ASSIGNMENT

Submitted by
Serin Sara Prince
1 st year MA English
About the Author

Irwin Allen Ginsberg (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an

American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University
in the 1940s. He vigorously opposed militarism, economic
materialism, and sexual repression, and he embodied various
aspects of this counterculture with his views on drugs, sex,
multiculturalism, hostility to bureaucracy, and openness to
Eastern religions.

Most of Ginsberg's very early poetry was written in formal

rhyme and meter like that of his father, and of his idol William
Blake. His admiration for the writing of Jack Kerouac inspired
him to take poetry more seriously. In 1955, upon the advice of
a psychiatrist, Ginsberg dropped out of the working world to
devote his entire life to poetry. Soon after, he wrote Howl, the
poem that brought him and his Beat Generation
contemporaries to national attention and allowed him to live as
a professional poet for the rest of his life. Later in life, Ginsberg
entered academia, teaching poetry as Distinguished Professor
of English at Brooklyn College from 1986 until his death.
Ginsberg went on to publish numerous collections of poetry,
including Kaddish and Other Poems (City Lights, 1961), Planet
News: Poems, 1961–1967 (City Lights, 1968), and The Fall of
America: Poems of These States (City Lights, 1973), which won
the National Book Award.

Setting of the poem

The poem is set at a period when the poet had been occupied
with the Vietnam War. From United Nations to Iran, Africa, Asia
were facing issues of corruption, war, sociological, political,
military innuendo. The dramatic changes in the international
front, the troublesome and disturbing situation that the world
was facing were his concern.
Though it seems that the poet was doing his laundry at his
home, this poem actually concerned about the events of the
nations. The poem, in it’s most wonderful form is a critical
mockery with an increasingly developed willingness to bring
forth goodness among various nations.
Historical Context of Homework

‘Homework’ by Allen Ginsberg refers to the major man-made

disasters that shook the planet. The poet refers to the Gulf
Wars, the pollution of Amazon, and a lot more. There is a
reference to the effect of massive industrialization on specific
regions such as the North Pole and Alaska. Moreover, the poet
refers to the radioactive pollution in the region of Rocky Flats
and Los Alamos and the waste-disposal in the Love Canal. Apart
from that, the poet presents the changing landscape due to
pollution in Europe. In the last few lines, he presents the
political tension in the countries of Asia and hints at the role of
America in it.
At the end of the poem, the poet mocks the present scenario of
the planet as if the dirt would not come out even if the poet
tries this process for ages. Hence, it’s a satire on the artificiality
of the problems existing in the modern world.
Central Idea of the poem
In ‘Homework’ by Allen Ginsberg, the speaker feels as if the
dirty places are clothes. He tries to wash them clean and
remove the dirt of environmental degradation, politics, and
pollution. There is a reference to a variety of countries, rivers,
and places in this poem. The poet refers to countries such as
Iran, the United States, Alaska, Russia, and China. Moreover,
the poet refers to continents such as Africa, Asia, and North
America. He also talks about the rivers namely Amazon, Rhine,
Hudson, Thames, and Neckar, and other water bodies such as
Carin and Gulf of Mexico, Love Canal, Mediterranean basin, and
Lake Eerie. Apart from that, there are other references in the
poem such as the North Pole, Rocky Flats, Los Alamos,
Parthenon, and Sphinx.

Structure of Homework
‘Homework’ by Allen Ginsberg consists of fourteen long lines
without any specific rhyme scheme. The lines of the poem
don’t follow the conventional poetic diction. Ginsberg uses
prosaic lines to reflect the lack of beauty and the drooping
condition of the places the poet talks about in this poem.
Moreover, the poet describes how he wants to clean the dirt
out of those regions from a first-person point-of-view.
‘Homework’ by Allen Ginsberg is a poem depicting the
environmental degradation in the modern world. The
metaphorical reference to “Laundry” is significant. It reflects
how dirty the world looks like from the eyes of an aware citizen
of the world. Here, the aware citizen or the speaker of the
poem is none other than the poet, Allen Ginsberg, himself.

