I have chosen the Beat Hotel case, which feature a poem by Gregory Corso entitled “Bomb”, the notes of the poet Brion Gysin from his  time at the Beats Hotel, and a collection of poems by Allen Ginsberg in a book entitled Kaddish. These items are products of a unique culture that spring from a no-name hotel in Paris during the 1950s and 60s. These poems were written by poets who were inspired by their culture and the events around them.  Kaddish is a collection of poems inspired by the Jewish prayer for the dead. This was written as an elegy for his mother. The poem “Bomb” is a poem written in the shape of a mushroom cloud, written during the Cold War to highlight the threat of nuclear annihilation. I was drawn to the case because of the unique method in which the poetry was constructed.

The poems, as mentioned before, lack a conventional structure. This presents fascinating insight into the construction of the poem. The texts in this case provide a fascinating glimpse into the culture around which the Beats Generation was created which lead up to the Counterculture movement. Reading the poem “Bomb” and Gysin’s notes from the Beats Hotel remind me of the poem “Map of the Americas” by Qwo-Li Driskoll. In this poem, he creates an image of North and South Continents, displaying an inextricable link between the people living in the continent, and the land itself. Similarly, E.E. Cummings experiments with the format of his poem, creating a work that makes very little sense on its own. We are forced not to look at the words that are written on the page, but the meaning behind the format. Similarly, the notes by Gysin and the poem “Bomb” are written in free verse, putting emphasis on the meaning of the shape of the poem. The inspiration for the poem not only come from the culture of the poet was raised in, but also from the inspiration drawn from his fellow poets. Reading these poems, I think I have a good idea of how I can structure my essay. Using an overarching stylistic connection, I will examine how the poet’s works are connected across poems and the underlying cultural influences which lead the poet I have chosen for my final project to adopt the particular style and format for his poem. I will also examine the underlying cultural influences which lead my poet to publish his works as he did.

I am fascinated with the political and cultural influences on the Beat Generation at the time, and would love to explore how the Beat Generation has or has not affected the inhabitants of the Latin Quarter. I would collect information online about Paris in the middle of the 20th century and search documents online to determine whether these poets had an intellectual affect on Parisian culture.