is about being above the clouds. Ginsberg begins the poem with “Elan that lifts me above the clouds(1).” Ginsberg uses figurative language to control the mood of his poem and also the pace of the poem.

Allen Ginsberg was an excruciatingly detailed poet, who used many styles and forms during his work. In all of the poems that I came across, I believe that Ginsberg is an outstanding poet who wrote many great poems. In all of his poems, he paved the way for modern day poets.