And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
- Joel 2:28
Well, we're still here. Blake's American Revolution has become Ginsberg's "Satanic State," which is still with us. Ginsberg's "human war" continues in the world and the five senses of Man have yet to be consumed in the fires of Orc. The television set continues its enslavement of American evenings, feeding us tranquilizing entertainment on the condition that we also swallow a dose of materialist propaganda. In Ode to Failure (1980), Ginsberg laments his role in a past which has given us this present, He begins:
"Many prophets have failed, their voices silent...."
And then he goes on to list his failures as prophet of change in America:
" I never dissolved Plutonium or dismantled the nuclear Bomb before my skin lost hair
have not yet stopped the Armies of entire Mankind in their march toward World War III
I never got to Heaven, Nirvana, X, Whatchamacallit, I never left Earth, I never learned to die."
(Ginsberg, Collected Poems, 737)
As political statements, Blake and Ginsberg's "Americas" are clearly advocating the liberation of human beings, beyond any governmental or societal considerations. As "prophetic" pieces, they both deal with the possibility of change at a particular juncture in history, a new possibility of liberation and a new vision for mankind, beginning in America. As statements on America, there is a sense of promise, perhaps forgotten or broken, and a feeling that America is the starting point for any change in the world.
At the same time there is an ambiguity about the future of America. Although both poets see in America a possibility of a glorious future, there is a sense of frustration and foreboding, especially in Ginsberg. Both poets base their prophecies on a Judeo-Christian view of the universe, with its symbolism and prominence of prophecy. The notion of a fallen world, and its corollary - Apocalyptic liberation - plays a prominent role in their view of their role as prophets.
All of this is fairly straightforward. The real question to be addressed in this essay is: how can we justify the connections we have drawn between Blake and Ginsberg's "Americas"? In two words, we cannot. The untying of the "knot" (where the Bard ceas'd) in the Preludium to America: A Prophecy may really be the tying of a more complex knot, and all references and extrapolations made from that knot may be as erroneous and elaborate as the knot itself.
The boundaries between literary influence and inspiration can never be mapped, even by the poet. The poem stands as a complete creation, one which the artist can never completely understand, since inspiration comes complete and full grown to the poet, who assembles his or her art according to skill and vision. We must remember that Blake and Ginsberg are only the poets, not the vision itself. The underlying idea of a prophetic tradition is that it is carried on by separate prophets who all receive revelations of some kind, involving the apprehension of Eternal Knowledge. The whole idea exists on the basis of the proposition that there exists a "higher knowledge" which can only be acquired through prophetic revelation. If we pursue a more definite conception of the source of prophecy, however, we either wind up babbling cosmic vagaries or preaching some kind of religion. In this culture there are no commonly held religious or philosophical beliefs which we can use as a starting point for a discussion of the nature and source of prophecy. It is considered bad scholarship to pre-suppose God or a religious orientation as a starting point for argument. Even if we could say for sure that the Bible is the Word of God, or, as Blake says, that all the holy texts of all the world's religions represent some aspect of one Eternal Truth, it does not necessarily follow that two eccentric poets like Blake and Ginsberg have any portion of that truth in their efforts. Of course, to speak of prophecy without naming its source still involves the assumption that there is such a thing as prophecy, and that there is a source.
Wouldn't it be safer and more responsible to dismiss the unknowns, to deny prophecy, to safely consider it the bubbling-up of strange voices from the seething subconscious? Wouldn't it be better to write it off as an exaggeration of the mysteriousness of a poet's creative powers? Or better yet, in light of Blake's and Ginsberg's odd manners and words, to brand it insanity? If we take one step toward considering prophecy a real phenomenon, we are taking a huge step, like falling down an elevator shaft, really, because that step is the acceptance of the notion of Divinity, or at least the acceptance of some notion of an inter-connectedess of all things, of the existence of a "higher knowledge" beyond this world. If we take this first step, we find that it is not so ridiculous to draw "absurd" parallels between Blake and Ginsberg's "Americas" for they, too, are part of a cosmic wholeness, an intricate web of interconnectedness of all things. In fact, they are more likely than other phenomena in this world to be on the same wavelength with one another, because they are both supposedly in touch with the source of order and of this "higher knowledge." If we take that first plunge of a step, the Bible becomes a "holy" book simply because it is among the literature of the world which has a direct inspirational, prophetic link with a "higher knowledge." This first step is not really a step toward religion or God, it is a step toward a conception of wholeness in the universe, of oneness, of meaning, all of which are, indeed, sometimes seen as God. So we cannot justify our bizarre connections between the "Americas", but we at least can see them in a context, that context being a universe of order and meaning (which is not to say that there exists no disorder or chaos within the order and meaning). A universe of interconnectedness and purpose is an optimistic view, but so is the idea of prophecy, for prophecy by its very nature means that there exists a perfect world, a perfect state of being which influences this world's affairs and gives mankind an intuitive internal image of perfection.
