beat poetry assignment quizlet

Beat Poetry – Non-Conformity in the World of Poems

Every now and then, an extremely specific literary movement emerges. They are not as large as something like the Romantics, which were immensely large in scope and instead served as a specific movement within a very particular period. This is the case with Beat poetry. So, what is Beat poetry? What is the Beat Movement? Who were the Beat Poets? These are the kinds of questions that will receive attention throughout this article as I discuss various elements related to this relatively short movement in 20th-century literature. The Beats were also loved, and so this may be a good chance to see why that is the case.

Table of Contents

• 1 A Look at Beat Poetry
• 2 Summary of Beat Poetry
• 3 The History of Beat Poetry
• 4 The Characteristics of Beat Poetry
• 5 The Goals of the Beat Poets
• 6.1 Howl (1956) by Allen Ginsberg
• 6.2 A Coney Island of the Mind, 8 (1958) by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
• 6.3 Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note (1961) by Amiri Baraka
• 6.4 The American Way (1961) by Gregory Corso
• 6.5 Song for Baby-O, Unborn (1990) by Diane Di Prima
• 7.1 What Is Beat Poetry?
• 7.2 What Are the Characteristics of Beat Poetry?
• 7.3 Who Were the Beat Poets?
• 7.4 What Is the Beat Movement?
• 7.5 What Are Some Examples of Beat Poetry?

A Look at Beat Poetry

There have been many movements in literature, but few have been as influential on present-day literature as the work of the Beat Poets. This group would serve not only as an inspiration through their writing but also through the lives that they led. They worked to reject tradition and embrace non-conformity, creativity, and a focus on the individual. This article is all about them, but before we do get into their history for a while, let’s first see a summary.

Summary of Beat Poetry

When it comes to Beat poetry, there are a few things that need to be explored. For instance, what is Beat poetry in the first place? These sorts of questions will be answered in more depth after this particular section, but if you need a taster, then this should be beneficial to you:

• Beat poetry originated in the 1950s. The Beat Movement lasted for some time, but its heyday peaked throughout the 1950s and 1960s and burned hard and fast. Many members of the Beats had also been raised in privilege and saw the movement as a way of rebelling against it.
• Beat poetry was focused on non-conformity. While this is far from the only aspect of Beat poetry, it is a major part of it. Their work would often explore very taboo topics for the time, such as sexuality, drug use, and radical individualism. These figures became icons of a generation.
• The Beat Poets did not only write poetry. While we typically refer to this group as the “Beat Poets”, they did not solely produce poetry. One of the most famous texts from the movement was Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel On the Road . However, they are still often known as the Beat Poets.

This has been a brief summary of the things to come. Many more elements concern the Beat Generation, but a summary is hardly enough to cover it all.

So, if this summary has been a good means of whetting your appetite, you should head into the next section.

The History of Beat Poetry

Every poetic movement has some kind of a cause, something that leads it to be born, and in the case of Beat poetry, that thing was the culture of the United States in the aftermath of the Second World War. After the war, there was an immediate pivot toward a new war, the Cold War. This war would lead to a major change in the culture of the country over the next few decades. The 1950s were particularly known for being a rather terrifying period to live through in the country because it was the time of nuclear terror. Everyone was afraid of what the communists would do, and the government and media made sure to reinforce this threat. This then led to a very particular form of conformist culture in which being a proud American was the standard.

Patriotism and adhering to the status quo became the norm, and out of that arose a few figures in the 1950s who would come to be known as the Beat Generation. These young writers would rebel against the conformity of society at the time and would instead embrace concepts such as radical individualism, sexual liberation, spontaneity, and freedom of choice. These Beat Poets were generally congregated in several major areas, such as the North Beach district in San Francisco and the Greenwich Village district in New York City.

These figures would call themselves the “beats” because it was meant to be a play on the idea of being weary. Many others, generally those who were in opposition to them, would instead use the term “beatnik” to describe them. However, they would continue with their more liberated lifestyles, which involved drug use, sexual freedom, and constant creativity. Some of the major figures who arose during the Beat Movement were Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William S. Burroughs. However, many others would also call themselves Beat Poets even if they were not part of the major figures.

These Beat Poets would attempt to exemplify this freeform lifestyle and would focus on living their lives as genuinely as possible.

There was also a strong push toward a more progressive existence, and this was one of the many things that put them at odds with the highly conservative existence of American society at the time. This was also one of the reasons that after the publication of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl , which is seen as the most important poetic text of the Beat Movement, it faced legal pushback and was even brought into an obscenity trial because of its frank depictions of drug use and homosexual sex.

During the 1960s, the relevance of the Beat Poets and Beat poetry in general would start to fade, but it did have a strong influence on the movements that would grow after it. For instance, the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s would take inspiration from the freedom-oriented lifestyles of the Beats. And while the movement is now dead, and so are the majority of the Beat Poets, their work still remains and continues to influence many around the world.

The Characteristics of Beat Poetry

When it comes to an understanding of Beat poetry, you need to keep in mind that their central idea was non-conformity. The Beat Poets wanted to go against what had come to be seen as normal and ordinary, and they would often push back on the conservative society of the United States at the time. This meant that their poetry would often focus on content that was deliberately non-conformist.

This can be seen in the way that many examples of Beat poetry would explore and discuss topics like drug use and sexuality with a frankness that was not seen in more traditional literature of the time. This is one of the major elements of Beat poetry that needs to be taken into account more so than necessarily the formal aspects of this movement’s chosen way of writing poetry.

The rebellious nature of Beat poetry did also influence the ways in which they wrote though. Many of the Beats were also involved in jazz. This musical influence would lead to the development of poetry that was generally more rhythmic in its presentation. It would often make use of a more chaotic style, and there was often a focus on spontaneity in their work.

Other than this, you can often find elements of Eastern religions in the work of the Beat Poets. Many took inspiration from things like Zen Buddhism to inform a way of living that was counter to the way that American society was structured. This would also be seen in the Beats’ general rejection of American values related to capitalism and elitism. They wanted to live their lives as genuinely as possible, and this translated into the way that they composed their poetry too.

The Goals of the Beat Poets

When we examine the work of the Beat Poets, we see that the movement was not solely about artistic creation. There was a very real political goal to the poetry that they produced. This poetry was a direct rejection of the kind of society that birthed the Beat Poets in the first place. Many of the earliest and most important figures in the Beat Generation grew up in the post-World War II period and were subjected to intense levels of patriotism and anti-left-wing propaganda because of its relation to communism. So, when these young writers grew up and went to university, they discovered that there was another way to live their lives. These early groups would become the basis for the Beats in general.

They would then have certain goals in mind when it came to the poetry that they wrote.

