Yesterday's post was an off-beat collection of Internet links I discovered when exploring whether or not Emily Dickinson studied the life and work of scientist Franz Anton Mesmer (one of her poems used the term “mesmeric,” hence the connection).
One article that popped up (HERE) when I dove into the topic of Dickinson & Mesmer focused on the Beat poets (from the late 1940s until into the 1960s), and it stated, “Edgar Allan Poe was occasionally acknowledged (as an influence), and (Allen) Ginsberg saw Emily Dickinson as having an influence on Beat poetry.”
One article that popped up (HERE) when I dove into the topic of Dickinson & Mesmer focused on the Beat poets (from the late 1940s until into the 1960s), and it stated, “Edgar Allan Poe was occasionally acknowledged (as an influence), and (Allen) Ginsberg saw Emily Dickinson as having an influence on Beat poetry.”
 | Well, that certainly piqued my interest – so I explored that topic for a bit, and found this: “Ginsberg saw Emily Dickinson as a model for spiritual and poetic rebellion against the religious and cultural mainstream, influencing Beat poetry through her rejection of institutionalized religion, her focus on personal revelation, and her unique, introspective style. She provided a precedent for the Beat generation’s own spiritual and artistic dissent, especially her willingness to question and resist religious dogma.” I also discovered a nice blog dedicated to Ginsberg, “The Ginsberg Project.” A post from May 2024 (on the 138th anniversary of Dickinson’s death) provided remarks from 1975 from Ginsberg to his students: |
“Her method is really amazing actually. Because she was just writing to herself and making notations, so all of her punctuation is just dashes in these poems – which is, actually, where I get a lot of my punctuation (from). I just saw her, ‘Oh, that’s the way she did (it) – of course!’”
The post, which then goes on to discuss Ginsberg’s admiration for the poem “I heard a Fly buzz - when I died,” is HERE.
Seems that the blog has been around since at least 2002 (dated at the bottom of this page, HERE), and it includes (as of today) a dozen articles tagged, “Emily Dickinson,” HERE.
The post, which then goes on to discuss Ginsberg’s admiration for the poem “I heard a Fly buzz - when I died,” is HERE.
Seems that the blog has been around since at least 2002 (dated at the bottom of this page, HERE), and it includes (as of today) a dozen articles tagged, “Emily Dickinson,” HERE.
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