What is america to me poem

America For Me Poem by Henry Van Dyke

Henry Van Dyke

America For Me

‘Tis fine to see the Old World and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
To admire the crumblyh castles and the statues and kings
But now I think I’ve had enough of antiquated things.

So it’s home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom, beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

Oh, London is a man’s town, there’s power in the air;
And Paris is a woman’s town, with flowers in her hair;
And it’s sweet to dream in Venice, and it’s great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods in green battalions drilled;
I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing foutains filled;
But, oh, to take your had, my dear, and ramble for a day
In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her sway!

I know that Europe’s wonderful, yet something seems to lack!
The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free-
We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it’s home again, and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that’s westward bound to plough the rolling sea,
To the blessed Land of Room Enough, beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

10 Most Famous Poems In American Literature

Poetry in the United State arose first when colonists wrote poetry to add to the poetic voices in the United Kingdom. As expected, early American poetry closely matched the British models of poetic form, diction and theme. A distinctly American lyric voice of the colonial period was Phillis Wheatley, an African slave who was later liberated. After the unification of the colonies in the United States, American poets began to search for a distinctive American voice to distinguish them from their British counterparts. This was ultimately achieved by 19th century poets Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. They gave birth to two major poetic idioms which would define the poetry of the nation: the free verse and direct emotional expression of Whitman’s long lines; and the obscurity and irony of Dickinson’s short poems. Literary Modernism, which lasted from late 19th to mid-20th century, was a movement characterized by a radical break with traditional ways of writing in favor of new forms of expression. American poets played a significant role in the movement and several of the best known Modernist poems were written by them. American poetry continues to flourish with U.S. playing a leading role in the poetic tradition in the west. Here are the 10 most famous American poems of all time.

#10 Howl

Howl can be divided into three sections. In the first, the speaker talks about the destruction of “the best minds” of his generation in an oppressively conformist and materialistic era. He asks the question “who” in this section and identifies these minds as poets, artists, political dissenters, musicians, drug addicts and psychiatric patients. In the second section, the speaker asks the question “what” destroyed these minds. He identifies the destroyer as the Biblical God “Moloch”, who is associated with child sacrifice. For the poet, Moloch represents war, government, capitalism and mainstream culture. The central question of the third section is “where”. It is addressed to Carl Solomon, a close fried of Allen Ginsberg, who is admitted at a psychiatric hospital. Howl is regarded as one of the great works of American literature. It is among the most famous American poems of the 20th century.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night

#9 Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Poet: Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson is considered among the greatest poets in English literature. She is known for her unusual use of form and syntax; and for being “the poet of paradox”. Many of Dickinson’s poems deal with the themes of death and immortality; and this is the most famous of them all. In it, Emily personifies death as a gentle guide who takes a leisurely carriage ride with the poet to her grave. Also known as The Chariot, the poem comprises of six quatrains and during these, the personification of death changes from one of pleasantry to one of ambiguity and morbidity. Because I Could Not Stop For Death is regarded as one of the finest poems of Emily Dickinson. According to prominent American poet Allen Tate, “If the word great means anything in poetry, this poem is one of the greatest in the English language; it is flawless to the last detail.”

Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

#8 O Captain! My Captain!

Walt Whitman composed O Captain! My Captain! after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. The poem is classified as an elegy or mourning poem; and was written to honor the president and mourn his death. In the poem, Whitman refers to Lincoln as the captain of the ship, representing America. The poem also has several references to the American Civil War; and political and social issues of the time. It begins by describing the mood of the nation after the victory of the Union in the Civil War. The speaker then asks his Captain to rise and join the celebration not acknowledging that Lincoln is dead. He finally accepts that the Captain is dead and mourns his loss. O Captain! My Captain! is still widely read in the United States. It is the one of the most famous poem of Whitman and perhaps the most famous elegy written by an American.

