--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ginsberg's Collected Poems contains a…" description: "\"Ginsberg's Collected Poems contains a wonderful poem about making it with Neal Cassady.\" — Thom Gunn" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/thom-gunn-15259_ginsberg_ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wo_1341761.png" --- # Ginsberg's Collected Poems contains a wonderful poem about… ![“Ginsberg's Collected Poems contains a wonderful poem about making it with Neal Cassady.” quote by Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/thom-gunn-15259_ginsberg_ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wo_1341761.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/thom-gunn-15259_ginsberg_ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wo_1341761.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/thom-gunn-15259_ginsberg_ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wo_1341761.png) > “Ginsberg's Collected Poems contains a wonderful poem about making it with Neal Cassady.” [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ginsberg’s work celebrates the restless energy of the Beat generation, especially his bond with Cassady. **In simple terms:** Ginsberg praises the Beat spirit and Cassady. Key Takeaway Explore Beat literature’s vitality. Themes Beat Generation friendship creativity Mood reflective energetic Type literary historical When to use this quote - college courses - reading groups - creative writing workshops Key Concepts literary criticism American poetry Questions to Reflect On - Why does Ginsberg admire Cassady? - How does the Beat ethos influence today? A Different Perspective Modern readers may find the style dated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) ## Related quotes > [When I see great boxers, it's like reading a wonderful poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-neeson/when-i-see-great-boxers-it-s-like-reading-a-wonderful-poem/) [Liam Neeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-neeson/) > [“One of Milton’s poems contains the well-known line “Look homeward, Angel, now, and melt with ruth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/one-of-milton-s-poems-contains-the-well-known-line-look-homeward/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“There's something narcissistic in the phrase "collected poems." Who's collecting them? The poem. How hard is that? That's not a real collection. Now if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/there-s-something-narcissistic-in-the-phrase-collected-poems-who-s/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“One thing to which I am most grateful Is that my work slumbers on,sweetly, Not yet discovered, And shall not conjure that most Haunting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wickham/one-thing-to-which-i-am-most-grateful-is-that-my-work-slumbers-on/) Philip Wickham > [“It was a page he had Found in the handbook Of heartbreak. Wallace Stevens, “Madame la Fleurie,” Collected Poems I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/it-was-a-page-he-had-found-in-the-handbook-of-heartbreak-wallace/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [A collected poems' is either a gravestone or a testimonial to survival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-purdy/a-collected-poems-is-either-a-gravestone-or-a-testimonial-to-survival/) [Al Purdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-purdy/) > [“Playing ball of wind reaching the other end of The Road Not Taken may I call in Robert Frost by holding hands and request…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suman-pokhrel/playing-ball-of-wind-reaching-the-other-end-of-the-road-not-taken-may/) [Suman Pokhrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suman-pokhrel/) > [“The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes-2/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Ginsberg was the favourite bohemian poet of straight college boys who wanted to transgress, and of gay college boys who were not yet ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/ginsberg-was-the-favourite-bohemian-poet-of-straight-college-boys-who/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [If I had a soul I sold it for pretty words If I had a body I used it up spurting my essence Allen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/if-i-had-a-soul-i-sold-it-for-pretty-words-if-i-had-a-body-i-used-it/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [ I think Allen \[Ginsberg\] was a person who's like a child. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-think-allen-ginsberg-was-a-person-who-s-like-a-child/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [People keep telling me about the white race and the black race - and it really doesn't make sense. I played Miami, met a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-gregory/people-keep-telling-me-about-the-white-race-and-the-black-race-and-it/) [Dick Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-gregory/) > [Forty million Americans smoked marijuana; the only ones who didn’t like it were Judge Ginsberg, Clarence Thomas and Bill Clinton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/forty-million-americans-smoked-marijuana-the-only-ones-who-didn-t/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [“Between the whiskers scraggling down his neck and the now-crooked glasses, he could have been the Black Allen Ginsberg.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/between-the-whiskers-scraggling-down-his-neck-and-the-now-crooked/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) ## More by Thom Gunn > [How sociable the garden was. We ate and talked in given light. The children put their toys to grass All the warm wakeful August…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/how-sociable-the-garden-was-we-ate-and-talked-in-given-light-the/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [It was difficult being a teacher and out of the closet in the '50s. By the time I retired, the English department was proud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/it-was-difficult-being-a-teacher-and-out-of-the-closet-in-the-50s-by/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [We tend to put poems into factions. And it restricts our reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/we-tend-to-put-poems-into-factions-and-it-restricts-our-reading/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [We control the content of our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/we-control-the-content-of-our-dreams/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [Deep feeling doesn't make for good poetry. A way with language would be a bit of help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/deep-feeling-doesn-t-make-for-good-poetry-a-way-with-language-would/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [My old teacher's definition of poetry is an attempt to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/my-old-teacher-s-definition-of-poetry-is-an-attempt-to-understand/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [I admired what my students were writing, but I think their improvement doesn't directly result from me but from being in a class, being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/i-admired-what-my-students-were-writing-but-i-think-their-improvement/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [One joins the movement in a valueless world, Choosing it, till both hurler and the hurled, One moves as well, always toward, toward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/one-joins-the-movement-in-a-valueless-world-choosing-it-till-both/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [As humans we look at things and think about what we've looked at. We treasure it in a kind of private art gallery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/as-humans-we-look-at-things-and-think-about-what-we-ve-looked-at-we/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [I was at a benefit for some imprisoned students in the '60s at San Francisco State, and there were lots of poets reading for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/i-was-at-a-benefit-for-some-imprisoned-students-in-the-60s-at-san/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [“At worse, one is in motion; and at best, Reaching no absolute, in which to rest, One is always nearer by not keeping still.