Description
"Allen Ginsberg's "Kaddish," a long poem written about the madness and death of his mother, Naomi, is widely considered to be one his major works."--PUBLISHER.
Library's review
from cover
In the midst of the broken consciousness of mid twentieth century suffering anguish of separation from my own body and its natural infinity of feeling its own self one with all self, I instinctively seeking to reconstitute that blissful union which I experienced so rarely I took it to be
Contents
Kaddish: Poem, narrative, hymmnn, lament, litany & fugue
Poem Rocket
Europe! Europe!
To Lindsay
Message
To Aunt Rose
At Apollinaire's Grave
The Lion for Real
Ignu
Death to Van Gogh's Ear!
Laughing Gas
Mescaline
Lysergic Acid
Magic Psalm
The Reply
The End
In the midst of the broken consciousness of mid twentieth century suffering anguish of separation from my own body and its natural infinity of feeling its own self one with all self, I instinctively seeking to reconstitute that blissful union which I experienced so rarely I took it to be
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supernatural and gave it holy Name thus make hymn laments of longing and litanies of triumphancy of Self over the mind-illusion mechano-universe of un-feeling Time in which I saw my self my own mother and my very nation trapped desolate our worlds of consciousness homeless and at war except for the original trampling of bliss in breast and belly of every body that nakedness refected in suits of fear that familiar defenseless living hurt self which is myself same as all others abandoned scared of own our unchanging desire for each other. These poems almost un-conscious to confess the beatific human fact, the language intuitively chosen as in trance & dream, the rhythms rising from breath into breast and belly, the hymn completed in tears, the movement of the physical poetry demanding and receiving decades of life while chanting Kaddish the names of Death in many mindworlds the self seeking the Key to life found at last in our self.--Allen GinsbergContents
Kaddish: Poem, narrative, hymmnn, lament, litany & fugue
Poem Rocket
Europe! Europe!
To Lindsay
Message
To Aunt Rose
At Apollinaire's Grave
The Lion for Real
Ignu
Death to Van Gogh's Ear!
Laughing Gas
Mescaline
Lysergic Acid
Magic Psalm
The Reply
The End
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User reviews
LibraryThing member danlai
I'm not sure I get the Beats. Kaddish is a great poem, though.
LibraryThing member AlbertHolmes
I actually liked this one better than Howl. The personal poems are more concrete. I also liked that the book had a narrative running throughout, starting with Ginsberg's ode to his late mother, running through his trip to France to visit famous cemeteries. Definitely captures a specific time in the
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poet's life. Show Less
Genres
Publication
City Light Books
Original publication date
1961