Everyday Gods: Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg by Kennen Hootman

It is the poet’s job to capture the world around him and attempt to confine it into words, lines, and stanzas. After its creation, the poem becomes an immortal object that will transcend time and death. The ability to create such a work of literature is like taking on the work of a god in the sense that only the godly can create immortality. Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg write about the everyday images of the world and entrap them into words in their poems “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” and “A Supermarket in California.” It is by writing these two poems that Whitman and Ginsberg elevate themselves to the level of a god by taking the influence in the common images that surround them and creating it into a new world, the poetry. However, Whitman and Ginsberg have completely different views on the common images of life. Whitman experiences the images and reports on them in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” while Ginsberg is searching for the images to write about, looking particularly at Whitman’s poetry.

It is important to examine how Whitman and Ginsberg view the world that they live in. This is important because the poet’s worldview will influence the ideas of their poetry and inspire how they write. Unlike many writers, Whitman did not receive a formal education and therefore did not receive a formal introduction into canonized poetry. He did not have the classic poetry that came before him to inspire him to become a poet. Rather than poetry, Whitman “had substantial experience as a newspaper printer, editor, and reporter” (Parker 162). Therefore, Whitman’s worldview was heavily influences by the topics and practicalities of the newspaper.

Between 1840 and 1860, Whitman worked for various New York City newspapers and therefore had a lot of experience working not only articles and stories, but also how these articles words in general should be formatted on the page. “As a printer, he had been trained to see language in terms of blocks of type and proofs to be arranged and edited rather than composed” (Parker 165). Rather than seeing sentences or paragraphs, Whitman saw each individual letter as a separate piece of a puzzle, drastically affecting the outcome of his works based upon its placement. In his poetry, Whitman’s “involvement extended beyond that of authorial approval of work commissioned, to participation in the practicalities of printing the book” (Parker 161). Working as a newspaper editor influenced the manner in which Whitman placed the poem on a piece of paper and how he viewed the poem once it was placed on that sheet of paper. This added to the accessibility of the poetry because the form concisely displayed its meaning, much like a newspaper article must clearly display its intentions.

Whitman, however, was not only influenced by the form and technicalities of the newspaper, but also by the topics presented in newspaper articles. “Whitman borrowed the content of newspaper editorials and reports for the subjects of his poetry; police court reports, suicides, prostitutes, and firemen” (Parker 162). The fact that Whitman borrowed themes from the newspaper aided in his poems having at times more relatable topics to the readers. The reasoning why Whitman’s poetry would be more relatable to his readers is because of the rise of the newspaper in the 1800’s. “[C]irculation for the city’s newspapers rose from under 10,000 in 1830 to six figures in 1860” (Parker 162). Therefore, as more people read the newspaper, the more they became familiar with the subjects written about in the paper. These subjects became the daily features in the lives of newspaper readers and thus became what they were most comfortable with. The same readers would then be familiar with Whitman’s poetry because he borrowed his topics from the newspaper subjects.

Just like he reported news for the newspaper, Whitman reported his experiences in his poetry. Whitman often presented himself “as a member of, and a spokesman for, this evolving urban class” (Parker 164). He is able to do this because of how commonplace the newspaper became in society. This idea was also present in his poetry. One such poem that expresses every day ideas and subjects is Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” In this poem, Whitman discusses seeing the every day faces and every day occurrences of New York City. Much like the mundane technicalities of the newspaper interest him, it is the common activities that interest Whitman as evidenced in the line “Crowds of men and women attired in usual costumes! How curious you are to me!” (Whitman 2). It seems that Whitman is most interested in the idea that people all see the same things, yet have different reactions to them, as stated in the lines “[J]ust as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt” or “ [J]ust as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd” (Whitman 3).

Whitman experienced all of the same experiences that another person in the same place would experience. However, Whitman is so inspired by these images that they influenced him to record this information in the form of a poem. By capturing these experiences, he makes the common aspects of life last beyond his initial experience, creating a whole new world through the poem, making the experiences live longer than he shall. Whitman also makes his spirit transcend death in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” The fact that he is a character in the poem attaches him to the immortal images. Especially when Whitman states, “Closer yet I approach you/ What thought you have of me, I had as much of you, I laid my stores in advance/I consider’d long and seriously of you before you were born,” he makes himself into a god figure by saying that he knew of all readers to come after of them and considered them in his poetry (Whitman 4).

