Undefinanble Beatniks

The beatniks are not easily defined. In this interview on The Firing Line Kerouac expresses disinterest in William Buckley's attempts to create a rational definition of the Beats.



I also framed a bunch of questions into a kind of poem to express my frustration in trying to understand the Beats in the context of the general ed classes I've taken so far at community college.

WHAT BEATS [GIVES]?

Is?
The?
This?
Thing?
Moving?
Mocking?
Breathing?
Is it Beating?
Is Heart beat?
Is rhyme beat?
Is celibacy beat?
Is grammar beat?
Is divine poets beat?
Is the Isrealites beat?
Is the Dark Ages beat?
Is Border Peoples beat?
Is Sir Philip Sidney beat?
Is George Washington beat?
Is the council of Nicaea beat?
Is spelling things right beat?
Is following the rules beat?
Is Puritans beat?
Is breaking the rules beat?
Is Bohemianism beat?
Is philosophers beat?
Is right poets beat?
Is Cavaliers beat?
Is the trinity beat?
Is the trinity beat?
Is the trinity beat?
Is Quakers beat?
Is Material beat?
Is Expatriotism?
Is History beat?
Is gnosis beat?
Is rhyme beat?
Is poetry beat?
Is David beat?
Is praxis beat?
Is trope beat?
Avant-garde?
Is heat beat?
19-teens?
1950’s?
Death?
Heart?
Brain?
Birth?
Beat?
This?
It’s?
Is?
It?