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Selected Poems, 1947–1995
Assembled by Allen Ginsberg, Selected Poems 1947-1995 is the definitive collection of the best works of one of the most influential and revolutionary poets of the twentieth century. Allen Ginsberg, famous for helping catalyze the Beat Generation, wrote poetry for more than fifty years. His innovative verse and provocative attitudes of spiritual, political, and sexual liberation inspired countless poets, musicians, and visual and performance artists worldwide, and helped shape several generations' views of the world. Selected Poems 1947-1995 commemorates Ginsberg's brilliant career as one of America's most distinguished poets. Here are well-known masterpieces such as the lyric "Howl" and the narrative "Kaddish" -- classic works of American literature -- as well as more recent gems, including the long dream poem "White Shroud," the visionary "After Lalon," and the political rock lyric "The Ballad of the Skeletons," a song he recorded in 1996 with a stellar band that included Philip Glass, Lenny Kaye, and Paul McCartney.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
60 people are currently reading
701 people want to read
About the author
Allen Ginsberg
490 books4,106 followersAllen Ginsberg was a groundbreaking American poet and activist best known for his central role in the Beat Generation and for writing the landmark poem Howl. Born in 1926 in Newark, New Jersey, to Jewish parents, Ginsberg grew up in a household shaped by both intellectualism and psychological struggle. His father, Louis Ginsberg, was a published poet and a schoolteacher, while his mother, Naomi, suffered from severe mental illness, which deeply affected Ginsberg and later influenced his writing—most notably in his poem Kaddish.
As a young man, Ginsberg attended Columbia University, where he befriended other future Beat luminaries such as Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady. These relationships formed the core of what became known as the Beat Generation—a loose-knit group of writers and artists who rejected mainstream American values in favor of personal liberation, spontaneity, spiritual exploration, and radical politics.
Ginsberg rose to national prominence in 1956 with the publication of Howl and Other Poems, released by City Lights Books in San Francisco. Howl, an emotionally charged and stylistically experimental poem, offered an unfiltered vision of America’s underbelly. It included candid references to homosexuality, drug use, and mental illness—subjects considered taboo at the time. The poem led to an obscenity trial, which ultimately concluded in Ginsberg’s favor, setting a precedent for freedom of speech in literature.
His work consistently challenged social norms and addressed themes of personal freedom, sexual identity, spirituality, and political dissent. Ginsberg was openly gay at a time when homosexuality was still criminalized in much of the United States, and he became a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights throughout his life. His poetry often intertwined the personal with the political, blending confessional intimacy with a broader critique of American society.
Beyond his literary achievements, Ginsberg was also a dedicated activist. He protested against the Vietnam War, nuclear proliferation, and later, U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. He was present at many pivotal cultural and political moments of the 1960s and 1970s, including the 1968 Democratic National Convention and various countercultural gatherings. His spiritual journey led him to Buddhism, which deeply influenced his writing and worldview. He studied under Tibetan teacher Chögyam Trungpa and helped establish the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.
Ginsberg’s later years were marked by continued literary output and collaborations with musicians such as Bob Dylan and The Clash. His poetry collections, including Reality Sandwiches, Planet News, and The Fall of America, were widely read and respected. He received numerous honors for his work, including the National Book Award for Poetry in 1974.
He died of liver cancer in 1997 at the age of 70. Today, Allen Ginsberg is remembered not only as a pioneering poet, but also as a courageous voice for free expression, social justice, and spiritual inquiry. His influence on American literature and culture remains profound and enduring.
As a young man, Ginsberg attended Columbia University, where he befriended other future Beat luminaries such as Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady. These relationships formed the core of what became known as the Beat Generation—a loose-knit group of writers and artists who rejected mainstream American values in favor of personal liberation, spontaneity, spiritual exploration, and radical politics.
Ginsberg rose to national prominence in 1956 with the publication of Howl and Other Poems, released by City Lights Books in San Francisco. Howl, an emotionally charged and stylistically experimental poem, offered an unfiltered vision of America’s underbelly. It included candid references to homosexuality, drug use, and mental illness—subjects considered taboo at the time. The poem led to an obscenity trial, which ultimately concluded in Ginsberg’s favor, setting a precedent for freedom of speech in literature.
His work consistently challenged social norms and addressed themes of personal freedom, sexual identity, spirituality, and political dissent. Ginsberg was openly gay at a time when homosexuality was still criminalized in much of the United States, and he became a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights throughout his life. His poetry often intertwined the personal with the political, blending confessional intimacy with a broader critique of American society.
Beyond his literary achievements, Ginsberg was also a dedicated activist. He protested against the Vietnam War, nuclear proliferation, and later, U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. He was present at many pivotal cultural and political moments of the 1960s and 1970s, including the 1968 Democratic National Convention and various countercultural gatherings. His spiritual journey led him to Buddhism, which deeply influenced his writing and worldview. He studied under Tibetan teacher Chögyam Trungpa and helped establish the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.
Ginsberg’s later years were marked by continued literary output and collaborations with musicians such as Bob Dylan and The Clash. His poetry collections, including Reality Sandwiches, Planet News, and The Fall of America, were widely read and respected. He received numerous honors for his work, including the National Book Award for Poetry in 1974.