They wished to express themselves in a way that had not been allowed in more traditional society. They wanted to experiment with what all life had to offer, such as sex and drugs, and they wanted to write about these experiences too. These sorts of aspects of life have always existed, but it has traditionally been frowned upon to even consider writing about anything like this. The Beat Poets wanted to show the authenticity of life, and they wanted to be rebels against a society that wanted them to remain as conformist as possible. These more liberationist goals would lead to legal troubles for many of the Beat Poets, and a number of them died quite young because of the lifestyles that they led, such as Jack Kerouac’s heavy drinking. However, the spirit of their work would forever remain in the literature that they produced.

A Few Beat Poetry Examples

To understand and answer questions like, “who were the Beat Poets?”, you need to have a look at the kind of work that they produced. While there were also other projects produced by the Beat Poets, such as novels and visual art, there is often an association with poetry. They are also often referred to as the Beat Generation, but that poet moniker has managed to stick around for a very long time. To understand this movement, let’s get started and take a gander at the kind of work that these figures poured their hearts and souls into.

Howl (1956) by Allen Ginsberg

Howl is often considered to be an exemplary example of Beat poetry. It was written by one of the most integral members of the movement, and it came to be seen as one of the greatest poems of the mid-20 th century period in poetry. The poem is a lengthy text that explores a variety of topics, such as spirituality, mental health, sexual liberation, and numerous instances of social critique. One of the central aspects of Beat poetry in general, and this poem in particular, was the frankness with which it discussed a variety of personal experiences, such as the homosexual relationships that Ginsberg took part in (which was still very much frowned upon at the time, and it was one of the central reasons for an obscenity trial that was brought against him), his drug use, and personal struggles in life.

The poem would go on to become a battle cry for the non-conformists of the period.

A Coney Island of the Mind, 8 (1958) by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

A Coney Island of the Mind, 8 is a notable poem from one of the most important writers in the Beat Generation. This example of Beat poetry was all about a singular moment within the world. In this case, it showed one moment in Golden Gate Park and what all occurred within that short period of time. There are people going about their lives, musicians, those eating oranges. This is the kind of poetry that would become common in the world of the Beat Poets because it was a perfect encapsulation of spontaneous creativity.

Was there some deeper reason that this singular moment was taken as one in particular or are all moments worth recording in our world?

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note (1961) by Amiri Baraka

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note is a poem that explores the concept of suicide, as the title would suggest. In this poem, the speaker discusses the feelings of a suicidal character who is currently experiencing existential despair. They are thinking about the difficulties of their life, such as loneliness and depression. However, the poem should also be understood within its broader context. The reason is that this particular poem serves as the preface to a larger collection, and so this poem can be seen as setting the general mood for what is to come in the following pages.

Making use of a poem in this way gives it a different kind of weight than if it was entirely on its own and understood in that sense.

The American Way (1961) by Gregory Corso

The American Way is a poem that serves as a powerful critique of American culture and society. The poem explores a number of different aspects of the United States, such as the use of religion as a means of commodification. The poem, as a whole, is highly critical of the conformist nature of the country, the way in which authenticity has become eroded over time as consumerism has taken the place of genuine symbols of human civilization, and the lack of individualism that is allowed to take place in American society.

The poem certainly comes from a particular period, but the critiques that it presents are still, in many ways, found in contemporary society, except that they have often spread far outside of the borders of the United States alone.

Song for Baby-O, Unborn (1990) by Diane Di Prima

Song for Baby-O, Unborn is a poem that is addressed to an unborn child, and so it can be seen as reflecting a parental perspective. The poem explores ideas related to parenthood, such as learning to be tender with one’s child and an awareness of the difficulties that this child will face if they are to be born. Poems of this nature show the more uncompromising perspective of the Beat Poets in that they understood that even those who are unborn will eventually find themselves in our world, and there are many difficulties and challenges to be found in our reality.

The Beat Generation has remained one of the most influential of all the countercultural movements in the 20th century, and, hopefully, this article has managed to elucidate the question: what is the Beat Movement? We spent our time having a look over the history of Beat poetry, the kinds of characteristics that it was known for, the goals of those who considered themselves part of the Beat Poets, and a bunch of Beat poetry examples to go over. However, there is still much to be learned from Beat poetry, and I would recommend reading more than what was only discussed here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is beat poetry.

Beat poetry is a term that refers to the work produced by the Beat Generation. This 1950s and 1960s group was made up of several prominent figures and far more lesser-known individuals who were influenced by the work of the Beats. While the inspiration that was derived from Beat poetry has persisted into the present day, the actual era of Beat poetry predominantly came to an end during the 1960s.

What Are the Characteristics of Beat Poetry?

Some of the prominent characteristics of Beat poetry were elements such as rebellious language, the use of obscenities, the exploration of sexuality, the rejection of societal norms, and the adoption of musical elements, especially from jazz. Their work attempted to be more rhythmic, anti-authority, and would challenge the status quo. Beat poetry has remained influential to this day thanks to these elements.

Who Were the Beat Poets?

The Beat Poets were all members of the Beat Generation. These figures were part of a countercultural movement that developed through the 1950s and 1960s. Prominent members included figures like Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William S. Burroughs. These writers would challenge the status quo of literature and rebelled against the kind of literary output that had come to be expected. They were considered to be rebels, and many more traditional writers were against them at the time.

What Is the Beat Movement?

The Beat Movement was a countercultural movement that originated in the United States. This group, known as the Beat Generation, were those who wished to work against the general conventions of the society in which they were raised. They would do this by taking from jazz culture, altering their dress to fly in the face of convention, and would engage in behaviors deemed incorrect by mainstream society, such as drug use. This movement was known for its defiance of societal norms.

What Are Some Examples of Beat Poetry?

There are some fantastic examples of Beat poetry, and some of the most famous include works such as Howl (1956) by Allen Ginsberg, A Coney Island of the Mind, 8 (1958) by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and The American Way (1961) by Gregory Corso. The Beat Poets did write a lot more than this though, and there are novels and examples of visual artistry that also trace their lineage through the Beat Generation.

Justin van Huyssteen is a freelance writer, novelist, and academic originally from Cape Town, South Africa. At present, he has a bachelor’s degree in English and literary theory and an honor’s degree in literary theory. He is currently working towards his master’s degree in literary theory with a focus on animal studies, critical theory, and semiotics within literature. As a novelist and freelancer, he often writes under the pen name L.C. Lupus.

Justin’s preferred literary movements include modern and postmodern literature with literary fiction and genre fiction like sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, and horror being of particular interest. His academia extends to his interest in prose and narratology. He enjoys analyzing a variety of mediums through a literary lens, such as graphic novels, film, and video games.

Justin is working for artincontext.org as an author and content writer since 2022. He is responsible for all blog posts about architecture, literature and poetry.