O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring

#7 i carry your heart with me

E.E. Cummings is considered one of the greatest American poets of the 20th century and this poem is his most famous work. The poetry of Cummings is radical for its unconventional punctuation and phrasing. This poem can be compared with a sonnet due to its similar structure but Cummings does add modern twists to it. It begins with the speaker describing the ubiquitous influence of his love in his life and goes on to touch several themes including oneness, and love as the originator of life. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that its opening line is still often tattooed by people and that its lines have been used by several artists, including in the song Ion Square by English indie rock band Bloc Party. E.E. Cummings is renowned for his love poetry and i carry your heart with me is one of the most famous love poems of all time.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

#6 Hope is the Thing with Feathers

Poet: Emily Dickinson

The most famous poem by Emily Dickinson, Hope is the Thing with Feathers is one of the best known short poems in the English language. It metaphorically describes hope as a feathered bird that rests in the soul. It sings without words and continuously, never stopping in its quest to inspire. It sounds sweetest in hardships and it must take an extremely troubling situation to abash this “little Bird” that gives warmth and comfort to so many people in difficult times. Moreover, despite serving in the direst circumstances, it never demands anything. Hope is the Thing with Feathers is an early poem of Dickinson but despite its simple style, it remains hugely popular.

”Hope” is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul –

And sings the tune without the words –

And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –

And sore must be the storm –

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –

And on the strangest Sea –

Yet – never – in Extremity,

It asked a crumb – of me.

#5 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Written in a very short time, Robert Frost called this poem,“my best bid for remembrance”. In it, the narrator stops to behold a lovely scene of snow falling in the woods and is tempted to stay longer. However, he ultimately decides to move on as he still has a considerable distance to travel before he can rest. The poem has been interpreted in many ways revolving around the pull the narrator faces between the “lovely” woods and the “promises” he has to keep. It has been thought to imply several things including being symbolic of the choice between adventure and responsibility. Stopping by the Woods is one of the most popular poems, especially its last four lines, which are among the most often quoted lines in poetry.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

#4 Song of Myself

Song of Myself is a mesmerizing mixture of romanticism and realism. The poem, which was initially titled Poem of Walt Whitman, an American, also serves as a biography of the poet. In it, Whitman emphasizes an all-powerful “I” which serves as the narrator. This “I” is not limited to Whitman. It transcends the conventional boundaries of self; and identifies with everyone and everything in the universe, including the dead. The poem ends with the narrator saying that he’s going to give his body back to nature to continue his great journey. The poem also focuses on what the narrator believes and what he is opposed to. Song of Myself caught the attention of public and critics alike when it was published. It is Whitman’s most famous poem; and it remains among the most acclaimed and influential poems written by an American.

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

#3 Still I Rise

Still I Rise directly addresses the white oppressors of black people and responds to centuries of oppression and mistreatment they have suffered. It talks about various means of oppression, like writing, which the narrator addresses in the first stanza of the poem. Still I Rise hails the indomitable spirit of Black people; and expresses faith that they will triumph despite adversity and racism. It is the most famous poem of Maya Angelou and it was also her favorite. She quoted it during interviews and often included it in her public readings. In 1994, Nelson Mandela recited this poem at his presidential inauguration. Still I Rise is perhaps the most famous poem written by an African American and it has been called a “proud, even defiant statement on behalf of all Black people”.

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may tread me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

#2 The Raven

Poet: Edgar Allan Poe

In January 1845, The Raven appeared in the New York Evening Mirror and became an immediate popular sensation. It was soon reprinted, parodied and illustrated; and made Poe a household name. The poem tells the story of an unnamed lover who, while lamenting the death of his beloved Lenore, is visited by a talking raven. The raven enhances his distress with its constant repetition of the word “Nevermore”, slowly plunging him into madness. The poem makes use of a number of folk and mythological references; and is noted for its stylized language and supernatural atmosphere. It influenced numerous later works including the famous painting Nevermore by Paul Gauguin. The Raven is the most famous poem of Edgar Allan Poe, who is renowned for his dark romanticism.

“ Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—

“ Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

#1 The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost was close friends with British poet Edward Thomas and the two took many walks together. In Frost’s words, Thomas was “a person who, whichever road he went, would be sorry he didn’t go the other“. The Road Not Taken was initially meant to be a gentle mocking of indecision and Frost sent an advanced copy of the poem to Thomas. In the poem, the speaker stands in the woods pondering which of the two roads ahead should he take. Though Frost probably wrote the poem to highlight the human tendency to look back and blame minor decisions in their life, it has since been interpreted by readers as a poem on the benefit of free thinking and not following the crowd. The last lines of the poem are hugely popular and often quoted. The Road Not Taken is not only the most famous poem of Robert Frost but among the most renowned ever written.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

America Poems

America poems from famous poets and best beautiful poems to feel good. Best america poems ever written. Read all poems about america.

BEST POEMS ABOUT AMERICA

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
.

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

In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went into the neon fruit
.

Come, I will make the continent indissoluble;
I will make the most splendid race the sun ever yet shone upon;
I will make divine magnetic lands,
.

First, her tippet made of tulle,
easily lifted off her shoulders and laid
on the back of a wooden chair.
.

I am waiting for my case to come up
and I am waiting
for a rebirth of wonder
and I am waiting
.

I Hear America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics- each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
.

America, from a grain
of maize you grew
to crown
with spacious lands
.

I have not bummed across America
with only a dollar to spare, one pair
of busted Levi’s and a bowie knife.
I have lived with thieves in Manchester.
.

Once upon a time there was an Italian,
And some people thought he was a rapscallion,
But he wasn’t offended,
Because other people thought he was splendid,
.

Under silver wing
San Francisco’s towers sprouting
thru thin gas clouds,
Tamalpais black-breasted above Pacific azure
.

That public men publish falsehoods
Is nothing new. That America must accept
Like the historical republics corruption and empire
Has been known for years.
.

While this America settles in the mould of its vulgarity, heavily thickening
to empire
And protest, only a bubble in the molten mass, pops and sighs out, and the
mass hardens,
.

In their faces a colourless gaping of life’s adversity:
the hopeless grief of a hellish existence;
Malnourished, starving, filth and olfactory horrors;
Their humiliating nothingness clothed in rags;
.

‘Tis fine to see the Old World and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
To admire the crumblyh castles and the statues and kings
But now I think I’ve had enough of antiquated things.
.

Old Eddie’s face, wrinkled with river lights,
Looked like a Mississippi man’s. The eyes,
Derisive and avuncular at once,
Swivelling, fixed me. They’d seen
.

(Dedicated to you, my Brothers and Sisters)

Powerful words,
Truthful words,
.

You waste the attention of your eyes,
the glittering labour of your hands,
and knead the dough enough for dozens of loaves
of which you’ll taste not a morsel;
.

AS I sat alone, by blue Ontario’s shore,
As I mused of these mighty days, and of peace return’d, and the dead
that return no more,
.

NEW POEMS ABOUT AMERICA

America is still
Afraid of the long shadows
Of its own weapons.
America is still afraid
.

America is beautiful, great and wonderful
Eadem opera, she is ugly, pitiful and dreadful
In regards to the mistreatments of the Native Americans
The African Americans and other minorities
.

You don’t own the FBI and its agents
While you are president
America belongs to its citizens
You don’t own the CIA and its agents
.

America is freedom,
a lighthouse upon the sea,
showing there’s another way
then the storms of tyranny.
.

Woe unto America,
With its gun toting troubled souls.

Woe unto America,
.

‘Woe unto America! ‘
Exclaim the urban prophets:
In rapt graffiti visions.
.

«Bow to your king! »
Uh… we’re the United States of America.
We don’t have kings.
.

Regardless of the unconventional situation
Children should not be abused or mistreated
May they be immigrant, migrant or not
Babies should not be handcuffed or incarcerated
.