He died of liver cancer in 1997 at the age of 70. Today, Allen Ginsberg is remembered not only as a pioneering poet, but also as a courageous voice for free expression, social justice, and spiritual inquiry. His influence on American literature and culture remains profound and enduring.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
April 6, 2021
I've just revisited this classic collection, and the Beats remain endlessly fascinating...
June 21, 2007
laugh if you want, but this was my bible for many years, and is probably the reason i'm not plowing a tobacco field right now. still carry it with me almost everywhere i go for more than a day or two b/c i just can't imagine being without it.
April 28, 2019
آمریکا / آلن گینزبرگ / ترجمه به فارسی: رُزا جمالی
آمریکا، هر آنچه داشتم را به تو بخشیده ام
و دیگر هیچ از من نمانده است
آمریکا یعنی دو دلار و بیست و هفت سنت
هفده ژانویه ی هزار و نهصد و پنجاه و شش است
و من نمی توانم بی قراری ذهن را تاب بیاورم
و تو کی این جنگ های انسانی را به اتمام خواهی رساند، آمریکا؟
بر تو نفرین و بر آن بمب اتمی ات
اصلا خوب نیستم، پس به من گیر نده!
بگذار ذهنم آرام بگیرد وگرنه شعرم را نخواهم نوشت
آمریکا،
کی پریوار خواهی شد؟
و پیراهن ات را در خواهی آورد؟
کی از درون گورت به خود نگاه خواهی کرد؟
کی درخور این روندگان به راه تروتسکی خواهی بود؟
چرا کتابخانه های تو از اشک پُر است؟
و کی تخم تو به هند خواهد رسید؟
من ازین همه خواستن های تو به ستوه آمدم
بالاخره کی می شود که به سوپرمارکت بروم
و با چهره ای خوشحال آنچه را که می خواهم بخرم؟
فقط من و تو چنان پُریم
و تو چنان زیادی وُ آخری
می خواهی که من شبیه یک قدیس باشم
حتما می توانیم راه حلی برای این معضل بیابیم
بیایید سر اصل مطلب برویم
چگونه دست از وسواس بردارم؟
آمریکا به من زور نگو که من می دانم چه می گویم
آمریکا شکوفه ها بر زمین ریخته اند
ماه هاست که من روزنامه ای نخوانده ام
انگار هر روز کسی به جرم قتل محاکمه می شود...
چقدر دلم به حال کارگران ات می سوزد
آمریکا وقتی بچه بودم کمونیست بودم و حالا پشیمان نیستم
تا دلت بخواهد ماریجوانا می کشم
روز از پی روز در خانه ام می نشینم
و به گل های سرخ داخل کمد خیره می مانم
می روم به محله ی چینی ها، مست می کنم و با کسی نمی خوابم
دیده بودی مرا که مارکس می خواندم؟
روان درمانگرم گفته حالم خوب است
و دیگر دعا نمی خوانم
چرا که به لحظه های عرفانی و لرزه های کیهانی دست پیدا کرده ام
آمریکا هنوز با تو سخن نگفته ام
که وقتی عمو مارکس از روسیه آمد چه بلایی بر سرش آوردی؟!
هیییییی... با توام؟
آیا می خواهی زندگی عاطفی ات تحت تاثیر نشریه ی تایمز باشد؟
هر هفته می خوانم اش
هر وقت که زیر زیرکی به آبنبات فروشی کنار خیابان سرک می کشم
تصویر روی جلد به من خیره است
و من در زیرزمین و در کتابخانه های عمومی در برکلی می خوانم اش
از مسئولیتی سخن می گویند این تاجران رسمی
تهیه کنندگان فیلم
همه مطرح اند اما من چه
انگار من خود آمریکا هستم
که دارم با خودم حرف می زنم.
تمام آسیا علیه من شورش کرده است
و من حتا شانس یک چینی را ندارم
بهتر است که منابع ملی را در نظر بگیریم
ثروت ملی ای که در ماری جوآنا خلاصه می شود
ماری جوآنا که نسل به نسل پرورش پیدا می کند
این ادبیات غیر رسمی که به سرعت ۱۴۰۰ مایل در ساعت
پرورش پیدا می کند و همه جا را در بر می گیرد
بیست و پنج هزار آسایشگاه روانی
چیزی درباره ی زندان ها نمی گویم
و آن ها که محروم اند
در قوطی حلبی زیر نورخوشید
پانصد بار
روسپی خانه های فرانسه را از پا در آوردم
و من که کاتولیکم آیا می توانم رئیس جمهور آمریکا شوم؟
آمریکا، با این وضع ات چطور برایت سرود مقدس بنویسم؟
چیزی شبیه اتومبیل هنری فورد، شعر من همان است
جنس اش فرق می کنه اما...
آمریکا حالا می خواهم شعرهایم را به تو بفروشم،
هر شعر می شه ۲۵۰ دلار
پنجاه دلار آتیش زدم به مال ام
شعرهای قدیمی ات
تام مونی رو آزاد کن دیگه
این همه سرسپرده و مزدور را نجات بده
ساکو و ونزتی نمیرندها!