Learn more about Justin van Huyssteen and the Art in Context Team .

Cite this Article

Justin, van Huyssteen, “Beat Poetry – Non-Conformity in the World of Poems.” Art in Context. March 5, 2024. URL: https://artincontext.org/beat-poetry/

van Huyssteen, J. (2024, 5 March). Beat Poetry – Non-Conformity in the World of Poems. Art in Context. https://artincontext.org/beat-poetry/

van Huyssteen, Justin. “Beat Poetry – Non-Conformity in the World of Poems.” Art in Context , March 5, 2024. https://artincontext.org/beat-poetry/ .

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A Brief Guide to the Beat Poets

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I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by      madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at      dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient      heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the      machinery of night . . .      — Allen Ginsberg , “ Howl ”

Beat poetry evolved during the 1940s in both New York City and on the West Coast, although San Francisco became the heart of the movement in the early 1950s. The end of World War II left poets like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder , Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso questioning mainstream politics and culture. These poets would become known as the Beat Generation, a group of writers interested in changing consciousness and defying conventional writing. The Beats were also closely intertwined with poets of the San Francisco Renaissance movement, such as Kenneth Rexroth and Robert Duncan .

The battle against social conformity and literary tradition was central to the work of the Beats. Among this group of poets, hallucinogenic drugs were used to achieve higher consciousness, as was meditation and Eastern religion. Buddhism especially was important to many of the Beat poets; Snyder and Ginsberg both intensely studied this religion and it figured into much of their work.

Ginsberg’s first book, Howl and Other Poems , is often considered representative of the Beat poets. In 1956 Ferlinghetti’s press City Lights published Howl and Ferlinghetti was brought to trial the next year on charges of obscenity. In a hugely publicized case, the judge ruled that Howl was not obscene and brought national attention to Ginsberg and the Beat poets.

Besides publishing the Pocket Poets Series, Ferlinghetti also founded the legendary San Francisco bookstore City Lights. Still in operation today, City Lights is an important landmark of Beat Generation history. Several of the surrounding streets have been renamed after Beat poets as well, commemorating their important contribution to the cultural landscape of San Francisco.

Other Beat poets included Diane di Prima, Neal Cassady, Anne Waldman , and Michael McClure . Although William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac are often best remembered for works of fiction such as Naked Lunch and On the Road, respectively, they also wrote poetry and were very much part of the Beats as well; Kerouac is said to have coined the term “beat generation,” describing the down-and-out status of himself and his peers during the post-war years.

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Beat poetry guide: history and examples of beat poetry.

nsikak.ekikor 13th December 2022 4 comments

Beat poetry is a style of free-form writing that originated in the mid-1950s and 1960s. It’s characterized by individualism.

Explore the artists of the Beat Generation who created influential works of American literature to learn about Beat poetry, in this article.

What is Beat Poetry?

Beat poetry is the work of Beat poets created during the Beat movement, a postwar literary community that embraced counterculture and activism. Beat poets were generally opposed to capitalist American values and elite academia.

Allen Ginsberg , Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Amiri Baraka , and Diane Di Prima were notable Beat Generation figures.

Other American poets who contributed to the literary movement included Gregory Corso, Neal Cassady, Gary Snyder, Bob Kaufman, Hettie Jones, Herbert Huncke, and Lucien Carr. Artists like surrealist painter Jay DeFeo and filmmaker Stan Brakhage were part of the larger Beat Movement.

The movement’s writing and activism centered on transcending America’s bourgeoise values through spiritual liberation, sexual liberation, anti-imperialism, a rejection of academic literary culture, and the de-mystification of recreational drugs.

Zen Buddhism and other aspects of Eastern religions were central to the Beats’ study and practice. For example, Gary Snyder’s move to Japan to study Buddhist practice is mentioned in Jack Kerouac’s 1958 novel The Dharma Bums.

A Brief History of the Beat Generation

The Beat poetry movement was brief but culturally significant.

Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Hal Chase, Lucien Carr, and other writers met at Columbia University in the early 1940s. They would later become associated with a movement known for rejecting academia in favor of creating American literature that was more accessible to the working class.

From the early to late 1950s, writers associated with the Beat movement congregated in New York City’s Greenwich Village due to the low cost of living and communal culture.

On October 7, 1955, the Six Gallery Reading took place in San Francisco, California. It included performances by Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, and, most notably, Allen Ginsberg, who read poetry from the first section of “Howl.”

The reading was hosted by Kenneth Rexroth. Lawrence Ferlinghetti of San Francisco’s City Lights bookstore began publishing the City Lights Pocket Poets series around this time. The following year, in 1956, he would publish Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems.

“Howl” was subjected to a famous obscenity trial in 1957, which was later dismissed, attesting to the movement’s values and potency in the public consciousness.

Other state-led suppression efforts against Beat poets continued, with the FBI arresting Amiri Baraka and Diane Di Prima on obscenity charges, which also resulted in non-indictment. The Beats’ work was heavily anti-war, and the movement is widely regarded as America’s first Cold War literary scene.

As the Beat writers’ popularity grew, artists such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and the Beatles were influenced by their work and values. Following Malcolm X’s assassination, Amiri Baraka expanded his organizing and activism. Diane Di Prima also assisted in organizing the Diggers as a community activist in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district.

Popular media spread perception of the Beats informed by a perceived bohemian hedonism gleaned from cursory readings of Ginsberg’s “Howl,” Kerouac’s On the Road, and Burroughs’s Naked Lunch. In 1958, a columnist coined the term “beatnik” as a derogatory term for the Beats, and J. Edgar Hoover declared in 1960 that “communists, eggheads, and beatniks” were the primary enemies of the United States.

Ironically, by that time, popular perceptions of Beat poets had diverged from the original Beats’ lives. The general public saw the movement as a frivolous fad and cultural commodity, complete with themed kitsch aesthetic media, services, and coffee shops based on hippie or hipster imagery, with an overemphasis on psychedelic and drug addict associations.

4 Examples of Beat Poetry

To gain a better understanding of Beat poetry, read the following poems.

