Book contents
- The Cambridge History of American Poetry
- The Cambridge History of American Poetry
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Beginnings: Poetry before 1800
- Part II A New Nation: Poetry from 1800 to 1900
- Part III Forms of Modernism, 1900–1950
- Part IV Beyond Modernism: American Poetry, 1950–2000
- Chapter 36 San Francisco and the Beats
- Chapter 37 The New York School
- Chapter 38 The Uses of Authenticity
- Chapter 39 James Merrill and His Circles
- Chapter 40 Science in Contemporary American Poetry
- Chapter 41 The 1970s and the “Poetry of the Center”
- Chapter 42 Latino Poetry and Poetics
- Chapter 43 Asian American Poetry
- Chapter 44 Psychoanalytic Poetics
- Chapter 45 American Poetry of the 1980s
- Chapter 46 Black and Blues Configurations
- Chapter 47 Amy Clampitt, Culture Poetry, and the Neobaroque
- Chapter 48 Modern and Contemporary Children’s Poetry
- Chapter 49 Multilingualism in Contemporary American Poetry
- Chapter 50 American Poetry at the End of the Millennium
- Selected Bibliographies
- Index
Chapter 36 - San Francisco and the Beats
from Part IV - Beyond Modernism: American Poetry, 1950–2000
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2014
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of American Poetry
- The Cambridge History of American Poetry
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Beginnings: Poetry before 1800
- Part II A New Nation: Poetry from 1800 to 1900
- Part III Forms of Modernism, 1900–1950
- Part IV Beyond Modernism: American Poetry, 1950–2000
- Chapter 36 San Francisco and the Beats
- Chapter 37 The New York School
- Chapter 38 The Uses of Authenticity
- Chapter 39 James Merrill and His Circles
- Chapter 40 Science in Contemporary American Poetry
- Chapter 41 The 1970s and the “Poetry of the Center”
- Chapter 42 Latino Poetry and Poetics
- Chapter 43 Asian American Poetry
- Chapter 44 Psychoanalytic Poetics
- Chapter 45 American Poetry of the 1980s
- Chapter 46 Black and Blues Configurations
- Chapter 47 Amy Clampitt, Culture Poetry, and the Neobaroque
- Chapter 48 Modern and Contemporary Children’s Poetry
- Chapter 49 Multilingualism in Contemporary American Poetry
- Chapter 50 American Poetry at the End of the Millennium
- Selected Bibliographies
- Index
Summary
In the 1950s San Francisco acquired a reputation, which it has since maintained, as a mecca for poetry. In the popular imagination, San Francisco poetry is synonymous with the beat Movement, which first rose to prominence there. This chapter presents the salient features of milieu and then discusses what have been seen as the two strains within it, the spontaneous and the hermetic. Making a virtue of eschewing fame, the hermetic wing turned inward, viewing the scene of writing as akin to magic, in which spirits might direct the making of poetry, and addressing the poem principally to a group of like-minded initiates. In addition to spiritualistic composition and a penchant for occult sources, such as the Grail myth or the tarot deck, there are two other strikingly hermetic qualities to Spicer's oeuvre. The other hermetic aspect of Spicer's poetry involves his relationship to language.
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- Information
- The Cambridge History of American Poetry , pp. 823 - 843Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014