saki Daysس and ز Plutonium Odeس. Both these poems exhibit Ginsberg’s more mature style of writing (Miles 475). The poems are more scholarly, containing many mythological and religious allusions. But both these characteristics show how post war apocalyptic literature had evolved. By the Seventies many writers, instead of taking the defeatist, satirical view like Vonnegut, were beginning to take a make activist standpoint, like Ginsberg. Apocalyptic literature also took on a more mature, scholarly tone, and was more worldly and had a broader viewpoint. This stanza from زNagasaki Daysس shows how Ginsberg is putting nuclear weapons into the context of the universal:2,000,000 killed in Vietnam13,000,000 refugees in Indochina 200,000,000 years for the Galaxy to revolve on its core 24,000 the Babylonian great year24,000 half life of plutoniumGioielli 102,000 the most I ever got for a poetry reading80,000 dolphins killed in the dragnet4,000,000,000 years earth been born (701)The half life of plutonium is brought together with dolphins and Indochinese refugees. Also, Ginsberg makes a reference to the Babylonian great year, which coincides with the half life of plutonium. This cosmic link intrigued Ginsberg immensely. That fact alone inspired him to right زPlutonium Odeس. The whole poem expands on this connection to plutonium as a living part of our universe, albeit a very dangerous one. Here he mentions the Great Year:Before the Year began turning its twelve signs, ere constellations wheeled for twenty-four thousand sunny yearsslowly round their axis in Sagittarius, one hundred sixty-seven thousand times returning to this night. (702) Ginsberg is also relating the great year, and the half life of plutonium, to the life of the Earth. The life of the Earth is approximately four billion years, which is 24,000 times 167,000 (Ginsberg 796) In Plutonium Odeس, Ginsberg talks to plutonium. By establi...