• “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg (1956): Perhaps the most famous text of the Beat movement, Ginsberg’s “Howl” is an epic fever dream that documents American life. It uses surreal and terrifying imagery to critique American injustices.
• Gary Snyder’s “At Tower Peak” (1956): This poem demonstrates Snyder’s commitment to Buddhism and environmental activism.
• Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “ Wild Dreams of a New Beginning” (1988): Ferlinghetti, who was responsible for the publication of many volumes of Beat Generation writing, presents utopian visions in this poem. In 1988, this poem was published in a book of the same name.
• Gregory Corso’s “I Am 25” (1956): Written by a young Corso, this poem documents the Beat poets’ rejection of what they saw as a stale elitist tradition of academic poetry.
• 12 Powerful Poetry Types to Teach Your Class – with Examples!
• Fire and Ice

Posted on December 13, 2022 under Poetry , Poetry analysis and commentary

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Literary Terms and Techniques › An Introduction to the Beat Poets

An Introduction to the Beat Poets

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 9, 2020 • ( 0 )

The Beat poets were a group of friends living in New York City in the decade following World War II who, through their collaborations, experiments with poetry rhythms, and questioning of the status quo, forever altered the relationship of poetry to popular culture. The peak of their influence was during the late 1940s through the early 1960s, when their thematic explorations of sexuality and social class ushered in the hippie movement. Building on the freeverse, stream-of-consciousness, and collage styles explored by many modernist poets (see MODERNISM ), the Beats integrated rhythms found in jazz clubs with invocations of Eastern religions and Buddhist chants. They differed from the poets of the Imagist School by focusing on the immediacy of experience, as opposed to the precision of images. By representing and embracing the contradictions of contemporary lives on the fringe, they created an especially active and accessible poetry. Today the influence of the Beats is still felt in popular culture, through the popularity of coffee houses, poetry slams, and spoken word poetry.

The term beat was coined during a 1948 discussion between writers Jack Kerouac and John Clellon Holmes about the weariness and alienation or, as Kerouac was to put it, the “beatness” of their generation. Holmes used the term twice in 1952: in a fictionalized biography called Go and in a New York Times Magazine article, “The Beat Generation” (Watson 3). The name caught on, making the term beatnik synonymous with an intellectual form of youth rebellion. Before long, the concept of “beat” was commodified by popular culture, inspiring Beatlike characters on film and television shows, such as on the sitcom Dobie Gillis. Media of the 1950s and 1960s were filled with images of the finger-snapping, turtleneck-wearing, goateed archetypal Beat, bearing little resemblance to the actual poets most closely associated with the movement.

A decade before the Beatnik fad began, a small network of outcast students, graduates, and dropouts from Columbia University’s English department hunkered down in New York cafés, challenging and encouraging each other to take their own writing in new and surprising directions. Inspired by such poets as Walt Whitman and William Carlos Williams, the Beats emphasized freethinking and spontaneous writing. Like their Black Mountain School counterparts, they celebrated the theme of individual experience and perception, and they saw their very lives as the active impetus by which poems were made.

The writers most central to the movement were Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs. Their cohorts and muses came to include, over the years, Herbert Huncke, Neal Cassady, Gregory Corso, Gary Snyder, LeRoi Jones (later to be known as Amiri Baraka), Diane Di Prima, Carl Solomon, Peter Orvolosky, Carolyn Cassady, Michael Mcclure, and Lucien Carr. Many other writers were part of the larger Beat constellation, embracing the political and subversive possibilities of poetry and helping shape the rebelyouth culture that still resonates powerfully today.

The friendships among the Beat writers are as famous and enthusiastically chronicled as their actual creative output. During the late 1940s, the Beats often lived together in crowded New York apartments, worked together, and hit the road together to reveal in their writing the “real” America and Mexico. Through their associations, they tested their own spiritual, physical, and sexual boundaries, challenging the limits of their experience. There was a complex web of brotherhood, sexual desire, and emotional tumult.

Their transformative relationships were openly represented in poems and novels, usually with clever yet transparent aliases. And with their shared adventures as both content and context for their writing, they encouraged and critiqued each other. As Kerouac writes of Ginsberg and Cassady in On the Road, a novel that openly chronicles and fictionalizes their relationships: “the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars . . . !” (8). Cassady, whom Ginsberg refers to in HOWL as the “Adonis of Denver,” was of particular personal and metaphoric interest for both him and Kerouac. Cassady’s swagger, restlessness, and insatiable sexual drive personified the energy of the archetypal West, and he became muse as much as friend.

Drug use abounded, since the Beats saw it as a tool for mind-expansion and the heightening of the senses, perceptions that could then be applied to creative work. Another venue of inspiration was the be-bop jazz scene in Harlem, the echoes of which can be heard in the twists and turns of their verse and prose rhythms. For a time Kerouac called his spontaneous style “blowing,” referring to a be-bop jazz player riffing off a melody with a horn.

The Beats increasingly took a holistic view of writing, questioning the validity of “high” art and rejecting the literary New Critical notion of “art for art’s sake”. Familiar with the literary canon through their studies at Columbia University, the group aimed to reclaim poetry from the ivory tower and place it squarely in jazz clubs, alleyways, and bedrooms. In this vein, their themes challenged the false sheen of American patriotism, a holdover from World War II’s war effort. The resulting proliferation of nuclear weapons, the onset of the cold war, and increasing racial tensions further contradicted America’s wholesome image. By exposing the disingenuous use of propaganda, they offered one of the strongest modern-day critiques of America as spiritually bereft and bloated by consumerism. The Beats lived their beliefs by existing hand-to-mouth and befriending criminals, prostitutes, and others who lived on the margins of society. Interestingly, through their immersion into the sordid parts of American life, Beat poetry emerged as largely affirmative of human nature. Throughout their work, the creative process is celebrated, as is the integrity of those who push societal boundaries, foster a spiritual vision, or choose to be different.

Characteristics of Beat poetry include what Cassady called “a continuous flow of undisciplined thought” (Watson 139). Spontaneity as a technique was valued, as was a probing and honest inventory of all of the senses. As Steven Watson writes of Kerouac, the Beats “tried to convey, uncensored, [their] field of perception at the moment of composition,” closing the gap between lived experience and the written word (138). Ginsberg, a master of spontaneity, took on the Beat approach later than his comrades, reflecting his ongoing formal studies at Columbia. Both Kerouac and Williams encouraged Ginsberg to let go of verse forms and develop a style of “word sketching.” Sharing characteristics with imagist poetry and his idol Whitman, Ginsberg began to pull details from his journals, arranging them in a catalogue style, as is most vividly experienced in Howl. Opening it with the line, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked,” Ginsberg creates a mosaic of sharpened images from his experiences with the Beat circle and of his brilliant but troubled mother, Naomi.

In Corso’s “Bomb” (1958), published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s influential City Lights Books as a pullout centerfold in the shape of a mushroom cloud, the mosaic style is used to create a poem on the threat of nuclear war that is not polemic, but aesthetically spectacular. Through this technique, Corso’s poem aims to render the bomb insignificant by its own richness. Another technique of Corso’s is the interplay of voices within the poem. In “Marriage” (1959), Corso asks: “Should I get married? Should I be good?” He answers himself rhetorically by proposing to “astound the girl next door with my velvet suit and faustus hood.” He proceeds to propose both conventional and unconventional means of courtship, generally leading toward the unconventional. Similarly, his prose poem, “Variations on a Generation” (1959), is a mock interview between the press and the Beat poets. By structuring his poems as an internal or external dialogue, Corso creates a tension between monolithic societal norms and the creativity of the individual mind.