من پیش آهنگم
هفت سالم بود زمانی که به جلسات چپ ها می رفتم
با یک کوپن یک مشت نخود می فروختند
پنج سنت
سخنرانی آزاد
انسان ها پریوار
دل سوزاندند برای کارگران
چه حقیقتی
۱۹۳۵، حزب چپ ها
چه پیرمرد متینی بود اسکات نیرینگ
انسان
دوباره با آهنگ های غمگین به گریه افتادم
اسرائیل امیتر در لباسی معمولی
همه جاسوس اند و ماموریتی دارند
آمریکا، نمی خواهی به جنگ بروی تو؟
آمریکا همه اش تقصیر این روس های پلید است
روس ها، روس ها، روس ها و چشم های چشم بادامی شان
روسیه دارد زنده زنده می بلعد ما را، روسیه با قدرتی دیوانه وار، ماشین ها را از پارکینگ ها دزدیده است
شیکاگو را ربوده است، این نشریه های زرد مردمی، ماشین سازی ها را در سیبری ربوده است
با تمام نظم بی بدیل اش پمپ بنزین ها را به کنترل درآورده
پوچ!
و رنگین پوستان را باسواد کنید، سیاهان غول پیکر را،...
شانزده ساعت در روز کار می کنیم ما.
آمریکا، مسئله جدی ست!
و این برداشت من است در نگاهی به تلویزیون
آمریکا، درسته دیگه؟
بهتره بریم سر اصل مطلب
من نمی خوام به ارتش بپیوندم
و به چرخکاری آدمیزاد مشغول شوم
هم نزدیک بین ام، هم روان پریش
آمریکا من افلیجم و این راه صعب العبور است.
#شعر #شعر_جهان #ترجمه_شعر #آلن_گینزبرگ #رزا_جمالی #نسل_بیت
برچسبها: ترجمه ی شعر, شعر معاصر جهان, آلن گینزبرگ, نسل بیت, شعر آمریکا
آمریکا، هر آنچه داشتم را به تو بخشیده ام
و دیگر هیچ از من نمانده است
آمریکا یعنی دو دلار و بیست و هفت سنت
هفده ژانویه ی هزار و نهصد و پنجاه و شش است
و من نمی توانم بی قراری ذهن را تاب بیاورم
و تو کی این جنگ های انسانی را به اتمام خواهی رساند، آمریکا؟
بر تو نفرین و بر آن بمب اتمی ات
اصلا خوب نیستم، پس به من گیر نده!
بگذار ذهنم آرام بگیرد وگرنه شعرم را نخواهم نوشت
آمریکا،
کی پریوار خواهی شد؟
و پیراهن ات را در خواهی آورد؟
کی از درون گورت به خود نگاه خواهی کرد؟
کی درخور این روندگان به راه تروتسکی خواهی بود؟
چرا کتابخانه های تو از اشک پُر است؟
و کی تخم تو به هند خواهد رسید؟
من ازین همه خواستن های تو به ستوه آمدم
بالاخره کی می شود که به سوپرمارکت بروم
و با چهره ای خوشحال آنچه را که می خواهم بخرم؟
فقط من و تو چنان پُریم
و تو چنان زیادی وُ آخری
می خواهی که من شبیه یک قدیس باشم
حتما می توانیم راه حلی برای این معضل بیابیم
بیایید سر اصل مطلب برویم
چگونه دست از وسواس بردارم؟
آمریکا به من زور نگو که من می دانم چه می گویم
آمریکا شکوفه ها بر زمین ریخته اند
ماه هاست که من روزنامه ای نخوانده ام
انگار هر روز کسی به جرم قتل محاکمه می شود...
چقدر دلم به حال کارگران ات می سوزد
آمریکا وقتی بچه بودم کمونیست بودم و حالا پشیمان نیستم
تا دلت بخواهد ماریجوانا می کشم
روز از پی روز در خانه ام می نشینم
و به گل های سرخ داخل کمد خیره می مانم
می روم به محله ی چینی ها، مست می کنم و با کسی نمی خوابم
دیده بودی مرا که مارکس می خواندم؟
روان درمانگرم گفته حالم خوب است
و دیگر دعا نمی خوانم
چرا که به لحظه های عرفانی و لرزه های کیهانی دست پیدا کرده ام
آمریکا هنوز با تو سخن نگفته ام
که وقتی عمو مارکس از روسیه آمد چه بلایی بر سرش آوردی؟!
هیییییی... با توام؟
آیا می خواهی زندگی عاطفی ات تحت تاثیر نشریه ی تایمز باشد؟
هر هفته می خوانم اش
هر وقت که زیر زیرکی به آبنبات فروشی کنار خیابان سرک می کشم
تصویر روی جلد به من خیره است
و من در زیرزمین و در کتابخانه های عمومی در برکلی می خوانم اش
از مسئولیتی سخن می گویند این تاجران رسمی
تهیه کنندگان فیلم
همه مطرح اند اما من چه
انگار من خود آمریکا هستم
که دارم با خودم حرف می زنم.
تمام آسیا علیه من شورش کرده است
و من حتا شانس یک چینی را ندارم
بهتر است که منابع ملی را در نظر بگیریم
ثروت ملی ای که در ماری جوآنا خلاصه می شود
ماری جوآنا که نسل به نسل پرورش پیدا می کند
این ادبیات غیر رسمی که به سرعت ۱۴۰۰ مایل در ساعت
پرورش پیدا می کند و همه جا را در بر می گیرد
بیست و پنج هزار آسایشگاه روانی
چیزی درباره ی زندان ها نمی گویم
و آن ها که محروم اند
در قوطی حلبی زیر نورخوشید
پانصد بار
روسپی خانه های فرانسه را از پا در آوردم
و من که کاتولیکم آیا می توانم رئیس جمهور آمریکا شوم؟
آمریکا، با این وضع ات چطور برایت سرود مقدس بنویسم؟
چیزی شبیه اتومبیل هنری فورد، شعر من همان است
جنس اش فرق می کنه اما...
