Marriage by Gregory Corso - 1646 Words

Pie Glue: The Sanctimonious Institution of Marriage Gregory Corsos poem Marriage is a lucid example of how John Clellon Holmes described the Beat Generation: a display of moral degeneration. The speaker of the poem is torn between submitting to the non-conformity of the Beats and conforming to societys strict views about marriage and social structure. The presence of conflicting thoughts- whether or not to get married and looking at the prospects of marriage from two different viewpoints, gives this satirical poem a lot of weight as a plea against the phony social construction that is marriage. The poem starts off with questions that are not, under usual circumstances asked by young eligible men. Yet these rhetorical questions seem†¦show more content†¦And under all the pressure created by this social scenario, when the priest asks â€Å"Do you take this woman for your lawful wedded wife?† (line 29) he hesitates and blurts out â€Å"Pie Glue† (line 30) which rhymes with the more commonly used term â€Å"I do†. Kirby Olson, in his book The Doubting Thomist, reads the poem as many others have read it: as Corsos outburst against hackneyed social rituals, but he also adds some interesting observations. He notes how Pie Glue rhymes with the more commonly used phrase I do and also claims that this apparent non-sense outburst is in fact a cry of fear, fear of being stuck with one woman (â€Å"hairy pie being a term used for a vagina) for the rest of his life. Once the inessential ceremonies of the wedding are over, all the young men would pat him on the back and offer their obscene congratulations and send the newlyweds off to a honeymoon to a clichà ©d honeymoon spot where dozens of other newly bonded couples go â€Å"to do the same thing†(line 39) consummate their marriage. This is common knowledge, everyone does it, and everyone knows that: â€Å"The indifferent clerk†¦/ the lobby zombies†¦/ the whistling elevator man†¦/ the winking bellboy†¦/ everybody† (lines 40 – 43). Here the poet repetitively uses the words â€Å"The†¦knowing†, bringing emphasis that the actions of the honeymooners are common knowledge and almost taken for granted as a chore, aShow MoreRelatedMarriage By Gregory Corso Analysis809 Words   |  4 Pagesmet. In both poems Marriage by Gregory Corso and Break it Down by Lydia Davis the assumptions of love are made very clear. They both suggest that love/marriage in evitably leads to an undesirable outcome resulting in lack of spontaneity and a great deal of pain. According to Corso, a traditional marriage is cause for a relationship that will eventually lack spontaneity. This assumption is not something that would scare me off from still wanting to have a traditional marriage. It seems almost ridiculous