First is says that he wants to clean up the Amazon river, the Carib, and the Gulf of Mexico. All of these waters are polluted with many wastes that us humans have been throwing away. In the line it says “oily Carib” The Caribbean sea have had oil spills that we have to clean up. Next it explains that we have to clean the north pole and the pipelines of Alaska. A lot of trash may have been floated all the way up to the north pole so we have to clean those up. The pipelines in Alaska which carry water are getting dirtier and they pollute the water that is going through them. The acid rain is from the nuclear chemicals which have been released in the air, and coal burning have now starting to fall from the sky more. This is harmful to the environment. In the line he says to rinse down the acid rain from the Parthenon and Sphinx since acid rain is destroying these ancient Greek sculptures. Then it says to clean out the Mediterranean basin which looks so dirty. Ginsberg says to clean this basin so it looks like azure again or basically clear blue water.
Ginsberg goes on later in the poem he talks about cleaning the sky, rivers, and a few countries. This line is “Put some blueing back into the sky over the Rhine, bleach the little Clouds so snow return white as snow, Cleanse the Hudson Thames & Neckar, Drain the Suds out of Lake Erie.” This line clearly shows that Ginsberg wants the sky to be blue over the Rhine since many ships pass that and they cover the sky with there smoke. Ginsberg also tells to bleach the clouds so the snow comes white instead of acid rain coming down or any other chemicals. He also addresses to clean the Hudson Thames and Neckar which are rivers in Europe. Then Ginsberg says to clean the dirt out of Lake Erie with suds or soap. To go on with the cleaning of rivers Ginsberg now explains about Russia, Vietnam, and China a little bit. “Then I'd throw big Asia in one giant Load & wash out the blood & Agent Orange, Dump the whole mess of Russia and China in the wringer, squeeze out the tattletail Gray of U.S. Central American police state.” This quote says to clean out the blood in the Vietnam war and the agent orange. Agent orange Is the chemical that America used in the war. It proved to be harmful to the environment and the people so Ginsberg says to get rid of this chemical in Vietnam. It says to clean Russia and China with America since these countries have developed lots of dangerous weapons which have affected the environment. At last Ginsberg in this last significant quote Ginsberg says about the world as a whole. “& put the planet in the drier & let it sit 20 minutes or an Aeon till it came out clean.”
In this quote Ginsberg says to put the planet in the drier for 20 min. or an Aeon till it came out clean. Ginsberg clearly tells that he doesn't care about how long it takes to clean, but to just get it done as quickly as possible. He wants everyone to start now of cleaning the earth. As so I have proved that Ginsberg gave us this assignment he in his poems just doesn't talk about the earth as a whole. In one of his poems he singled out a country of which he talks about the mistakes that it has done. The poem is called “America.” He does talk about politics in this and does varies from “Homework”. As I give the close read of this poem it shows how America can be a better country, and of the mistakes that it has done.
At the beginning of this poem Ginsberg straight out asks a question. “America when will we end the human war?” Ginsberg is referring to the Cold War since that was the war that was currently happening that time. Ginsberg looks as if he wants to end this war from the way he asked the question. Ginsberg in the next line seems not to be proud of American.
“ Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb.
I don't feel good don't bother me.
I won't write my poem till I'm in my right mind.
This shows that Ginsberg doesn't care that America has the most powerful weapon in the world. He says he doesn't feel good so don't bother me meaning that who cares if you have it. Ginsberg is also mad that America does have, and he expresses that In the last line that he won't write any poem until he is in his comfortable state of mind. Ginsberg wants to tell America to look at himself and realize his mistakes. The line says, “When will you look at yourself through the grave? When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites?” The first question proves that Ginsberg wants America to look at itself and see if it is doing the right thing by continuing this human war. The 2nd question asks if America is worth a million Trotskyites. Ginsberg was a communist and trotskyism is the formation of communism by Leon Trotsky. Ginsberg believed in communism and thought it was right so that is why he asked America if it is worth a million Trotskyites. Ginsberg thinks that America is full of sadness and despair by the question that he asks “America why are your libraries full of tears?” America probably a lot of history that is full despair. At this time also America was looking for allies so it would send weapons to them so they can protect themselves from communist countries. One line explains this. “America when will you send your eggs to India?” The eggs in this line mean a powerful symbol. The eggs represent the weapons or bombs that are being sent there so they can win the support of India. The eggs being a symbol in this has also a connection with Yusef Komunyakaa's poem “Buried Light”. In “Buried Light” there is a demonic egg which also represents a bomb which can blast any minute. Both of these poems have the same object for the same symbol.