آمریکا حالا می خواهم شعرهایم را به تو بفروشم،
هر شعر می شه ۲۵۰ دلار
پنجاه دلار آتیش زدم به مال ام
شعرهای قدیمی ات
تام مونی رو آزاد کن دیگه
این همه سرسپرده و مزدور را نجات بده
ساکو و ونزتی نمیرندها!
من پیش آهنگم
هفت سالم بود زمانی که به جلسات چپ ها می رفتم
با یک کوپن یک مشت نخود می فروختند
پنج سنت
سخنرانی آزاد
انسان ها پریوار
دل سوزاندند برای کارگران
چه حقیقتی
۱۹۳۵، حزب چپ ها
چه پیرمرد متینی بود اسکات نیرینگ
انسان
دوباره با آهنگ های غمگین به گریه افتادم
اسرائیل امیتر در لباسی معمولی
همه جاسوس اند و ماموریتی دارند
آمریکا، نمی خواهی به جنگ بروی تو؟
آمریکا همه اش تقصیر این روس های پلید است
روس ها، روس ها، روس ها و چشم های چشم بادامی شان
روسیه دارد زنده زنده می بلعد ما را، روسیه با قدرتی دیوانه وار، ماشین ها را از پارکینگ ها دزدیده است
شیکاگو را ربوده است، این نشریه های زرد مردمی، ماشین سازی ها را در سیبری ربوده است
با تمام نظم بی بدیل اش پمپ بنزین ها را به کنترل درآورده
پوچ!
و رنگین پوستان را باسواد کنید، سیاهان غول پیکر را،...
شانزده ساعت در روز کار می کنیم ما.
آمریکا، مسئله جدی ست!
و این برداشت من است در نگاهی به تلویزیون
آمریکا، درسته دیگه؟
بهتره بریم سر اصل مطلب
من نمی خوام به ارتش بپیوندم
و به چرخکاری آدمیزاد مشغول شوم
هم نزدیک بین ام، هم روان پریش
آمریکا من افلیجم و این راه صعب العبور است.
#شعر #شعر_جهان #ترجمه_شعر #آلن_گینزبرگ #رزا_جمالی #نسل_بیت
برچسبها: ترجمه ی شعر, شعر معاصر جهان, آلن گینزبرگ, نسل بیت, شعر آمریکا
August 2, 2008
I bought this edition on the day that he died. I was studying abroad in England and was devastated when I got the news. He is not one of my favorite poets, but Ginsberg was instrumental in the lives of some of my favorite authors and musicians. This is a good collection for the beginner.
April 5, 2024
reread - big up mr ginsberg
October 23, 2023
Innblikk i beat generation. Kjennes litt ut som om jeg fikk hodet mitt rista. Gøy å lese!
4.5
4.5
September 11, 2025
skibidi
November 3, 2017
This review focuses more on the author I guess, but perhaps that's inevitable since most of Ginsberg's work is intensely personal.
A cynic with a twenty first century perspective can find so much to dislike in Allen Ginsberg. Yes, he was ahead of his time, and his open-minded values anticipated hippy culture and liberal social attitudes since then. But similarly, many of the ills of the hippy/post-hippy/postmodern world have an antecedent in Allen Ginsberg and his fellow beats.
For example, you get the vacuous self-obsession of yoga, meditation and new age. You get the consumerist religion of tourism, travelling and "the experience". You get the shallow activism of stunts, provocation, and attention seeking. You get juvenile political idealism, delirious name-dropping, unnecessary graphic explicitness, overdone confessional sentimentality, indulgent autobiographical narrative, and minimal personal privacy.
In short, you get the world we live in now. Or at least the noisy, culturally dominant world visible to many of us in real life and especially in the media. Overrated as the beats may be (and in my opinion they are, along with Ginsberg's hero, Walt Whitman, whose writings I find laughable), in many ways, many of us are beats or Bohemians now, as it's often been said. However, to run with the sweeping generalizations a bit more, there are some other things in Ginsberg's work, that unlike the above, you don't find so easily. There's silly humour, constant self-deprecation, unpretentious honesty, painful self/social awareness, modest earthliness, genuine intelligence, and all in all a seemingly fundamental warmth and sweetness. For all the ugliness of the modern, accidental copycats, there was beauty in the original.
A cynic with a twenty first century perspective can find so much to dislike in Allen Ginsberg. Yes, he was ahead of his time, and his open-minded values anticipated hippy culture and liberal social attitudes since then. But similarly, many of the ills of the hippy/post-hippy/postmodern world have an antecedent in Allen Ginsberg and his fellow beats.
For example, you get the vacuous self-obsession of yoga, meditation and new age. You get the consumerist religion of tourism, travelling and "the experience". You get the shallow activism of stunts, provocation, and attention seeking. You get juvenile political idealism, delirious name-dropping, unnecessary graphic explicitness, overdone confessional sentimentality, indulgent autobiographical narrative, and minimal personal privacy.
