Ginsberg's "Wild Orphan" is a powerful poem narrating the internal crisis of a young man whose father he's never met. I found this piece extremely powerful as the boy dreams and grieves of a life that he can not have. The "nostalgias of another life" are akin to the desires most people have; We dream of another life that has never happened. Furthermore, the boy seems to experience a sort of personality crisis as there is a "mythology he cannot inherit." In other words, he does not know his ancestry and so does not know who he truly is.
Ginsberg's organized form conveys a sense of stability and structure despite the title's description of the boy as "wild." This is because, while the boy is yet to figure out where he has come from, and perhaps then who he truly is, he has already established a sense of self unique to himself.
Below is a picture of Ginsberg seemingly celebrating life. I could not find anything relevant to this poem but I figured this would convey some sort of "wildness."
Nancy -
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting poem. It's actually inspired by one of Ginsberg's close friends, who was always on the lookout for his father while they were traveling, inquiring to all the "dharma bums" and otherwise who paths they would cross if they had heard of or seen him. It's interesting that the poem opens with a pastoral image of railroads and rivers, both means of transportation, and potential escape, and the father is a hotrod driver - and not only is the father missing, but so are all roads and real cars. What Ginsberg makes apparent in his conclusion, is that though we can run, we cannot escape our past, or our karma.
- Trey