In five pages a reaction to this poem is expressed in terms of extreme dislike with reasons justifying this position offered. There are two bibliographic sources cited.
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article with the observation that Allen Ginsberg "may have been a great poet for only a few years in the late 50s and early 60s" (Hattersley 35). There are those
of us who would dispute even that statement. Ginsberg was always newsworthy, controversial and outspoken, but that does not mean that his poetry was, or is, any good. His
poems fall into two main categories. They are either vitriol, seething with antagonism toward American culture as a whole, or they qualify as pornographic. Either way, this is
not poetry that is easy to love. The following discussion of Ginsbergs "America" will show why. The first lines of "America" are full of anger, but not a great
deal of anything else. Theres little in the way of imagery , save for a suggestions that America, as a country, is practically worthless, $2.27 to be exact. One can
say this much for Ginsberg -- he does come straight to the point, which is to address the question of when will the country end its involvement in war, but
this is expressed without subtlety -- no images of war or carnage or reasons why war is wrong. Instead the reader finds the interesting command that "America" should go "fuck
yourself with your atom bomb" (line 5). Even though it is easy to agree with Ginsbergs anti-war sentiment -- the consensus even among military people today is that
Vietnam was a mistake -- the above line is not poetry. It is a volatile statement that is full of invective and hate, but it is not poetry. It requires
no special poetic talent to say to write this line. It provides no special insight into the Vietnam conflict. It has shock value and that is about all it has.