Ginsberg in his poem “America” seems to have also some sarcasm in it. One line to show is “America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world.” Ginsberg shows sarcasm in this that America and himself are perfect and not the next generation of human beings. Ginsberg also thinks that America's weaponry is too much for him as he explains in this line, “Your machinery is too much for me.” This clearly shows that he doesn't like the development of weapons in America. During of when he was writing this poem was also the Mcarthy era. Lot's of people got accused of being communist in America. One line from the poem showed of how it was like. “I haven't read the newspapers for months, everyday somebody goes on trial for murder.” This line shows clearly that many people were accused of being communist during this time. Ginsberg himself was actually communist of which he shows in this line, “America I used to be a communist when I was a kid
I'm not sorry.” This shows him being communist of when he was a kid and he does not feel sorry for it for Ginsberg says that America is doing many mistakes.
“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.
America I still haven't told you what you did to Uncle
Max after he came over from Russia.”
This is another quote that proves that Ginsberg was communist. He says that he read Marx of which he thought it was right. Later on in this poem Ginsberg thinks of Asia rising against him and of how he can use his natural resources. His were explained in this quote,
My national resources consist of two joints of
marijuana millions of genitals an unpublishable
private literature that goes 1400 miles an hour
The quote says that America has many marijuana, a lot of genitals meaning many reproductive organs, and lots of literature. Ginsberg says none of this can stand against Asia. Then again Ginsberg shows how he is communist through this line, “America when I was seven momma took me to Com-
munist Cell meetings.” When he was a kid his mom took him to the communist meetings as it clearly shows in this line. Ginsberg then explains of how the Asians are winning over America. This quote is,
“America you don't really want to go to war.
America it's them bad Russians.
Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen.
And them Russians.
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 Readers'
Digest. Her wants our auto plants in Siberia.
Him big bureaucracy running our fillingsta-
tions.
That no good. Ugh. Him make Indians learn read.
Him need big black niggers. Hah. Her make us
all work sixteen hours a day. Help.
America this is quite serious.”
In this quote it says the Russians and the Chinese want to destroy America. In it says it wants to eat America alive, take away its cars, grab Chicago, and put those auto plants in Siberia. Ginsberg is saying that Russians are rising in power, and that America needs to do something about this. For all of America's mistakes Ginsberg explains in this poem.
Ginsberg wants America to realized its mistakes and stop this human war. He wants America to be more of a better country then to just fight with the Russians of who has more arms or who could control more of the planet. He just wants the world to be at peace. Ginsberg hopes that through this poem he explain the mistakes of the country through this poem and that people will read it. He wants them to think of the mistakes and take action right away so they can make America the better country. Also he wants people to read the poem “Homework” so the world can work together to clean up this world. If different countries stop the fight then everybody can work together to make the world a better place to live. I have showed through both of these poems that Ginsberg has set us a task to do, and that Ginsberg's poetry varies of different political subjects. My thesis has been proven so whats next is to follow Ginsberg's task and to make it come true by having the world at peace, and cleaning up the earth so it is a much more natural place to live.
Works Cited Page
"Allen Ginsberg." 2010. Company. 22 April 2010
<http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=21152>
“Allen Ginsberg Poems.” famouspoetsandpoems.com. 18 April 2010
Ed Penguin and City Lights. “Allen Ginsberg.” 2001. Poetry Archive. 20 April 2010
Petri Liukkonen. “Allen Ginsberg.” 2008. 18 April 2010