"Father of the Beats”
A philosophical anarchist, "Father of the Beats,” translator, Chinese scholar and translator; Rexroth introduced Allen Ginsberg to Gary Snyder, mentored Lawrence Ferlinghetti and testified on his behalf in his obscenity trial for publishing Ginsberg’s book, Howl. He appeared as a character in Kerouac’s book Dharma Bums and wrote the article on Literature for the Encyclopedia Britannica. A UC lecturer famously popular with students but cringingly infamous with administrators because of his inflammatory critiques of campus culture, he was a pacifist and conscientious objector during World War II while devotedly helping interred Japanese-Americans. His philosophy condensed into a view of society and culture as a “social lie” maintained to preserve the rich and powerful’s ability to exploit the majority
Lineages
American (USA) Poets
“Against the ruin of the world, there is only one defense—the creative act.”
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“Abelard was not only the greatest philosopher of his time but a crucial moment in the evolution of the humanitarian mind.”
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“Love slays what we have been,
That we may be what we were not.”
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“As the full moon rises / The swan sings in sleep / On the lake of the mind.”
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“Fires / Burn in my heart / No smoke rises / No one knows.”
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“Man thrives where angels die of ecstasy and pigs die of disgust.”
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“Japanese poetry does what poetry does everywhere: it intensifies and exalts experience.”
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“I write for one and only one purpose, to overcome the invincible ignorance of the traduced heart. […] I wish to speak to and for those who have had enough of the Social Lie, the Economics of Mass Murder, the Sexual Hoax, and the Domestication of Conspicuous Consumption.”
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“Making love with you
Is like drinking sea water.
The more I drink
The thirstier I become,
Until nothing can slake my thirst
But to drink the entire sea.”
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“Take off your dress and stockings;
Sit in the deep chair before the fire.
I will warm your feet in my hands;
I will warm your breasts and thighs with kisses.
I wish I could build a fire
In you that would never go out.
I wish I could be sure that deep in you
Was a magnet to draw you always home.”
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