At best, then, the connections that we have drawn between Blake and Ginsberg's "Americas" are the result or the two poets drinking of the same stream of inspiration. At worst, they are simply the contorted, inevitable similarities one arrives at when one forces two works of art into one mold of interpretation. The truth, as in most cases involving extreme possibilities, is probably hovering somewhere in between. If the relationship to one another is tenuous, then their relationship with the Old Testament prophets is downright doubtful. The Old Testament prophets are of course our starting point for the prophetic tradition which Blake and Ginsberg claim to continue, and one must take our "first step" in order to consider the Old Testament prophets to be valid. Blake and Ginsberg both have a healthy respect and reverence for the biblical prophets, but they see the difference between the prophet and the poet as essentially non-existent. The true poet is a prophet, creating an utterance which serves a rejuvenating purpose in the lives of the people by giving them a new vision of their existence, a new direction. According to Blake, all true art is prophetic, representing part of the biblical scheme of God and Man and Creation; that is, its substance is divine or eternal knowledge. If we wish to dispense with the religious component of this view, the idea still holds up: all art partakes of a "higher knowledge" which is in essence the oneness of all. If this is the case, then the "Americas" serve not to explain one another, but simply to illuminate one another as two works of art based on the same "higher knowledge", to enhance each other's possibilities when seen in juxtaposition. Poetic knowledge is prophetic, Eternal knowledge set to the music of words. In art as in life, there are no conclusions to be drawn, only realizations to be made.
Works Consulted Allen, Donald M., ed. The New American Poetry, New York: Grove Press, 1960
Berger, P. William Blake Poet and Mystic, trans. by Donald H. Connor. New York: Haskell House Publishers Lyd., 1968
Bertholf, Robert J., Levitt, Annette S., eds. William Blake and the Moderns. Albany: State University of N.Y. Press, 1982.
Blake, William. The Complete Writings of William Blake. ed. by Geoffrey Keynes. New York: Random House Inc.
Bogan, James, Goss, Fred, eds. Sparks of Fire: Blake in a New Age. Richmond, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1982.
Breslin, James. "The Origins of Howl and Kaddish." On the Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1984.
Buber, Martin. The Prophetic Faith. trans. by Carlyle Witton Davies. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1949.
Burroughs, William. Letters to Allen Ginsberg 1953-1957. New York: Full Court Press, 1982.
Chase, Mary Ellen. The Prophets for the Common Reader. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Clements, R.E. Prophecy and Covenant. London: SCM Press Ltd., 1965.
Coggins, Richard, Phillips, Anthony, Knibb, Michael, eds. Israel's Prophetic Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Damon, S. Foster. William Blake: His Philosophy and Symbols. 1924.
Erdman, David V. Blake: Prophet Against Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. "Horn on Howl." On the Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1984.
Frye, Northrup. Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake. Boston: Beacon Press, 1947.
Gallant, Christine. Blake and the Assimilation of Chaos. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978.
Gilchrist, Alexander. Life of William Blake. New Jersey: Rowan and Littlefield, 1873.
Ginsberg, Allen. "A Blake Experience." On the Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1984.
Ginsberg, Allen. Allen Verbatim: Lectures on Poetry, Politics, Consciousness. ed. Gordon Ball. New York: McGraw-Hill 1974.
Ginsberg, Allen. "Allen Ginsberg - Self Interview, July 1, 1968." Intrepid. 18/19 1971.
Ginsberg, Allen. "An Interview with Allen Ginsberg." with Harry J. Corgas. Nimrod. University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fall/Winter 1974.
Ginsberg, Allen. "A Talk with Allen Ginsberg." with Alison Colbert. Partisan Review. NJ: Rutger's University No. 3 1971.
Ginsberg, Allen. Collected Poems 1947-1980. New York: Harper & Row, 1984.
Ginsberg, Allen. Preface. Collected Poems 1947-1980. New York: Harper & Row, 1984.
Ginsberg, Allen. "Craft Interview with Allen Ginsberg." The Craft of Poetry. ed. William Packard. New York: Doubleday, 1974.
Ginsberg, Allen. Foreword. Allen Ginsberg, An Annotaded Bibliography. by Michelle Kraus. Metuchen N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1980.
Ginsberg, Allen. Journals Early Fifties Early Sixties. ed. Gordon Ball. New York: Grove Press Inc., 1977.
Ginsberg, Allen. Statement on Poetics. The New American Poetry. New York: Grove Press Inc., 1960.
Ginsberg, Allen. The Visionary Poetics of Allen Ginsberg. By Paul Potugues. Santa Barbara: Ross-Ericson, 1978.
Ginsberg, Allen. "Notes Written on Finally Recording Howl." On The Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1984.
Ginsberg, Allen. "To Young or Old Listeners: Notes on the Songs of Innocence and Experience." Sparks of Fire. ed. James Bogan, Fred Goss. Richmond, CA: North Atlantic Books 1982.
Ginsberg, Allen. "When the Mode of the Music Changes, the Walls of the City Shake." The Second Coming Magazine. July, 1961.
Graham, William Creaighton. The Prophets and Israel's Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1934.
Grossman, Allen. "Allen Ginsberg, The Jew as an American Poet." On The Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1984.
Kraus, Michelle P. Allen Ginsberg: An Annotated Bibliography 1969-1977. Metuchen NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1980.
Rexroth, Kenneth. quoted by Lawrence Ferlighetti, "Horn on Howl". On The Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1984.
Rosenthal, M.L. "Poet of the New Violence." On The Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1984.
Russel, D.S. The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic. Philadelphia. Westminster Press, 1964.
Smith, W. Robertson. The Prophets of Israel and Their Place in History. 1982.
Sneil, Bruno. The Discovery of Mind, The Greek Origins of European Thought. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1960.
Staal, Frits. Exploring Mysticism: A Methodological Essay. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.
The Holy Bible. Revised Standard Version. Second Edition, Philadelphia, PA. Board of Publications of the Lutheran Church of America, 1971.
Whitman, Walt. "Of William Blake and Walt Whitman." Sparks of Fire. ed. James Bogan and Fred Goss. Richmond, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1982.