Se llamaban Krusevac, ahora Cruz. Los edificios transpiraban. Era una isla o un monte cubierto por chozas. Cosa de hombres. Las mujeres guardaban papas, construían el mundo. Cosa de tiento insulso, se pensaba. Paisajes de tonada suave con acordeón de fondo. Astucia. Proa que acumula sal. Toma mi brazo, corta el ligamento: necesito dejar el gusto por el ajvar. Callaron las aves a su paso. Remo. En el fondo, los peces intuían. Algunos fosos guardan familias enteras. Pero ellas son salvas. Todas las lenguas de Europa desaparecieron. Tierra. El dulce de manzana no trae olor a clavo. Cada letra deletrea una estancia. Estas mujeres son mis madres. Desde ese día −América− la piel de mis mejillas es llanura.

Todo exacto, piedra sobre piedra, bajo el estupor. Tengo adherida a la piel −planta del pie−, un nombre preciso, una esquirla dentada (aguijón o filo o tenso nudo), cristal a la uretra. Guardo una voz que es sombra, carta y anunciación: América se hunde. Hay una montaña o casa frente al mar que esconde un secreto. Manto, el desierto es manto. Se escucha una bestia colmada de fraguas: negros y blancos inventando heredad. Tengo en las manos un país del que he sido arrojada. Cinco millones de emigrantes caben en la cuenca de una sangre común. América es una madre que mata.

Herrumbre. Contener el puño. La gravedad de las últimas hojas y la nieve. Escucha el resoplido insular. Tan lejos y cercano. El mar brilla para todos pero cerca del carbón sólo resta el miedo. Defendernos de. Acentos sonoros recuerdan a Siberia. Crudo, el frío. Pero en Siberia nunca llega el otoño. Aquí −casi temblando− hay que ir codo con codo. Aquel jardín o muro o tierra nueva. Hacer la América. Herrumbre: desde Portobelo y hasta la Patagonia. Acero sin distinciones. A ojo se hace el tiento. El polvo ensombrece las extensiones de tierra. Lentitud entre los pasajeros: pegar el oído al subte, algo se inflama. Algo ya marca el cuerpo.

América es un desierto sonoro. Cazuela de ave levanta muertos, ají de gallina abre sosiego o trucha arcoíris empina rubias. Oscuras nubes modulan temperamentos de valle y bufeo. Crujido de lastras de Machu Picchu. −Oscuro oficio éste de ser santa. Yo tenía una tierra, me despojaron de ella, ahora hay un parque de diversiones: juegos replican la muerte y son la muerte. Algo en la vereda (zanjita, zanja devuélveme el tino, la cara cierta de mi tierra) es sepultura y nacencia. Aguachile que bulle en la quijada. Cacao herido que trae consigo tintineos de piedra. Cárcamo de agua de Tláloc, chacras marítimas de Manantiales. Cabo Polonio en mi memoria. Y la fuente que no deja de abastecer el mate seco, verdoso, que enjuaga la voz de la abuela.

La Hispaniola. Como si fuera la primera tierra. Que es. Y en ese recuerdo cupieran ya todas las noches de América. Rastro. El ron mantiene a los hombres embrutecidos, me digo. Mi abuela reza con el vaso de vodka junto, orar es mentirse a uno mismo, me dice, pero conforta el alma. Como el destilado de oro falso. Nacimiento. Como cadalso al que se entrega uno con la boca abierta, deseosa de alimento naufrago. Montar la oveja, me digo. Ahora los tenis Ducati, el floro que trae de gracia una hembra ke buena, las cadenas de oro al cuello, la camisa fina, la marca atrapando al cuerpo, gritando proveniencia. América se hunde, y nadie se ha dado cuenta. La otra América le ha chupado el seso.

Dame un tostado. Una jerga que mantenga las cuerdas vocales de mi lengua. Quiero un trapecio. Flotar en él. Quiero la astucia que da la cafeína. Sumergirse en. La otra tierra. Galones enteros. Miles de litros de sangre. Quiénes eran y quiénes son. Todos situados sobre una cuerda. Precipicio. Desde las ruinas de la lengua una tesitura arrogante. Hay una franja de tierra sin nombre. En el fondo de la taza, me dice una gitana en el Parque Forestal, hay una imagen: hombre que aún recuerda a su hija. Detente, la otra tierra y ese perfil masculino que apenas resulta de las sombras. Serbia era cobijo −Atlántico− hoy es un lago. Idea del lago.