In short, you get the world we live in now. Or at least the noisy, culturally dominant world visible to many of us in real life and especially in the media. Overrated as the beats may be (and in my opinion they are, along with Ginsberg's hero, Walt Whitman, whose writings I find laughable), in many ways, many of us are beats or Bohemians now, as it's often been said. However, to run with the sweeping generalizations a bit more, there are some other things in Ginsberg's work, that unlike the above, you don't find so easily. There's silly humour, constant self-deprecation, unpretentious honesty, painful self/social awareness, modest earthliness, genuine intelligence, and all in all a seemingly fundamental warmth and sweetness. For all the ugliness of the modern, accidental copycats, there was beauty in the original.
January 14, 2008
It was amazing to me how relevant his older poetry is today, especially his poems about Vietnam. One of my favorite poems is "Birdbrain!" If only he could have witnessed this presidency.
August 20, 2021
Ambitiously intellectual, unafraid poetry. Written in a certain time frame and location (New York), stream of consciousness writing from someone hungry for knowledge. Vulnerable and healthy.
April 21, 2020
Still going through it. Rereading and re-feeling. Will probably keep reading for a long long while. One of the first Beats generation author I acquainted myself with and I can see what's the hype about. More than half the writing styles that millennials go crazy about, Ginsberg has tried and tested. No wonder he is hailed for his experiments.
January 4, 2026
ginsberg makes me want to go off my meds in the best way possible (i genuinely theorize he wrote this manic)
August 27, 2007
Not for the faint of heart: lots of drug use, violence, homoerotic references. You will, however, be transported back to that age--- and if that's a high you're interested in, then it's TOTALLY worth the crash.
August 12, 2012
When I was trying to act young and cool this book was essential reading - now it holds memories of what a pretentious prat I could be. Still some brilliant pieces in here though, but not his best work. The dark sexuality and violence of this selection becomes boring as you get older.
December 7, 2010
Bought it after a friend gave me a mix cd with, among other things, Ginsburg reading "America" set on top of a Tom Waits instrumental. So many more in here that I am just now discovering.
November 3, 2008
i read HOWL
loved it
there are so many reasons that ginsberg is so incredibly well respected, but the epitome would be the work itself
i make a promise with myself to read more
loved it
there are so many reasons that ginsberg is so incredibly well respected, but the epitome would be the work itself
i make a promise with myself to read more
July 2, 2008
Ginsberg can be terribly entertaining and powerful. He can also be trite and plain unlikable.
Read
April 18, 2011I got this edition at The City Lights Bookstore. Love it even when I'm wondering, seriously?
September 12, 2011
This guy completely sucks.
February 18, 2023
Citaat : Welk nieuw element voor ons ongeboren in de natuur?
Is er iets nieuws onder de Zon?
Eindelijk weetgierige Whitman een modern episch, ontplofbaar,
Wetenschappelijk thema
Eerst ondoordacht door Dr Seaborg neergepend met vergiftigde hand.
Genaamd naar Dood’s planeet door de zee voorbij Uranus
Review : De Amerikaans dichter van joodse afkomst Allen Ginsberg (1926 -1997) vormde het centrum van de Beat Generation samen met dichters als Gary Snyder en Michael McClure. Zijn werk riep controverse op omwille van het uitkomen voor zijn homoseksualiteit en ook omwille van zijn alles behalve preuts taalgebruik.
Hij was een rebel in hart in nieren en distantieerde zich van elke vorm van oorlog, geweld tout court en onderdrukking. Overal ter wereld had hij vrienden en vijanden, maar dat heeft hem nooit weerhouden om te schrijven of te zeggen wat hij werkelijk wilde openbaar maken.
Van deze levenshouding is zijn poëzie dan ook van a tot z doordrongen.
De Nederlandse schrijver en generatiegenoot Simon Vinkenoog was een boezemvriend, maar ook zijn vaste Nederlandstalige vertaler.
Me and my peepee bevat een selectie gedichten, uit diverse bundels, waaronder ook het legendarische Plutonium ode (Plutonische ode) .
Niets was deze troubadour en geniale dichter vreemd en hij kon dan ook met evenveel overgave een gedicht over wetenschap als over anale seks schrijven...
Zijn passie voor het woord, die Simon Vinkenoog ook in de vertaling weet te behouden, ontroert mij telkens weer.
Is er iets nieuws onder de Zon?
Eindelijk weetgierige Whitman een modern episch, ontplofbaar,
Wetenschappelijk thema
Eerst ondoordacht door Dr Seaborg neergepend met vergiftigde hand.
Genaamd naar Dood’s planeet door de zee voorbij Uranus
Review : De Amerikaans dichter van joodse afkomst Allen Ginsberg (1926 -1997) vormde het centrum van de Beat Generation samen met dichters als Gary Snyder en Michael McClure. Zijn werk riep controverse op omwille van het uitkomen voor zijn homoseksualiteit en ook omwille van zijn alles behalve preuts taalgebruik.
Hij was een rebel in hart in nieren en distantieerde zich van elke vorm van oorlog, geweld tout court en onderdrukking. Overal ter wereld had hij vrienden en vijanden, maar dat heeft hem nooit weerhouden om te schrijven of te zeggen wat hij werkelijk wilde openbaar maken.
Van deze levenshouding is zijn poëzie dan ook van a tot z doordrongen.
De Nederlandse schrijver en generatiegenoot Simon Vinkenoog was een boezemvriend, maar ook zijn vaste Nederlandstalige vertaler.