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/at-worse-one-is-in-motion-and-at-best-reaching-no-absolute-in-which/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [There have been two popular subjects for poetry in the last few decades: the Vietnam War and AIDS, about both of which almost all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/there-have-been-two-popular-subjects-for-poetry-in-the-last-few/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [I deliberately wrote a poem in my last book where I was suggesting that there are other passions as great as or more important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/i-deliberately-wrote-a-poem-in-my-last-book-where-i-was-suggesting/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [I was much influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/i-was-much-influenced-by-jean-paul-sartre/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [I don't think of sex as a self-destructive impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/i-don-t-think-of-sex-as-a-self-destructive-impulse/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) [Explore all 43 Thom Gunn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) ## More Ginsberg quotes > [The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Between the whiskers scraggling down his neck and the now-crooked glasses, he could have been the Black Allen Ginsberg.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/between-the-whiskers-scraggling-down-his-neck-and-the-now-crooked/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [Forty million Americans smoked marijuana; the only ones who didn’t like it were Judge Ginsberg, Clarence Thomas and Bill Clinton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/forty-million-americans-smoked-marijuana-the-only-ones-who-didn-t/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [People keep telling me about the white race and the black race - and it really doesn't make sense. I played Miami, met a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-gregory/people-keep-telling-me-about-the-white-race-and-the-black-race-and-it/) [Dick Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-gregory/) > [ I think Allen \[Ginsberg\] was a person who's like a child. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-think-allen-ginsberg-was-a-person-who-s-like-a-child/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [If I had a soul I sold it for pretty words If I had a body I used it up spurting my essence Allen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/if-i-had-a-soul-i-sold-it-for-pretty-words-if-i-had-a-body-i-used-it/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Ginsberg was the favourite bohemian poet of straight college boys who wanted to transgress, and of gay college boys who were not yet ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/ginsberg-was-the-favourite-bohemian-poet-of-straight-college-boys-who/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes-2/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Playing ball of wind reaching the other end of The Road Not Taken may I call in Robert Frost by holding hands and request…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suman-pokhrel/playing-ball-of-wind-reaching-the-other-end-of-the-road-not-taken-may/) [Suman Pokhrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suman-pokhrel/) > [I think Ginsberg has done more harm to the craft that I honor and live by than anybody else by reducing it to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/i-think-ginsberg-has-done-more-harm-to-the-craft-that-i-honor-and/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [“I am a more disinterested Ginsberg admirer than Eddie is. Eddie, so to speak, comes to the table with a croupier’s rake. He works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-am-a-more-disinterested-ginsberg-admirer-than-eddie-is-eddie-so-to/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [My last bedside conversation in the hospital just a few weeks before Allen Ginsberg died was 'please take care of so and so. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/my-last-bedside-conversation-in-the-hospital-just-a-few-weeks-before/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [“If I were stranded in the woods with nothing to eat but nuts, berries, and the complete works of Allen Ginsberg, I’d eat the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/if-i-were-stranded-in-the-woods-with-nothing-to-eat-but-nuts-berries/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [ \[Polythene Pam\] was me, remembering a little event with a woman in Jersey, and a man who was England's answer to Allen Ginsberg, who… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/polythene-pam-was-me-remembering-a-little-event-with-a-woman-in/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [“Allen Ginsberg startled the audience at OutWrite, the gay literary conference, when he confessed he didn’t worry about AIDS since his sex life consisted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/allen-ginsberg-startled-the-audience-at-outwrite-the-gay-literary/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) Browse all 58 Ginsberg quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ginsberg's Collected Poems contains a wonderful poem about making it with Neal Cassady.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thom Gunn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wonderful-poem-about-making-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ginsberg" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wonderful-poem-about-making-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/thom-gunn-15259_ginsberg_ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wo_1341761.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/thom-gunn-15259_ginsberg_ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wo_1341761.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/thom-gunn-15259_ginsberg_ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wo_1341761.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ginsberg's Collected Poems contains a wonderful poem about making it with Neal Cassady.” — Thom Gunn", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thom Gunn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ginsberg's Collected Poems contains a wonderful...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wonderful-poem-about-making-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/ginsberg-s-collected-poems-contains-a-wonderful-poem-about-making-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```