The images continue to return to Whitman, despite whatever he is doing. “In the day, among crowds of people, sometimes they came upon me, / in my walks home late at night, or as I lay in my bed, they came upon me” (Whitman 3). Whitman, however, is not the only poet that is influenced by the common images that surround him. In the poem “A Supermarket in California,” Allen Ginsberg speaks of walking within a supermarket while “shopping for images” (“A Supermarket in California” 966). Ginsberg is not only searching for common images though; he is searching for the images of various poems that he was influenced by, with the primary poet who’s images that Ginsberg is searching for being those of Walt Whitman.
Ginsberg’s worldview was very much shaped by the poems of Walt Whitman, even going as far to say that Whitman’s poems “serve as candid models for my own verse to this day” (“Whitman’s Influence” 230). Ginsberg not only describes how Whitman’s poetry has influenced him, but has also spoken on how Whitman has influenced poetry in general. Ginsberg describes Whitman’s poems as prefiguring “the brief ad clear-eyed sketches of his poetic grandchildren the Imagist and Objectivist poets W.C. Williams and Charles Reznikoff” (“Whitman’s Influence” 230). With that statement, Ginsberg says that Whitman’s influence not only passes directly from Whitman to himself, but also passes through every poet that came in between the two, such as the modernist poets. It can be said then that Whitman himself becomes a god of poetry, with all that follow him becoming his disciples. Ginsberg lists himself as one of these disciples.

Whitman becomes a character in Ginsberg’s poem when Ginsberg states “What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman…” or “Where are we going, Walt Whitman?” (“A Supermarket in California” 967). The appearance of Whitman in Ginsberg’s poem causes Whitman to become a supernatural figure. He is transcending death or mortality by appearing to Ginsberg in the supermarket, much like a god figure. However, Whitman appears in a supermarket, a mundane place to have such a profound appearance of the supernatural. This is an example of how the extraordinary can appear in the most ordinary situations, which is what Ginsberg and Whitman describe in their poetry.

Ginsberg evokes Whitman in order to find the inspiration to create his own poetry. However, Ginsberg inadequately reports is experiences and therefore needs to have Whitman as a guide, going as far to call Whitman a “father” and a “courage teacher” (“A Supermarket in California 966). Not only does this demonstrate Ginsberg’s need for help from his struggles, but it also further elevates Whitman as a god by listing him as significantly above Ginsberg rather than as a peer.

Ginsberg states that he “walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache/ self conscious looking at the full moon” (“A Supermarket in California” 966). The fact that Ginsberg states that he has a headache suggests the idea that he could possibly be frustrated by whatever poem he may be currently working on. Also, the fact that Ginsberg mentions he “walked down the sidestreets under the trees” while “looking at the full moon” parallels themes in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” where Whitman states “ I too walked the streets of Manhattan Island, and bathed in the waters around it” (Whitman 3). Later, while shopping in the supermarket, Ginsberg states that he is “dreaming of your enumerations” (“A Supermarket in California” 966). This is a direct reference to Whitman’s practice of writing enumerations, or lists, in his poetry; a practice that he borrowed from the newspapers. Ginsberg is acting as the disciple to Whitman the god.

Ginsberg makes himself transcend death and become the divine also by taking the most mundane aspects of his experience and capturing it in this poetry. He does this by taking an ordinary visit to the supermarket and making it remarkable, not only by having the spirit of Walt Whitman become a character, but also through his images. Ginsberg mentions “wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes,” taking the common and creating outrageous imagery from them (“A Supermarket in California” 966). By enclosing these images in a poem that will be forever attached to his name, Ginsberg makes himself in to a creator of the immortal and therefore into a god figure as well.

Ginsberg could see the extradinordiary in the most ordinary places; having a vision of Walt Whitman appear to him at the most ordinary of places, the supermarket. However, by capturing these experiences, Ginsberg is making himself into the god figure as well by creating a new life out of the mundane in his poetry. Whitman does the same in his poems, reporting on everyday life like a newspaper reporter. He also transcends death by capturing his experiences and entrapping them in a poem that could last forever. It is through these means that Whitman and Ginsberg make themselves god of the everyday, immortalizing the profane, making it and themselves into the sacred.


Works Cited


Ginsberg, Allen. “A Supermarket in California.” Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 10th Ed. Thomas R. Arp, Greg Johnson. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. 966-967.

Ginsberg, Allen. “Whitman’s Influence: A Mountain Too Vast to be Seen.” Sulfur. 31. (1992): 229- 230.

Parker, Simon. “Unrhymed Modernity: New York City, The Popular Newspaper Page, and thee Forms of Whitman’s Poetry.” Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. 16. 3.4 (1999): 161-171.

Whitman, Walt. “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” Leaves of Grass. Philadelphia: David McKay, [c1900]; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/142.