Prison Poems

by Daniel Berrigan

Book by Berrigan, Daniel

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published September 16, 1974

About the author

Daniel Joseph Berrigan (May 9, 1921 – April 30, 2016) was an American Jesuit priest, college professor, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author.

Reviews

[Nathan Albright · Rating 1 out of 5]

The foreword to this book is where one begins to see the signs that this book is going to go off the rails, as the author's brother states that the author is a Christian (something nowhere in evidence throughout this entire book of poetry) and that he is interested in victims wherever they are.  And it is from that point that one realizes that the author, his brother, and others who peddle a counterfeit social gospel like them have no idea what it means to be a Christian.  In their blind haste to praise the supposedly oppressed peoples of the world they forget that the least of these is not only the least in the eyes of the world, but also the least in their own eyes.  The author, through his nasty and hostile rhetoric, demonstrates that rather than being a martyr for justice, he deserved his fate as a prisoner and would have deserved a worse fate if the United States were like the nations he viewed as the nations of the future (the Soviet Union and China) because of their socialist governments, where he would have fared far worse.  Of course, he is so blinded by his partisan hatred for businesses and the American government that he fails to see how lucky he is that he was imprisoned for his treasonous behavior here and not somewhere else.

This book is divided into several sections, and overall is a bit more than 100 pages long.  Most of the poems, as one would expect, are rather untraditional and untidy in their sentiments and expressions.  The author believes that political advocacy is a substitute for sublime beauty in terms of language and content.  The vast majority of the poems are whining and complaining from someone who believes themselves to have been wronged but then shows through the ugliness of their abuse of other people that they deserved what they got.  There are poems about insanity, gambling, death, and lots of prison scenes that the author provides.  The author shows little knowledge of the Bible but is fond of the poems of Ho Chi Minh, for what it's worth (not very much).  The author reflects on work and rehabilitation and death and his thoughts about visitors and other prisoners, who he tends to view with rare compassion, seeing as he has nothing but hostile things to say about anyone involved in business or any of his prison guards.  And yet they are likely far more Christian than he is, if these poems are any guide.

There are at least a few issues with these poems.  Admittedly, not all of the poems included here are bad.  There are times, at least occasionally, where the author is able to turn his attention from his sour and embittered spiritual state and to reflect on the beauty of creation, and he is at least able to appreciate skunks (if not necessarily for the right reasons) as well as flowers.  Most of the time, though, the author views his guards with contempt, views businesses with contempt, views the government with contempt, thinks highly only of the Viet Cong and socialists and the like.  Surely the author, had he been a Christian, would have been well-served to reflect upon the generosity of Spirit that Paul had towards his prison guards, showing himself able to pray for them and accepting their care and even, in Philippi, saving the life of someone who had beaten him hours before.  I don't see the author as being someone who could do that, seeing as he could not even be polite to a guard who treated him kindly.  Leftist politics do not make one a Christian, and the author's lack of concern about his own poor spiritual state makes him unfit to be so harsh in condemning others about their own state.

[Kori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend that people read Time Without Number first. It’s a stronger collection overall, one that celebrates the character of God and His creativity, and ranks among my most favorite of books by poets. This wasn’t bad…but the vitriolic response to his situation in particular and the state of the country in general, while justified, doesn’t always make for effective poetry, at least for me.

[Kimber · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing style is too much of a mouthful at once in most places.I feel like he is tripping over his words, which gives it a jerky feeling rather then a smooth flowing feeling. (I don't like when poets feel the need to use fancy words and phrases and allusions. The simplest words convey the most meaning.)I felt his shorter poems were his best. My favorites were: "Almost Everybody is Dying Here:Only a Few Actually Make It," "You Could Make a Song of It/A Dirge of it/A Heartbreaker of it," and "Flowers in Spite of it All" (hauntingly beautiful).

[Octavia Cade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of Berrigan before I read this - I was looking for something to read to satisfy the "book written in prison" task for Book Riot's Read Harder 2019 challenge and stumbled across it. Berrigan, a member of the Catonsville Nine, was a Jesuit priest who was jailed for destroying government draft records during the Vietnam War, of which he was a fervent protestor. The poems were written during his stint in jail, and to be honest at first I didn't think they were very good. The collection's structured into three parts, and while the first part has some good poems ("Billy Bones", for one) it wasn't until the long poems of part two came along that the whole thing really kicked up into gear. "For Philip's Birthday", "My Father", and (later) "Uncle Sam, You're a Card" are outstanding. There's such a mix of pulsating rage at the monstrous acts taking place in the war (My Lai is mentioned over and over) along with the absolute disgust at a prison industry which takes advantage of the inmates to manufacture weapons which will kill the economically disadvantaged of another country - getting the poor and desperate to wage war on the poor and desperate, essentially.

Despite the rocky start, the collection becomes enormously compelling. Ugly, angry, but compelling. Very glad I read it.

[Brian James · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many moments of brilliance amongst these words…moments too often clouded by digestible debris

[Michael Beal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poem of the day:

"Almost Everybody is Dying Here: Only a Few Actually Make it"

at 12:30 sharp
as though to underscore
some unassuageable grief
a man's head fell to one side
in the prison hospital.
No record of heart disease
a morning's weakness only. His neck went limp
in the pale March sunlight
like a wax man's.
his hands opened, a beggar's hesitant reach
before a rich man's shadow.
Near, there and
gone.


I literally cannot read more than one of these pieces per day, but that's true of a lot of great ones like Robert Hayden too. The best part is that it's got the declarative simplicity of the old Chinese like Li Po. Also, love the mid-line period.

[Shannon T.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love daniel berrigan, but i love his prose so much more than his poetry.