Line - by - line Explanation

If I were doing my Laundry I’d wash my dirty Iran

I’d throw in my United States, and pour on the Ivory Soap,
scrub up Africa, put all the birds and elephants back in the
jungle,
'Homework’ by Allen Ginsberg begins with sarcasm. The poet
if he were doing his “Laundry”, he would preferably choose
neither of his clothes. Rather he would take the countries and
places that had become dirty due to pollution or man-made
disasters. Hence, the poet says he would wash his dirty Iran
and throw in the United States into his washing machine.
Thereafter he would pour the Ivory Soap and scrub the whole
of Africa until it became clear. He would put all the birds and
elephants out of the zoos back to the jungle.

I’d wash the Amazon river and clean the oily Carib & Gulf of
Mexico,
Rub that smog off the North Pole, wipe up all the pipelines in
Alaska,
Rub a dub dub for Rocky Flats and Los Alamos, Flush that
sparkly Cesium out of Love Canal
Moreover, the poet alludes to the polluted Amazon river and
oily Carib and the Gulf of Mexico for washing the waste
materials. After the washing with soap session is done,
Ginsberg would start rubbing off the smog from the North
Pole and wipe all the waste-carrying pipelines in Alaska. He
would rub the Rocky Flats and Los Alamos for cleaning the
radioactive waste stored there. Thereafter, he would flush the
radioactive Cesium out of Love Canal that was polluted due to
the disposal of chemical waste in the 1940s.

Rinse down the Acid Rain over the Parthenon & Sphinx, Drain
Sludge out of the Mediterranean basin & make it azure again,
Put some blueing back into the sky over the Rhine, bleach the
little Clouds so snow return white as snow,
Cleanse the Hudson Thames & Neckar, Drain the Suds out of
Lake Erie

'Homework’ by Allen Ginsberg focuses on the effect of Acid

Rain on the Parthenon and the Sphinx at the beginning of this
section. The poet says that the acid rain that destroyed
Parthenon's magnificent marble relief panels , chemically
transformed into soft gypsum he would rinse down those
monuments and drain the sludge out of the Mediterranean
basin for making it azure again. Thereafter, the sky above the
Rhine river catches the poet’s attention. He desires to put
blueing the sky over the river and bleach the darkening clouds
so the snow would look white as snow. This section reflects
how everything had changed due to modernization and the
pollution associated with it. Moreover, the poet says he
would cleanse the rivers such as Hudson, Thames, and Neckar
and drain the suds out of the Lake Eerie of America.
Then I’d throw big Asia in one giant Load & wash out the
blood & Agent Orange,
Dump the whole mess of Russia and China in the wringer,
squeeze out the tattletail Gray of U.S. Central American police
state,
& put the planet in the drier & let it sit 20 minutes or an Aeon
till it came out clean.

Thereafter, in ‘Homework’ by Allen Ginsberg, the poet

humorously refers to throwing the “big Asia” in “one giant
load” to wash out the blood and “Agent Orange” from it. Here,
“blood” symbolically refers to the Vietnam War, and Agent
Orange was used by the U.S. Military as part of its herbicidal
warfare programme , Operation Ranch Hand during the
Vietnam War. Moreover, the poet refers to the political
turmoil in China and Russia as the “whole mess”. He would
put those countries in the wringer to squeeze out the political
interference of the U.S. However, the poet ironically says he
would also squeeze the brutality of the Central American
police states out by putting them in the wringer.
At last, the poet says his work was done. Then, he would put
the planet earth in the drier and let it sit for 20 minutes. Then
suddenly the poet realized that it was not enough. Through
these last lines the poet wants to change the nations , their
corruptions , the wars that are caused. He wants to put the
whole planet 'in a drier' , this means , he wants to obliterate
all the hazards , socio - political issues , wars and bring
harmony and peace in the planet .

Themes

1. Destruction
2. Political turmoil
3. Pollution

1. Destruction - When we go through the poem , the poet tries

to depict the destruction caused by the humans as it mainly
causing the human beings who living in the nations.
2. Political turmoil - As mentioned through the poem , the poet
tries to depict the political tension between the countries . Their
corruptions and the various issues that surrounded the nations
during the aftermath of world war.
3. Pollution : Through this poem , the poet is concerned about
the environmental hazards that the generation have been
facing. Thus , he wants to regain the environmental equilibrium.
He also wants to cleanse the phenomental waterbodies that
had been subject to pollution. As a matter of fact , all the air
pollution , water pollution , soil pollution, he wants to clean
them up.