Beat Poetry

• San Francisco origins• 1950’s• Rejected materialism and conformity of the

middle class lifestyle• Free verse, surrealistic

Introductory Video (a preview)

Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997)Howl

Lawrence Ferlinghettiborn 1919; 96 years old!City Lights Books in SFA Coney Island of the Mind

Gregory Corso (1930-2001)

Gary Snyder born 1930

Kenneth Rexroth(1905-1982)

“Father of the Beats”

Influences:JazzZen SpiritualityNative American Spirituality

Historical Six Gallery Event

Friday, October 7, 19553119 Fillmore Street, San Francisco

Many young poets read their work

First public showing of the “Beat Generation”

A Supermarket in California by Allen GinsbergBerkeley, 1955

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Away above a Harborful . . . by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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linkA Dent in a Bucket by Gary Snyder

Hammering a dent out of a bucket a woodpecker answers from the woods

Last two stanzas of “1959” by Gregory CorsoEgypt, Rome, Greece,and all such pedigree dreams fled.Cars are real! Eternity is done.The threat of Nothingness renews.I touch the untouched.I rank the rose militant.Deny, I deny the tastes and habits of the age.I am its punk debauche .... A fierce lampoonseeking to inherit what is necessary to forfeit.

Lies! Lies! Lies! I lie, you lie, we all lie!There is no us, there is no world, there is no universe,there is no life, no death, no nothing—all is meaningless,and this too is a lie—O damned 1959!Must I dry my inspiration in this sad concept?Delineate my entire stratagem?Must I settle into phantomnessand not say I understand things better than God?

Other famous poets of the Beat GenerationDiane di Prima born 1934 Anne Waldman born 1945

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Michael McClure born 1932

William S. Burroughs (1914-1997)

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)Neal Cassady (1926-1968) link

Jack Kerouac