Blake and America …

… A natural ally – TheTLS. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

In terms of direct poet-to-poet inspiration, “Howl” is a high point. Blake’s America: “every thing that lives is holy, life delights in life”. Ginsberg’s “Howl”: “Everything is holy! everybody’s holy! everywhere is holy! everyday is in eternity! Everyman’s an angel!” You get the idea. As Ginsberg saw it, Blake was “a social critic and rebel etc but the ROOT of his work as of ours [that is, the post-war Beat writers, with their commitment to free speech, opening the doors of perception and the rest] has been in exploration of modes of consciousness”.