Beat Poetry Answers

Read this excerpt from Diane Di Prima’s poem "Buddhist New Year Song."I could see the planet from which we had comeI could not remember (then) what our purpose wasbut remembered the name Mahakala, in the dawnin the dawn confronted Shiva, the cold lightrevealed the “mindborn” worldsThese allusions connect to the title of the poem by

Read this excerpt from Walt Whitman’s poem “I Hear America Singing” from Leaves of Grass.The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundownThe delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs. Why does Whitman most likely choose this structure for his poem?

Read this excerpt from Walt Whitman’s poem “In Cabin'd Ships at Sea” from Leaves of Grass.The tones of unseen mystery, the vague and vast suggestions of the briny world, the liquid-flowing syllables, The perfume, the faint creaking of the cordage, the melancholy rhythm,The boundless vista and the horizon far and dim are all here, And this is ocean's poem. Why did the author most likely choose this structure for his poem?

Read this excerpt from Walt Whitman’s poem “I Hear America Singing” from Leaves of Grass.I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands.Whitman most likely uses this structure for his poem to

I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?

Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher, what America did you have when Charon quit poling his ferry and you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat disappear on the black waters of Lethe?

I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?

Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!—and you, Garcia Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons?

We strode down the open corridors together in our solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen delicacy, and never passing the cashier.

What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for I walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache self-conscious looking at the full moon.