In contrast to Ginsberg and Corso is the comparatively spare writing of Snyder, who is seen as the Beatnik Henry David Thoreau, just as Ginsberg is seen as the Beatnik Whitman. Feeling that symbol and metaphor serve as a distancing device, Synder crafts poems that offer a clear vision of the poet in nature. As the Beatnik most versed in Buddhism and environmentalism, he was the inspiration for Kerouac’s novel Dharma Bums (1958). And like Ginsberg, Snyder became an icon and activist in the 1960s and eventually a respected college professor.

Despite a largely progressive view on society, the Beat writers were largely antifeminist. With the exception of di Prima, very few women involved in the circle were not girlfriends or wives, and even girlfriends and wives were on the periphery of a sphere devoted to male bonding. Moreover, much of the writing conveyed an underlying misogyny that di Prima challenges in poems such as “The Practice of Magical Evolution” (1958), an ironic response to Snyder’s “Praise for Sick Women” (1957). In addition to being male, most members of the group were white, proving to be a limiting landscape for poet, playwright, and black activist Jones (Baraka). Although they had friendships with the core Beat group, di Prima and Jones evolved in directions that the other Beats did not, compelled by their own life experiences and political views. It is noteworthy that Jones and his former wife Hettie Cohen’s Totem Press published di Prima’s first poetry collection, This Kind of Bird Flies Backward (1958). Through 1961–63, both di Prima and Jones edited the poetry newsletter, the Floating Bear. Other journals that were important for the Beats and helped them reach an audience were City Lights Books, Neurotica, Origin Press, Poets Press, Capra Press, and the Harvard Advocate .

A pivotal moment in Beat history was the meeting of East Coast and West Coast Beats during Ginsberg’s time in San Francisco. On October 13, 1955, Ginsberg, along with Snyder, McClure, Philip Whalen, and Philip Lamantia, organized a reading at Six Gallery. It is here that Ginsberg introduced the world to Howl and secured the opportunity to publish with Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Books. Thus began the San Francisco Renaissance, an important movement in modern American poetry.

Although the Beats began their association in 1943, it was not until after the Six Gallery reading that the group gained national prominence. Howl became inadvertently infamous due to a lawsuit over its 1956 publication. Publisher Ferlinghetti and bookstore manager Shigeyoshi Murao were charged with obscenity but were defended broadly by the literary community. National attention was given to the trial, which eventually proved a victory for First Amendment rights, as Ferlinghetti and Murao were acquitted. During the year of the trial, Kerouac’s novel On the Road (1957) hit the bookstores, prompting both controversy and acclaim. Through these events, the Beats rapidly gained national recognition.

Ironically, as the idea of the “Beat generation” took root in the public imagination, spawning various fashion and music fads, the small circle to whom the term referred began to disperse. Ginsberg and Snyder became involved with the hippie movement; Kerouac became increasingly reclusive; Baraka became a lead artist within the Black Nationalist movement; di Prima focused on holistic medicines and cofounded The New Poets Theater; and Burroughs traveled to Tangiers after accidentally killing his wife and soon underwent his own censorship trial involving his novel Naked Lunch (1959).

Analysis of William S. Burroughs’s Novels

Some of the Beats burned so brightly and so intensely that they burned themselves out by middle age. Cassady died in Mexico from sun exposure and congestion shortly before his 42nd birthday. On October 1, 1969, less than a year after Cassady’s death, Kerouac died of an alcohol-related illness at the age of 46. In contrast, both Burroughs and Ginsberg died in 1997. Burroughs had delved ever deeper into his reclusive persona and paranoia, an active drug user until the end. Ginsberg, however, partook not only of the hippie movement of the 1960s, but he was celebrated by the punk movement in the 1970s and remained an active poet, Buddhist, and gay rights activist until the end, ultimately, as a world-renowned figure. The Beats endure, much as Ginsberg predicted in Howl, “with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their bodies good to eat a thousand years.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY Charters, Ann. The Portable Beat Reader. New York: Penguin Books, 1992. Foster, Edward Halsey. Understanding the Beats. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1992. Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. Reprint, New York: Penguin, 1991. Watson, Steven. The Birth of the Beat Generation: Visionaries, Rebels, and Hipsters, 1944–1960. New York: Pantheon Books, 1995.

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Tags: American Literature , Amiri Baraka , An Introduction to the Beat Poets , Beat Generation , Beat Generation Literary Movement , Beat Movement Characteristics , Beat Movement in Poetry , Beat Movement Members , Beat Movement Themes , Beat Poetry History , Beat Poets , Carl Solomon , Carolyn Cassady , Diane Di Prima , Gary Snyder , Gregory Corso , Guide to the Beat Generation , Guide to the Beat Movement , Guide to the Beat Poetry , Herbert Huncke , History of Beat Movement , History of Beat Poetry , LeRoi Jones , Literary Criticism , Literary Theory , Lucien Carr , Michael Mcclure , Modernism , Neal Cassady , Peter Orvolosky , Poetry , The Beat Generation , The Beat Generation Poets

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What Beat Poetry Signifies: Unraveling the Essence and Impact

Beat poetry, also known as the beat generation poetry, emerged as a cultural and literary movement in the 1950s and early 1960s. it was a reaction against the societal norms and values of post-world war ii america. beat poetry encapsulated the essence of non-conformity, individualism, and spontaneous creativity. in this blog post, we delve into the significance of beat poetry, exploring its essence and impact on literature and society..

What is the Essence of Beat Poetry?

The essence of Beat poetry lies in its rebellion against mainstream culture and its focus on personal expression . Beat poets sought to break free from the rigidity of traditional literary forms and embrace a more spontaneous and raw style of writing. They often explored themes of alienation, social injustice, spirituality, and the search for meaning in a post-war world.

Through experimental and free verse techniques, Beat poets unleashed their innermost thoughts and emotions. Their poems were characterized by rhythm, language play, and improvisation. The essence of Beat poetry is thus deeply intertwined with its rejection of societal norms and its celebration of individualism and artistic freedom.

What Impact did Beat Poetry Have?

