Allen Ginsberg in Mexico

This chapter examines how Mexico shaped Allen Ginsberg's poetic development. Inspired by William S. Burroughs, Ginsberg visited archaeological sites like Palenque, inspiring his poem "Siesta in Xbalba." He traveled widely in Mexico, continuing a mystical quest begun with a 1948 "cosmic consciousness" experience while reading William Blake. In poems such as "Paterson," Ginsberg wrote he "would rather go mad, gone down the dark road to Mexico, heroin dripping/in my veins,/eyes and ears full of marijuana, /eating the god Peyote…" than endure life in America. His poems and journals show Mexico's profound effect on his life and work.

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Abstract

This chapter explores the many ways Mexico became central in Ginsberg’s poetic evolution. Inspired by the example of his mentor, William S. Burroughs, Ginsberg visited several archaeological sites in Mexico such as Palenque, which inspired one of his most successful early poems, “Siesta in Xbalba.” Ginsberg traveled widely throughout the country and continued the mystical quest which began with his experience of “cosmic consciousness” in Harlem in 1948 as he read the poetry of William Blake. In poems such as “Paterson,” Ginsberg wrote that he “would rather go mad, gone down the dark road to Mexico, heroin dripping/in my veins,/eyes and ears full of marijuana, /eating the god Peyote…” than endure his life in America. Ginsberg read widely in the history of culture of Mexico, and his poems as well as his journals reveal the profound effect Mexico would have on his life and work.