Me and my peepee bevat een selectie gedichten, uit diverse bundels, waaronder ook het legendarische Plutonium ode (Plutonische ode) .
Niets was deze troubadour en geniale dichter vreemd en hij kon dan ook met evenveel overgave een gedicht over wetenschap als over anale seks schrijven...
Zijn passie voor het woord, die Simon Vinkenoog ook in de vertaling weet te behouden, ontroert mij telkens weer.
January 18, 2026
The primary interest in this volume -- as opposed, to, say, the vastly more complete *Collected Poems* -- is that the selection is made by Ginsberg himself, with a little (largely corroborating, one imagines) input from various of his friends. One can argue with the selection (I certainly can), but that's more or less beside the point.
Explanatory notes at the end seem to have come from Ginsberg himself. Some are useful; others tell us things that anyone with a nodding familiarity with the Beats would know well. We all know who "Neal" is, for instance. On the other hand, while the notes translate the title "Malest Cornifici Tuo Catullo", the meaning of the Greek title of the poem beginning "Red cheeked boyfriends" is left to those who can read Greek.
My greatest quibble, however, pertains to certain textual . . . anomalies? peculiarities? or even (gasp! dare I say?) revisions. In the original City Lights publication (in *Howl and Other Poems*) of the early "Song" (first line: "The weight of the world is love"), the poem ends "to return to the body where I was born"; in this volume it ends "to return to my body where I was born", altering the meaning entirely. Or is it the City Lights edition that got it wrong? (Maybe the Philip Glass setting, which Ginsberg knew and approved of, could cast the deciding vote; I'd check, but I loathe Glass.) "Hardon Blues", dated August 16, 1974, contains the line "aint got clap or H.I.V" -- amazing prescience, the virus having been discovered and named only a decade later, or . . . so much for "first thought best thought"?
Oh well, Ginsberg contradicts himself, contains multitudes . . .
Explanatory notes at the end seem to have come from Ginsberg himself. Some are useful; others tell us things that anyone with a nodding familiarity with the Beats would know well. We all know who "Neal" is, for instance. On the other hand, while the notes translate the title "Malest Cornifici Tuo Catullo", the meaning of the Greek title of the poem beginning "Red cheeked boyfriends" is left to those who can read Greek.
My greatest quibble, however, pertains to certain textual . . . anomalies? peculiarities? or even (gasp! dare I say?) revisions. In the original City Lights publication (in *Howl and Other Poems*) of the early "Song" (first line: "The weight of the world is love"), the poem ends "to return to the body where I was born"; in this volume it ends "to return to my body where I was born", altering the meaning entirely. Or is it the City Lights edition that got it wrong? (Maybe the Philip Glass setting, which Ginsberg knew and approved of, could cast the deciding vote; I'd check, but I loathe Glass.) "Hardon Blues", dated August 16, 1974, contains the line "aint got clap or H.I.V" -- amazing prescience, the virus having been discovered and named only a decade later, or . . . so much for "first thought best thought"?
Oh well, Ginsberg contradicts himself, contains multitudes . . .
Read
August 19, 2022(Read the majority of this between April and May with the last 30 or so pages just before review.)
This is actually a revisit, a collection of poems I read when I was probably too young in Secondary School. Ginsberg is good, no surprise, with my enduring personal favourite Wichita Vortex Sutra. Howl is of course good, etc. There are a lot of duds though, and that's to be expected. You could easily compile his best and get a 4 or 5 star book that's maybe 100 pages, but this volume is hard to rate because of the breadth of work displayed. His early stuff is really not so compelling, but you can see where he could go with it. There's the stuff he writes at the height of the Beats which is good, but I most prefer his later work. Post 60's pre-late 80's.
There are a lot of little songs: avoid these, they suck.
Good collection, Allen Ginsberg is THE American Poet, I guess after Whitman?
This is actually a revisit, a collection of poems I read when I was probably too young in Secondary School. Ginsberg is good, no surprise, with my enduring personal favourite Wichita Vortex Sutra. Howl is of course good, etc. There are a lot of duds though, and that's to be expected. You could easily compile his best and get a 4 or 5 star book that's maybe 100 pages, but this volume is hard to rate because of the breadth of work displayed. His early stuff is really not so compelling, but you can see where he could go with it. There's the stuff he writes at the height of the Beats which is good, but I most prefer his later work. Post 60's pre-late 80's.
There are a lot of little songs: avoid these, they suck.
Good collection, Allen Ginsberg is THE American Poet, I guess after Whitman?
June 8, 2025
I met Allen in the mid-Nineties a few years before his death, when he had bifurcated into Allen the rebel poet and Allen the national institution, a Whitmanesque contradiction he no doubt savored. These SELECTED POEMS, chosen by Allen himself, express that evolution perfectly. Fifties classics such as "Howl" and Kaddish", still retain their power, as do the love poems to Peter Orlovsky, along with Sixties gems of Allen composing a poem while high on LSD in Wales and tripping through a desolate American landscape on his way to a poetry reading in Wichita, Kansas ("Wichita Vortex Sutra"). But the Seventies to Nineties poems are TOO personal; no attempt to reach out to an audience at all. To each his own bard. Publishing note: Shame on the publisher for putting out such a cheap edition, with paper that melts in your hands.