Beat poetry had a profound impact on both literature and society. Here are some key ways in which it influenced the cultural landscape:

• Literary experimentation: Beat poets pioneered new forms of poetic expression, challenging the established conventions of rhyme and meter. Their experimental approach paved the way for subsequent generations of poets to push boundaries and explore innovative ways of writing.
• Cultural revolution: Beat poetry became a catalyst for the counterculture movement of the 1960s. It inspired a generation of anti-establishment activists, artists, and musicians who sought to challenge authority, question societal norms, and promote freedom of expression.
• Expression of marginalized voices: Beat poetry provided a platform for the marginalized voices in society. It gave voice to the experiences and struggles of African Americans, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups, amplifying their narratives and shedding light on their unique perspectives.
• Influence on later literary movements: Beat poetry influenced subsequent literary movements, such as the Black Arts Movement, the New York School, and the spoken word poetry movement. Its impact can be seen in the works of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Amiri Baraka, and many other influential writers.

The Enduring Legacy of Beat Poetry

Despite being a relatively short-lived movement, Beat poetry continues to resonate with contemporary audiences. Its themes of rebellion, freedom, and the search for meaning remain relevant in today’s society. Moreover, the experimental techniques and disregard for traditional forms continue to inspire and influence poets and writers around the world.

In conclusion, Beat poetry signifies a rebellion against societal norms, celebrating individualism, and artistic freedom. Its impact on literature and society is far-reaching, with its influence evident in subsequent literary movements. The essence of Beat poetry lies in its rejection of conformity and its embrace of personal expression. It remains an enduring testament to the power of poetry as a vehicle for change and self-discovery.

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Poetry & Poets

Explore the beauty of poetry – discover the poet within

What Is Beat Poetry

Beat poetry is an underground form of literature that emerged in the 1940s and 50s. Derived from the Beat movement and originating in the United States, it is marked by loose verse forms, free-flowing rhymes, and sometimes a seemingly improvised nature. Beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti rebelled against conformity and embraced non-conventional lifestyles, as well as revolution and other progressive movements.

Beat poetry shares some characteristics with other forms of poetry, such as thematic content, layers of metaphor, and the use of rhyme and alliteration. Likewise, beats commonly draw upon the historical tradition of the bard, intoning and chanting their poems, often accompanied by music. However, this type of poetry also stands out in its proximity to jazz music, and in its role as an expression of freely held attitudes and stances.

The main feature of beat poetry is its conversational tone; it is typically frank, conversational, and often reckless in its expressiveness. Beats also incorporate colloquial elements such as slang, as they seek to convey authentic and raw conversations. This element allows beats to bridge the gap between readers, delivering their message with a directness that is often lacking in other forms of literature.

The beats also deal with themes of freedom and non-conformity. In many of the works, beats explore sexuality, drug use, and other forms of self-expression. Beats often criticized traditional values and institutions, seeking to shatter institutions and break down the political system.

Unlike most traditional poets, beats sought not to unlock some grand knowledge or profound statement, but to express their immediate reality. The beats embraced life’s everyday moments, from gritty cityscapes to their personal relationships, romantic entanglements, and addictions. While they often had a bleak outlook on life, they also looked to celebrate their flaws, tap into the jazz of everyday existence, and advocate for personal freedom.

For many of the Beat poets, music is intertwined with their poetry, as seen in their exploration of improvisational jazz, bebop, blues, and other related genres. Music serves to both challenge and share the content of their poems, elevating the emotions and connecting their words to the reader’s feelings. Beats use their poems like soundscapes, voicing many of the same issues found in jazz music, while also honoring the energy, emotion, and complexities of life.

Popular Beat Poets and their Works

The Beat movement forever changed the landscape of literature and is credited with introducing a new style of poetry to western culture. Allen Ginsberg was one of the most influential figures in the beat movement, although there were other poets, such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Diane di Prima, Bob Kaufman, Amiri Baraka, and Jack Kerouac among many others.

One of Ginsberg most famous poem is “Howl.” The poem was written in 1955 and discussed the depressing state of the world at the time, with a focus on the unequal social structures and apathetic attitude of society. The poem was controversial for its language and closeness to reality, which caused the poem to be brought to trial for obscenity. In 1957 the book was deemed not obscene and allowed to be published.

Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” and “Mexico City Blues” are some of his other famous works. “On the Road” is a semi-autobiographical novel chronicling the adventures of a group of friends searching for meaning, whereas “Mexico City Blues” is a set of 224 blues-like poems detailing a spiritual journey. Lastly, Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “A Coney Island of the Mind” is a collection of poems using surrealism and a blending of urban and natural imagery to present a commentary on modern culture.

Influence of Beat Poetry

Beat poetry is credited with introducing a new style of poetry to western culture, a style that focused on emotion and personal expression. The Beat movement and its literature have had a profound effect on succeeding generations; it challenged the status quo, introduced new forms of expression, and opened up a discussion on topics that were often deemed taboo.

The beats influenced writers, musicians, and artists, as well as the counterculture movements of the 1960s and later. The writings of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac inspired later beat poets such as Bob Dylan and Patti Smith, while the works of Lawrence Ferlinghetti inspired artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Beat poets have pushed the boundaries of literature, challenging the conventions of traditional poetry and opening up difficult conversations. The beats rejected materialism and embraced the beauty of life’s imperfections, inviting readers to find joy and meaning in life’s mundane moments.

Presence of Beat Poetry Today

The Beat movement continues to have an impact in the literary world today, with books from authors such as Junot Díaz, Anis Mojgani, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Noelle Kocot. While the language and themes have evolved, the influence of beats can still be seen in their works.

In the music world, the influence of the beats can still be seen in artists such as Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, and Neko Case. These musicians use elements of jazz, blues, folk, and punk to merge the old with the new, creating a sound that is both modern yet timeless – and undeniably beat-influenced.

The presence of beat poetry today can also be seen in visual art, where surrealism, abstract elements, and street scenes draw upon the themes of exploration, personal liberation, and social justice often found in beats. Artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Shepard Fairey draw from the same pool of inspiration brought in by the Beat movement.

The Legacy of Beat Poetry

The legacy of Beat poetry continues to thrive and endure. Though time has past and its founding members have passed away, its place in the pantheon of Western literature is firmly secured. Beat poetry will continue to be a unique and celebrated part of the arts, offering insight into the human condition and capturing a moment in time.

The legacy of the Beat movement stands out for their unyielding spirit of freedom, their pursuit of truth, and their quest to create a path that blurs the boundaries of literature and emancipates the human spirit.

Examples of Beat Poetry

To understand beat poetry, it is often helpful to look at some examples. Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” Jack Kerouac’s “Mexico City Blues,” and Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “A Coney Island of the Mind” are some of the most acclaimed works by Beat poets.

Poems such as Amiri Baraka’s “Black Art” and Bob Kaufman’s “Abomunist Manifesto” are also widely read and discussed, while Diane di Prima’s “Revolutionary Letters” and LeRoi Jones’s “Black People” explore the goals of racial justice and freedom.

