Kenneth Rexroth

Abstract

The Paper carefully analyses the birth and death of Kenneth Rexroth considered to be a famous beats poet. This paper has five of his poems explicated carefully showing a connection between his life and work. All of his work pieces depict a connection with his life.

Table of Contents

Abstracti

Kenneth Rexroth1

Introduction1

Body1

About the Author1

Connections between life and work2

His Poems2

Between Two Wars2

On what planet4

Requiem for the Spanish dead5

Autumn In California6

Fish Peddler And Cobbler7

Conclusion8

Works Cited9

Kenneth Rexroth

Introduction

This Research Paper is based on the bibliographical research of a beats poet Kenneth Charles Rexroth and consists of explicates of his poems.

Body

About the Author

Kenneth Charles Rexroth was born on December 22, 1905 in South Bend, Indiana. He was orphaned at the age of 14 and was forced to move to Chicago to live with his aunt. When he was 15, he started to publish in magazines (www.english.illinois.edu). He used to support himself with odd jobs. Later on, he hitchhiked to Europe and taught himself several different languages, traveled in to the wilderness and spends most of the time reading and attending a variety of literary lectures (www.english.illinois.edu). In 1927, his first poems were published in an assortment of different small magazines. Soon, he became acquainted with some other renowned poets such as Louis Zukovsky and George Oppen and along with them he opened a club for supporting amateur and struggling poets, artists and writers. In 1930s he started to study Communism and mysticism. Also, he started to correspond with some other writers and poets also. In 1937, his poetry was published “New Directions in Poetry and Prose”.

In 1941, his first collection, “the Phoenix and the tortoise” was published. In late 1940s he started a Friday-evening club and also a Wednesday-philosophy salon where he used to discuss his ideologies and theories and believes related to poetry and also politics (www.english.illinois.edu). In 1960s he actively participated in politics by supporting the struggles of those who were fighting for civil rights and some anti-war activities. His last most important work was a number of poems offered in translations known as Marichiko, who was a Japanese fictional poet. He died in June 6, 1982 in Santa Barbara (www.english.illinois.edu).

Connections between life and work 

Rexroth's poetry, journalism and essays clearly showed his interests in politics, culture and ecology. His poetry also reflects some fragments of his early life (www.poemhunter.com). Since he was born in Indiana very frequently he used to move around in his childhood to faraway places such as Midwest. He had lived a turbulent life such as being orphaned t a very early stage of life, continuous traveling in United States as well as abroad such as Europe etc., four marriages and most important of all; his active participation in politics. All these factors had a great influence on his poetry. His work, specifically his poems and essays also reflect his interest towards mysticism. His very famous poem “Discrimination” clearly explains his interest towards political elevation.

His Poems

Between Two Wars

Narration - It's a narrative poem. The poet is reminiscing about his youth and younger age ...