De la tumba una flor. Plástico decolorado, tierra. Grobnica-París. De Europa sembradío nucas cisternas donde guardar vestigios. Neblina y carbón. Heno y draga, flotantes. Antes del roce sargazos, reflujo luminoso de rostros. Toda la familia astillada. Óleo de museo. Cementerio y nicho para ahondar en el nervio. Cauce púrpura, plantación de cuerpos en otros cuerpos. Cauterio. Atravesar el bosque: mucha fe en los labios. Ni el uniforme salva. Allá, en el Golfo de México, secretan zumbantes las aves. Caverna o cardo. Mar gasa, llave al pliegue. La superficie del agua recuerda a los muertos. −Desvanecerse, entre las arrugas de cada pliegue de la madre. Contenga el aire. Pulmón. Respire profundo. ¿Siente dolor? ¿Siente aquí, sí justo aquí? Es el miedo atrapado. Es América atada en cada corva. Astilla, flor recogida en Kalemegdan. Y en cada esquina la imagen de un jardín hecho de voces.

Los platos vacíos. En el fondo, el campo de gravedad es el tono. El azul. No azul sino provincia y rastro, donde hemos dejado −Eleonora flotante a la mirada. Cielo. La mirada hace la patria. Su país se le ensancha se le gesta se le encima. América no es orquídea ni animal o pariente. Tersa era la voz de la abuela. América deambula entre franjas. Acarrea agua sucia. Retoña entre la mierda. América madre. América padre. Ofrenda algo. Ofrenda algo de cuerpo a la Pachamama. Entra a esta tierra y hazte un orificio en la lengua. Forma y pasaje en el sermón de las piedras. Nudo ciego entre ríos. Cordillera. Tu piel −Atacama & Sonora, es concentración, vueltas en círculo, cartografía y nudos. Siglo.
.

The worst words in the worst world here’s a world yaw that’s full of poverty and full of poverish people here’s a world yaw that’s full of white presidents and black presidents
trying to make America a better place
and have her not fall here’s The worst words in the worst world yaw embrace America with all of the little jobs she has and the little employment she gives with all of China’s debt that sh
owes yet she stills stands tall.
.

Famous American Poets

Right IconThis ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.

American writer Edgar Allan Poe is regarded as the architect of modern short story, the inventor of the detective-fiction genre and a major contributor towards science fiction genre. The influential writer is recognised for his tales of mystery and macabre. His notable works include The Raven (poem), The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher (short stories).

Sylvia Plath was an American short-story writer, novelist, and poet. Plath is credited with popularizing confessional poetry and won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Sylvia Plath achieved popularity and critical acclaim despite suffering from clinical depression for the most part of her adult life. Her story inspired the 2003 film Sylvia in which she was portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow.

Robert Frost was an American poet. An influential poet, Frost was honored with four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry, the only poet to receive four such awards. One of America’s public literary figures, Robert Frost received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960. His works influenced other poets like Robert Francis, James Wright, Edward Thomas, Richard Wilbur, and Seamus Heaney.

Henry David Thoreau was an American philosopher, essayist, poet, and naturalist. He is credited with popularizing transcendentalism and simple living. His philosophy of civil disobedience, which was detailed in his essay of the same name, later influenced world-renowned personalities like Leo Tolstoy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi.

Walt Whitman was an American poet, journalist, and essayist. Also a humanist, Whitman played a crucial role in the shift between transcendentalism and realism. Often referred to as the father of free verse, Whitman is one of the most influential American poets of all time. Several decades after his death, Walt Whitman’s poetry remains influential.

Langston Hughes is best remembered as a prominent leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He was one of the first to write jazz poetry. He also wrote plays and short stories. He was a columnist for The Chicago Defender and wrote the iconic poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers.