The beats’ works are often at their best when performing or reciting in public. With their rhythms, rhymes, and chants, beat poets have gained a new audience. Spoken word artists such as Saul Williams, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Hanif Abdurraqib, and many others have taken up the spirit of the Beat movement and continue to spread the beats’ messages of peace, justice, and freedom.

Critical Approaches to the Beat Movement

The Beat movement has been the subject of many critical studies, with focuses on their works and its influence. While some scholars take a more traditional approach, others explore gender and race as major themes in the Beat movement.

Many critics and literary scholars praise the literary merits of Beat poetry, but some still remain skeptical. Critics observe that many of the Beat poets advocated for change but had trouble enacting it in their own lives, and wonder if the movement had any real lasting impact.

Others criticize Beat poetry for its lack of rigor and structure, its close relationship to jazz music, and its reliance on personal expression. However, while there is still debate over the poetry, there is no denying the influence of the Beat movement.

From its inception in the 1940s, the Beat movement has had a lasting impact on Western culture. Its focus on freedom, personal expression, and rejection of traditional roles and values has inspired generations of writers, artists, and musicians. Beat poetry continues to speak to people through its raw emotion, and its spirit of non-conformity speaks to everyone, everywhere.

Dannah Hannah is an established poet and author who loves to write about the beauty and power of poetry. She has published several collections of her own works, as well as articles and reviews on poets she admires. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, with a specialization in poetics, from the University of Toronto. Hannah was also a panelist for the 2017 Futurepoem book Poetry + Social Justice, which aimed to bring attention to activism through poetry. She lives in Toronto, Canada, where she continues to write and explore the depths of poetry and its influence on our lives.

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What Is Beat Poetry?

Beat poetry represents a style of writing from the mid-1950s and 1960s popular in Greenwich Village, New York, and San Francisco, California. It incorporates a free-form type of writing that promotes individualism and protests the loss of faith. A small group of bohemian authors and poets created beat poetry and became known leaders of the Beat Generation.

These writers were raised during the Great Depression in the United States and lived through World War II. They were disillusioned with their views of the postwar culture of conformity and materialism. Beat poetry laments the loss of personal values and faith, and promotes the belief that modern life is spiritually empty.

Some of the best-known beat poets include Allen Ginsberg , Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Kerouac , and William S. Burroughs. Some beat poetry written during this era was inspired by Zen Buddhism and the use of drugs to raise consciousness. The beat generation explored various forms of mysticism, which is evident in some of the poetry.

Many in the older generation at the time shunned themes in beat poetry, believing the poets were immoral and delinquent. Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” and Burrough’s book Naked Lunch both became subjects of obscenity trials, which essentially put this style of poetry into the limelight. Judges ruled neither poem was obscene.

Beat poetry was often recited orally. Members of the Beat Generation typically would gather at Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco to read poetry, usually accompanied by jazz . The bookstore became the main meeting place for young people who felt disillusioned and disappointed by the older generation. Many of the streets around the store were later named for the beat poets.

Some themes of the poetry center on liberation for black people, homosexuals, women, and Native Americans. It rails against censorship in any form, and promotes sexual freedom. This type of poetry represents an early effort to raise awareness of ecology and how humans harm the planet. It influenced the songs of Bob Dylan , the Beatles, and other folk singers who became popular in the 1960s.

The Beat Generation is credited with inspiring the antiwar movement of the hippies in the 1960s and raising awareness of ecological issues. Some of these poems shun conformity and promote the decriminalization of marijuana, which might have influenced the popularity of drugs among hippies. They also may have helped lead to the women’s rights and gay rights movements.

Historians hold different views about why this style of writing was dubbed beat poetry. Some claim the writers felt beaten down and tired by the consumerism and lack of societal values. Others say beat poetry refers to the musical beat of jazz used in oral recitation. Still others claim Kerouac coined the term Beat Generation to describe his circle of friends.

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Discussion Comments

Post your comments.

• By: Can Balcioglu Beat poetry was popular in San Francisco, California during the 1950s and 1960s.
• Jack Kerouac is among the best-known beat poets.
• William S. Burroughs was a well-known beat poet.
• By: sutichak Some beat poetry was inspired by Zen Buddhism.
• By: Jason Stitt Beat poetry is credited with inspiring the antiwar movement of the hippies during the 1960s.
• By: ele Some bookstores continue to offer regular poetry readings.

Jazz Breath: How Jazz Influenced Beat Poetics

Culturally, jazz and Beats are often linked through a variety of similar characteristics, but the influence jazz had on Beat poetry cannot be overstated. Beat poets were overwhelmingly influenced by moves made by jazz musicians in the 1940s and ‘50s. Aspects of jazz are easily identifiable within Beat poetics: the focus on the breath of a line, the spontaneity of the writing, and the educated barbarism. These are all characteristics shared between jazz and the Beats.

Part of the Beats literary style includes a line length based on respiration. Charles Olson believed in the breath of the line, that every line break should reflect a natural respiratory pause. John Osborne notes in “Black Mountain and Projective Verse” that “whenever the poet feels the need for a fresh intake of breath, he or she should signal this fact to the reader by a line-break. Lineation thus becomes a function of respiration” (171). As Kerouac states on method in his essay “Essentials of Prose” (which Ronna C. Johnson quotes in “Three Generations of Beat Poetics”), “No periods separating sentence-structures already arbitrarily riddles by false colons and timid usually needless commas — but the vigorous space dash separating rhetorical breathing (as jazz musician drawing breath between outblown phrases)” (744). This technique has a direct link to the jazz musicians of the day, how jazz musicians rely on the breath as a “physiological thing” (85). This technique is a departure from existing modernist poetics, which called for a lyrical quality based on the sounds of the words. The Beats focused more on the origin of the breath sound, the syllable as the smallest part of the line.

Beyond this focus was a celebration of the spontaneous outpouring of emotions. Beat poetics required a practiced air of spontaneity, as Osborne explains in “The Beats.” Much of their poetry appears to be created upon first draft, but the poems underwent revisions that crafted the poems into something more. One of the most celebrated poems of the Beat era is “Howl,” which Ginsberg revised and published in several versions (188). Even Kerouac’s novel On the Road was “the mature product of ten years’ graft by several pairs of hands” (188). In a similar manner, jazz was the result of practiced spontaneity. Jazz musicians played riffs of music without prior planning, but their hours of practice allowed them to perfect the technique, something Osborne explains Bukowski did with his poetry to create a similar effect. Bukowski, according to Osborne, drafted “different poems and stories for approximately a quarter of a century before arriving at a style a reputable publisher thought worth preserving” and he also gave the editor a “carte blanche” to pick and choose poems from the material he sent him (188-189).