September 15, 2024
even though I couldn’t care less about his more politically themed poems, at the end of his life (1997) or a bit before, in my opinion, is the time when he wrote the most beautiful and most raw poetry of his life
and I’ve noticed, it’s almost like this for all poets that I’ve read - my favourite ones tend to be the ones that they write very early on, because they’re rather naive, then I hate whatever is in the middle because they’re so obsessed with form and being intellectual that they forget to write a fucking good poem first and foremost, and then it’s closer to the end of their lives, when it’s simplicity, regrets, hopes and loves. because what really matters?
and I’ve noticed, it’s almost like this for all poets that I’ve read - my favourite ones tend to be the ones that they write very early on, because they’re rather naive, then I hate whatever is in the middle because they’re so obsessed with form and being intellectual that they forget to write a fucking good poem first and foremost, and then it’s closer to the end of their lives, when it’s simplicity, regrets, hopes and loves. because what really matters?
August 15, 2020
A fantastic collection of poems, some made me laugh, some made me sad, some made me horny and some made me contemplate. There were a couple of the poems that I found a little uninteresting but on the whole a great collection
September 6, 2023
knew a lot of the poems already so i expected it to be good & it didn’t disappoint. i love re-reading works that literally shaped me as a teenager & finding them unchanged or better. this is also a very comprehensive collection if you’re getting into ginsberg/beat gen
April 28, 2025
Revisiting Allen Ginsberg
Late in 2023, I reread Allen Ginsberg's great poem "Kaddish" after a long time away. I decided to read Ginsberg (1926 -- 1997) again and turned to his volume "Selected Poems: 1947 -- 1995". For many years, I have been fascinated by the Beats.
Ginsberg's "Selected Poems" commemorates his 70th birthday. The poet himself selected the poems to be included in the volume following consultation with his friends. He also wrote a valuable, brief "Apologia of Selection" which offers an overview of how Ginsberg saw the trajectory of his long practice of poetry. The volume also includes Ginsberg's explanatory notes on references in the poems together with many photographs. The volume includes selections from Ginsberg's work with the exception of the latest poems written just before his death and published in the collection "Death and Fame". In the final paragraph of the "Apologia" Ginsberg, I think accurately, describes the course of his poetic work. He writes:
"The original task was to 'widen the area of consciousness' make pragmatic examination of the texture of consciousness, even somewhat transform consciousness. In the last decade elements of meditative and poetic practice appear to merge. That's the inner structure or progression of this book."
This collection shows the arc of Ginsberg's poetry. He came to his best writing early with his most famous poems "Howl" (1955) and "Kaddish" (1959) and related works. Then, I find, there was a gradual decline as Ginsberg's work became more overtly political with its strong leftist bent and its criticism of the Vietnam War. Ginsberg became a figure of the American counterculture and became famous for his eccentric behavior even more so than for his poems. Still, his collection "The Fall of America" (1973) won the National Book Award for poetry. There are eloquent poems and passages throughout Ginsberg's work, but the collection on the whole is uneven. In the late poems in this volume, "Plutonian Ode" and "White Shroud", Ginsberg's voice attains peace and eloquence. It differs from the passion and long lines of the earlier poetry as Ginsberg meditates on his life, his impending death, his relationships to others and, most importantly, his spirituality and Buddhism.
The Beat movement was short, and Ginsberg outlived it. Many of the poems in this collection were written within the movement, and many look back on it with nostalgia. Ginsberg's relationships with and thoughts on Kerouac, Neal Cassady, William Burroughs, and Gregory Corso pervade this volume.
Ginsberg's poetic influences include Whitman, Shelly, William Carlos Williams, and, especially William Blake. As a student in the 1940's, Ginsberg had an epiphany in a vision of Blake which he included as "Psalm IV" in "Kaddish". It is worth quoting this poem for itself and for the light it casts on Ginsberg's poetry in general.
"Now I'll record my secret vision impossible sight of the face of God:
It was no dream. I lay broad waking on a fabulous couch in Harlem
having masturbated for no love, and read half naked an open book of Blake on my lap
Lo & behold! I was thoughtless and turned a page and gazed on the living Sun-flower
and heard a voice, it was Blake's, reciting in earthen measure:
the voice rose out of the page to my secret ear never heard before --
I lifted my eves to the window, red walls of buildings flashed outside, endless sky sad in Eternity
sunlight gazing on the world, apartments of Harlem standing in the universe --
each brick and cornice stained with intelligence like a vast living face --
the great brain unfolding and brooding in wilderness! -- Now speaking aloud with Blake's voice--
Love! though patient presence & bone of the body! Father ! thy careful watching and waiting over my soul!
My son! My son! the endless ages have remembered me! My son! My son!
Time howled anguish in my ear!
My son! My son! my father wept and held me in his dead arms."
Much of Ginsberg is in this poem -- the long lines, the sexuality, the emphasis on personal experience and sincerity, and the heavily spiritual tone of the work. Ginsberg varies emphasis throughout his poems. Many poems focus on sexual behavior, especially on Ginsberg's homosexuality. Ginsberg's sexual desire and loneliness combine with his feelings for America and with his spiritual growth. This seems to me the value and direction of Ginsberg's poetry. I feel it unfortunate that his work was muddled by popularity, by the 1960s counterculture, and by politics.