Shel Silverstein was an American writer, playwright, songwriter, and cartoonist. Renowned for his children’s books, songs, and cartoons, Silverstein’s works have been translated into over 30 languages. The recipient of many prestigious awards, such as Grammy Awards, Shel Silverstein was posthumously inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American philosopher who led the transcendentalist movement that developed in the eastern United States in the 1820s and 1830s. He is credited with popularizing individualism through his numerous lectures and essays. Emerson influenced many thinkers and writers that followed him; he mentored Henry David Thoreau, who went on to become a leading transcendentalist.

Allen Ginsberg’s Biography

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America

I hope you enjoy reading Allen Ginsberg poem “America” since I think this is an important literary work that the world needs to read. Also, this poem is an excellent example of social protest since he is frustrated with the problems that were happening in the US during the late forties and fifties.

The Poem: “America”

The poem “America” is a significant part of American history since Allen Ginsberg confesses all the issues he was having with America during the late forties and fifties. The problems that have been plaguing the United States are associated with his attitudes towards consumerism, McCarthyism, homosexuality. In the beginning of the poem, he is complaining that the American people are very judgmental since he is being force not to speak his own mind. For example, “I’m sick of your demands”(Ginsberg, line 15) suggests to the reader that he is tired of being someone he’s not, and he will not tolerate this any longer. He suggests that Americans were more able to expresses their opinions in the twenties and thirties than they were in the forties and fifties. This occurs because people were fearful to express their own thoughts and feelings due to McCarthyism.

McCarthyism derived from the actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s, has come to mean the use of reckless and unfair accusations in the name of suppressing political disloyalty. The actions of McCarthy combined with communist expansion and the Korean War aroused public fear and led to a renewed Red Scare. McCarthy played on public fear in a bid to increase his own political standing. In the end McCarthy’s accusations were proven false and he was censured by the Senate, although this came too late for many whose lives were ruined by those unsubstantiated charges (McCarthy Webquest, 1).

As the poem went on, he was getting bitter and emotional due to the problems that were occurring in America. Also, he was trying to convince people that you can still be American and disagree with the problems that exist in America at that time. At that time, Ginsberg suggested “What is it to be an American”. Is American someone that reads Time Magazine, or not being a communist? In the 1930s communist was acceptable, however, people were very fearful of it in the late 1940s and into the sixties since the Cold War World was creating tension between the Americans and the Russians. This is when the term McCarthyism was introduced since their political strategy was to create fear in the minds of the American people by the 1950s. The concept McCarthyism suggested that it would be un- American for people to be involved in communism activities. Politicians use a brainwashing tactic “McCarthyism” on the Americans so that they understood what it is to be truly American. To be truly American the ideal person must be white, heterosexual, own a car, earned a decent living and have 2.5 children according to Ginsberg poem in the 1950s. McCarthyism was once used again in 2001 when Islamic fundamentalist terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre. Instead The Bush Administration replaced the word communism with terrorism causing many Americans to fear for their lives. In a way, history does repeat itself, yet humans still have not learn from the past.

I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet (Ginsberg, line 27). This line represents how he has to keep his sexual orientation a secret because McCarthy’s chief lawyer “hated communist and homosexuals” (Social Studies Help Centre, 1). As a result, Allen Ginsberg kept his sexual orientation a secret since he knew other people would not accept him in society due to the existence of homophobia. The American Heritage Dictionary (1992 edition) defines homophobia “ as aversion to gay or homosexual people or their lifestyle or culture and behavior or an act based on this aversion (Wellness Centre, 1). Other definitions identify “ homophobia as an irrational fear of homosexuality (Wellness Centre,1). In the poem America, America I’m putting my queer shoulder to the wheel (Ginsberg, line 74). This suggests by the end of the poem that he was tired of keeping his homosexuality a secret. Also, he wanted to tell everyone that you can hold your own values and beliefs and still be an american citizen. Therefore, he suggests do not compromise your own beliefs for the sake of society not accepting you as an american.