Also within jazz was a sense of educated barbarism. In Beat poetics, this aspect is described as an elevated intellectual writing style combined with harsh, cruel, or barbaric content and narrative events (189-190). Beat poetry used allusions to many highly intellectual references, texts, philosophical theories, and more, but the content was more raw and brutal, creating juxtaposition. Osborne explains that, despite the Beats anti-intelligence attitudes, their writing was often “erudite, bookish, sedentary” (191). Jazz, on the other hand, created an educated barbarism in a different way. The complexity of the music musicians played in contrast with the harsh, depressing, often forlorn lyrics revealed an intellectual capacity for music, but a deep and disturbing awareness of the human capacity for sorrow and cruelty. But where jazz was able to make peace with its use of musical genius and its content, the Beat poets, according to Osborne, kept “wobbling between shame and pride in their own scholarliness, lurching from the crudest anti-intellectualism to dandified flaunting of artistic knowingness” (190). Osborne points out that many of the Beat poets wanted to include very simplistic, anti-intellectual meanings within their poems, but they just cannot completely shed their intellectual heritage.

The influences of jazz on Beat poetics are far more reaching than a simple blog post can encompass, but the similarities between the two can speak for the culture’s artistic conversation, the exchange among artistic mediums to improve, expand, improvise, and experiment to reach the best possible art form. Question for Further Consideration: What other elements of jazz are present in the Beat poems we’ve read? What methods of creating/practicing jazz music are similar to the Beat poets’ methods? Did jazz have a negative influence on Beat poetics?

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The Connection Between Poetry and Music

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Music helps children develop rhythmic intelligence and notice rhythm in language, which are important skills in learning how to read and developing fluency as readers. In this lesson, students listen to poems read aloud, and they discuss the rhythm and sound of poetry. Students then perform poems using musical instruments to emphasize cadence. Using online tools, they learn about line breaks and the way these affect the rhythm of a poem. Finally, students write poems they believe will be enhanced by music and perform them for the class.

Featured Resources

Line Break Explorer : Students can use this interactive to discover why a poet chose to break lines in certain places.

From Theory to Practice

• Music exposes children to rhyme, rhythm, and repetition, which are the some of the same skills needed to learn to read.
• Because poetry has cadence, rhythm, and rhyme, music may be used to complement it.
• Music may benefit children with learning difficulties.
• The language of music is understood by all cultures. All cultures use music to communicate, and the sounds and rhythms of music cross cultural boundaries.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• Rhythm instruments
• Computers with Internet access
• LCD display monitor (optional)

Poetry List

Preparation

Student objectives.

Students will

• Acquire knowledge and appreciation for beat and meter in poetry by listening to poems that are read aloud and discussing them as a class
• Learn about the structure of poetry using an online tool to explore line breaks
• Practice critical thinking by looking for poems that can be appropriately performed using musical instruments to emphasize rhythm
• Apply the knowledge they have acquired about rhythm in poetry to their own poetry compositions
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of music in enhancing the rhythm in poetry by using music to perform both their own poems and those written by others

Note: In between Sessions 1 and 2, choose one of the poems students especially liked and make copies for the entire class.

• Read lyrics of popular children's songs. Discuss what the lyrics mean and how the music enhances the lyrics.
• Work with music teachers to help students record their poem rhythms.
• Ask students who play instruments to bring them to school and accompany poetry readings.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• Observe students during whole-class discussion and while they work using the Line Break Explorer . Assess student participation and understanding of the topics being discussed.
• Take anecdotal notes while students perform poems. Assess how well they are able to choose poems with patterns or rhythms and share rhythmic poems in a variety of ways.
• Collect student poems and assess student ability to write poems that are compatible with music.
• Calendar Activities
• Student Interactives

The interactive explores the ways that poets choose line breaks in their writing. After viewing the demonstration, students are invited to experiment with line breaks themselves.

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Beat! Beat! Drums! Summary & Analysis by Walt Whitman

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

The American poet Walt Whitman published "Beat! Beat! Drums!" in 1861, shortly after the first major battle of the Civil War. The poem directly addresses the instruments of a military band, telling drums and bugle horns to raise the alarm of war. These instruments, the speaker says, should tear through society like a "ruthless force," making it impossible for everyday life to continue. War is a terrible, violent, chaotic force that upends everyday life. But, for the speaker, this is how it must be: the poem is a patriotic call to arms and a passionate rallying cry, underscoring the immense, earth-shattering importance of the Union's cause.

• Read the full text of “Beat! Beat! Drums!”

The Full Text of “Beat! Beat! Drums!”

1 Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!

2 Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force,

3 Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,

4 Into the school where the scholar is studying,

5 Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride,

6 Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain,

7 So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.

8 Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!

9 Over the traffic of cities—over the rumble of wheels in the streets;

10 Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepers must sleep in those beds,

11 No bargainers’ bargains by day—no brokers or speculators—would they continue?

12 Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing?

13 Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge?

14 Then rattle quicker, heavier drums—you bugles wilder blow.

15 Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!

16 Make no parley—stop for no expostulation,

17 Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer,

18 Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,

19 Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties,

20 Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses,

21 So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow.

“Beat! Beat! Drums!” Summary

“beat beat drums” themes, the vital disruptiveness of war.

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Beat! Beat! Drums!”

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow! Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force, Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation, Into the school where the scholar is studying,

Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride, Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain, So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow! Over the traffic of cities—over the rumble of wheels in the streets; Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepers must sleep in those beds, No bargainers’ bargains by day—no brokers or speculators—would they continue?

Lines 12-14

Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing? Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge? Then rattle quicker, heavier drums—you bugles wilder blow.

Lines 15-18

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow! Make no parley—stop for no expostulation, Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer, Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,

Lines 19-21

Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties, Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses, So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow.

“Beat! Beat! Drums!” Symbols

The bugles and drums.

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“Beat! Beat! Drums!” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

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Alliteration

Rhetorical question, “beat beat drums” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Congregation
• Speculators
• Expostulation
• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Beat! Beat! Drums!”

Rhyme scheme, “beat beat drums” speaker, “beat beat drums” setting, literary and historical context of “beat beat drums”, more “beat beat drums” resources, external resources.

The Bugle Horn — Listen to the sound of the bugle horn and learn about some of the ways it was used on the battlefield in the Civil War!

The Poet's Life Story — Learn more about Walt Whitman's life and work.

Whitman and the Civil War — Read about Walt Whitman's engagement with the Civil War, including his time as a volunteer nurse for wounded Union soldiers.

Military Bands in the Civil War — A look at the purpose and practices of military bands in the Civil War.

The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Walt Whitman

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A Noiseless Patient Spider

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

I Hear America Singing

I Sing the Body Electric

O Captain! My Captain!

O Me! O Life!

One's-Self I Sing

The Voice of the Rain

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

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