My reading of this volume was enhanced by a video published by the Library of Congress titled "Allen Ginsberg Reads his Poetry" recorded at the poet's home in New York City on April 29, 1988. In the video, Ginsberg reads. discusses, and sings some of the poems in his "Selected Poems". He also reads poems by Blake, Shelly, and W.C. Williams. Ginsberg's love for poetry and his unabashed enthusiasm shine through in this document and helped me appreciate him and his art.
Ginsberg will be remembered by his best work. This volume allows the reader to see Ginsberg's great poems as part of a whole and to place the work in its context.
Robin Friedman
Late in 2023, I reread Allen Ginsberg's great poem "Kaddish" after a long time away. I decided to read Ginsberg (1926 -- 1997) again and turned to his volume "Selected Poems: 1947 -- 1995". For many years, I have been fascinated by the Beats.
Ginsberg's "Selected Poems" commemorates his 70th birthday. The poet himself selected the poems to be included in the volume following consultation with his friends. He also wrote a valuable, brief "Apologia of Selection" which offers an overview of how Ginsberg saw the trajectory of his long practice of poetry. The volume also includes Ginsberg's explanatory notes on references in the poems together with many photographs. The volume includes selections from Ginsberg's work with the exception of the latest poems written just before his death and published in the collection "Death and Fame". In the final paragraph of the "Apologia" Ginsberg, I think accurately, describes the course of his poetic work. He writes:
"The original task was to 'widen the area of consciousness' make pragmatic examination of the texture of consciousness, even somewhat transform consciousness. In the last decade elements of meditative and poetic practice appear to merge. That's the inner structure or progression of this book."
This collection shows the arc of Ginsberg's poetry. He came to his best writing early with his most famous poems "Howl" (1955) and "Kaddish" (1959) and related works. Then, I find, there was a gradual decline as Ginsberg's work became more overtly political with its strong leftist bent and its criticism of the Vietnam War. Ginsberg became a figure of the American counterculture and became famous for his eccentric behavior even more so than for his poems. Still, his collection "The Fall of America" (1973) won the National Book Award for poetry. There are eloquent poems and passages throughout Ginsberg's work, but the collection on the whole is uneven. In the late poems in this volume, "Plutonian Ode" and "White Shroud", Ginsberg's voice attains peace and eloquence. It differs from the passion and long lines of the earlier poetry as Ginsberg meditates on his life, his impending death, his relationships to others and, most importantly, his spirituality and Buddhism.
The Beat movement was short, and Ginsberg outlived it. Many of the poems in this collection were written within the movement, and many look back on it with nostalgia. Ginsberg's relationships with and thoughts on Kerouac, Neal Cassady, William Burroughs, and Gregory Corso pervade this volume.
Ginsberg's poetic influences include Whitman, Shelly, William Carlos Williams, and, especially William Blake. As a student in the 1940's, Ginsberg had an epiphany in a vision of Blake which he included as "Psalm IV" in "Kaddish". It is worth quoting this poem for itself and for the light it casts on Ginsberg's poetry in general.
"Now I'll record my secret vision impossible sight of the face of God:
It was no dream. I lay broad waking on a fabulous couch in Harlem
having masturbated for no love, and read half naked an open book of Blake on my lap
Lo & behold! I was thoughtless and turned a page and gazed on the living Sun-flower
and heard a voice, it was Blake's, reciting in earthen measure:
the voice rose out of the page to my secret ear never heard before --
I lifted my eves to the window, red walls of buildings flashed outside, endless sky sad in Eternity
sunlight gazing on the world, apartments of Harlem standing in the universe --
each brick and cornice stained with intelligence like a vast living face --
the great brain unfolding and brooding in wilderness! -- Now speaking aloud with Blake's voice--
Love! though patient presence & bone of the body! Father ! thy careful watching and waiting over my soul!
My son! My son! the endless ages have remembered me! My son! My son!
Time howled anguish in my ear!
My son! My son! my father wept and held me in his dead arms."
Much of Ginsberg is in this poem -- the long lines, the sexuality, the emphasis on personal experience and sincerity, and the heavily spiritual tone of the work. Ginsberg varies emphasis throughout his poems. Many poems focus on sexual behavior, especially on Ginsberg's homosexuality. Ginsberg's sexual desire and loneliness combine with his feelings for America and with his spiritual growth. This seems to me the value and direction of Ginsberg's poetry. I feel it unfortunate that his work was muddled by popularity, by the 1960s counterculture, and by politics.
My reading of this volume was enhanced by a video published by the Library of Congress titled "Allen Ginsberg Reads his Poetry" recorded at the poet's home in New York City on April 29, 1988. In the video, Ginsberg reads. discusses, and sings some of the poems in his "Selected Poems". He also reads poems by Blake, Shelly, and W.C. Williams. Ginsberg's love for poetry and his unabashed enthusiasm shine through in this document and helped me appreciate him and his art.
Ginsberg will be remembered by his best work. This volume allows the reader to see Ginsberg's great poems as part of a whole and to place the work in its context.
Robin Friedman
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2018
Mostly a great selection. Beware the early poems--"America" sticks out--have been revised by the author in ways that dim their light.
March 20, 2019
"I'm going to try speaking some reckless words,
and I want you to try to listen recklessly."
and I want you to try to listen recklessly."
October 27, 2019
Probably all the classic poetry is in here. Whether you go for the homosexual verses depends on how you like your pickle tickled.
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