In 1995 Allen Ginsberg visited Georgian Court University, in Lakewood, New Jersey, to talk with students in a British Romantics course led by Dr. Eric Wurmser and Dr. Gail Holian.
A video and transcript of the visit is now available online. As part of a 2024 GCU Summer Research Grant, Paul Cappucci, Ph.D. and Jimmy Woo (a recent GCU graduate majoring in Marketing with an English minor) transcribed and edited the 2-hour talk. Jimmy was also able to convert the talk from DVD to YouTube, and the SMJC Library has posted it with permission from the Allen Ginsberg Estate.
Photo credit: Dr. Gail Holian, Professor of English
Ginsberg read and discussed a range of poems, including “Good Night” by William Carlos Williams.
“Good Night” (CP I 86) 1917
In brilliant gas light
I turn the kitchen spigot
and watch the water plash
into the clean white sink.
On the grooved drain-board
to one side is
a glass filled with parsley —
crisped green.
Waiting
for the water to freshen —
I glance at the spotless floor — :
a pair of rubber sandals
lie side by side
under the wall-table
all is in order for the night.
Waiting, with a glass in my hand
— three girls in crimson satin
pass close before me on
the murmurous background of
the crowded opera —
it is
memory playing the clown —
three vague, meaningless girls
full of smells and
the rustling sound of
cloth rubbing on cloth and
little slippers on carpet —
high-school French
spoken in a loud voice!
Parsley in a glass,
still and shining,
brings me back. I take my drink
and yawn deliciously.
I am ready for bed.
Links to videos and transcript
“A Visit with Allen Ginsberg”: Georgian Court University (Lakewood, NJ) Part 1 (Ginsberg’s reading of Williams’s “Good Night” occurs in Part I at the 37:52 mark. He also offers commentary about the poem.)
“A Visit with Allen Ginsberg”: Georgian Court University (Lakewood, NJ) Part 2
A Visit with Allen Ginsberg Georgian Court College in Lakewood, NJ March 23, 1995. Transcribed by Jimmy Woo, Jr. Edited by Paul Cappucci, Ph.D. (Georgian Court College became Georgian Court University in 2004.)
In addition to these video postings, the Allen Ginsberg Project has recently posted Dr. Gail Holian’s account of Ginsberg’s visit.
