Father_Death_Blues

An Explication of Allen Ginsburg’s “Father Death Blues” Ginsburg converses with Death and everything that Death has taken. Throughout the poem he connects Death with all parts of life. He makes connections with religion, family, society, as well as within oneself. In almost every line of the poem Ginsberg directly addresses Death, but the flow of the poem greater addresses the idea of content. Loss, Content, and Acceptance are themes that flood the lines of this poem. Ginsberg starts the journey of this poem calling out to Death “Hey Father Death, I’m coming home” (line 1) The “Hey” indicates some sort of familiarity with Death. He is not afraid and he is comfortable with Death. This is an early indication of Content as a theme. The second part of that line “I’m flying home” explicitly says “Home”, meaning that he is going to a place of comfort another indication that there is no fear of Death. Many fear Death and that which is associated with Death however, here that seems not to be the case. Also “Brothers Death, please mind the store” whether he is talking about a brother dying then he is showing that life must go on. Saying, “please mind the store” either indicates that the poet himself is dead or dying and that he needs to make sure the store is taken care of. Or he is saying that another has died so their responsibilities need to be attended to. There are conflicting thoughts however in the poem (lines 4 & 12) “Father Death, Don’t cry any more’ and ‘Pain is gone, tears take the rest” theses lines show pain and suffering. They show a sad and negative yet natural part of Death a period of grievance. They are both lines that have sorrow “Don’t cry any more and Pain is gone” We mourn our loved ones but they are no longer able to feel. They pain is no longer with them it is with the Living. The “tear take the rest” they take what’s left of the pain. The line “Father Death, I’m flying home” is repeated twice throughout the poem in lines 1 and 15 this is a reminder that the Poet is not afraid of Death. He realizes that there is more pain in life and with the living than there is in Death. This illuminates themes of acceptance by showing how you need to move on because some things are inevitable. “Genius Death your words are true/Lover Death your body’s gone/ Father Death I’m coming home” (lines13-15 stanza 5) is a stanza that illustrates that very well. There are aspects of our loved ones and gifts that are lost with Death but in the end we must let them go because nothing is meant to last forever. The last stanza ((9) (lines 25-27) “Father Breath once more farewell/Birth you gave was no thing ill/My heart is still, as time will tell.” these three lines are very important in finishing the poem. Structurally speaking this is the only stanza aside from what first in which all the lines do not rhyme, in line 25 Breath replaces Death this is masculine rhyme. And Breath is very close to Death and saying “once more farewell” is a release of sorts. The Poet allows “Father” to take one last Breath before it’s over. Breath is also capitalized and it is the only non-noun that is capitalized in the middle of the sentence. This tells the reader that the poet intended for us to notice it. It may mean that it has the same significance as the word Death. The last two lines are the last Breaths in the poem so it is telling us that the poem is almost over as well as this life. And Having “My heart is still, as time will tell.” The words Still and Time stand out. The heart is still when it no longer beats. And also life is still because on a grander scale it is so quick, almost momentary. The poem comes full circle it is someone finding Death, finding someone familiar. If so boldly put perhaps a friend. This poem shows how when Death comes sorrow comes as well but we are meant to accept what comes our way and Death is always walking towards us, it just depends on how long the road. In this poem Death arrived, a face-to-face interaction. Loss comes in so many forms and takes more than it gives, but we are always left with something. That is why the poet makes sure to thank the teacher for inspiration (lines 17&18) “Teacher Death I thank you/ For inspiring me to sing this Blues” Here Death leaves something. So with something like death so final, there is still an infinite reality because nothing leaves or goes without a trace.Loss, Content, and Acceptance are thematic and also teach a lesson, because each of these things are learned throughout the poem.