It is quiet believable if a poet becomes a singer nowadays. The talent that was brought about by constant enhancement, exposure and development proves to be useful. This is the case of Henry Rollins which is the subject of this paper. The Life of Henry Rollins The original name of Henry Rollins is Henry Garfield. He was born in Washington, D. C. in the year 1961(Music Guide, 2009, p. 1). The childhood of Henry Rollins is not happy. It is full of painful experiences triggered by the divorce of his parents when he was still young.
He was an unfortunate recipient of his father’s abuse and emotional abandonment which made his life miserable (Music Guide, 2009, p. 1). Aside from that, Henry Rollins also experienced being tormented by his classmates due to the life that he had. During the time when Henry Rollins’ parents were divorced, he lived with his mother. He experienced living from one apartment to another. The best memory that Henry Rollins could remember is her mother’s love for music which influenced him. He was engrossed in playing the music records of her mother in their apartment and enjoys doing it.
The said activity brought him to discover the world of punk when he entered high school. Then, he discovered the Los Angeles-based hard core group called Black Flag. Is Henry Rollins A Good Poet? The question is that: Is Henry Rollins a Good Poet? There are three main positive answers of this question. First, Henry Rollins was a good poet because he became a good singer out of his talent to write poetry. Second, Henry Rollins knows how to utilize his painful childhood experiences to create poems which is a good quality of a poet.
And third, the music of Henry Rollins is a reflection of his poetic prowess. The life story of Henry Rollins is closely linked to his ability to write poems. In connection, he wrote an essay which defined his very self entitled “Iron and the Soul”. He gained strength in life due to his experiences when he was a child. His classmates would tease him because he is skinny and clumsy. One of his teachers told him that he would spend time using lawn marrow daily just to earn a living (Music Guide, 2009, p. 1).
And the worst thing is that, every time Rollins experience tormenting words from his classmates and teachers while he was young, he would not go home crying which made his tormentors wonder. Since Henry Rollins was a product of a broken family, he had no home with parents to take care and defend him. All these experiences contributed to the development of Rollin’s self-esteem with the help of other people. Thus, when he wrote “Iron and the Stone”, Rollins had a full grasp of what life is all about. The famous poems and lyrics of Henry Rollins include “One from none” and “Inhale and Exhale”.
According to Moro, one of the best poetry books of Henry Rollins is entitled “Seen a Grown Man Cry “which makes him a talented poet (Moro, 2001, p. 1). In the year 1993, every well-stocked bookstore had copies of his different poetry books. He also wrote for Rolling Stone in the year 1992 which he described as punk’s poet laureate and primal scream personified (Music Guide, 2009, p. 1). Besides, he was considered as a keen observer of humankind which helped him write good essays, music lyrics and poems.
As a vocalist and writer, Henry Rollins left a mark in the music industry and the community of poetry lovers as a talented performer and pen holder. Lastly, Henry Rollins promoted poetry reading in the year 1983. The activity is otherwise called the spoken-word performances (Music Guide, 2009, p. 1). In the year 1984, Rollins published volumes of his writings. Besides, he also operated his own publishing company and was able to publish many books like “Knife Street”, “End to End”, “Works” and many others. Conclusion
The structure of Henry Rollins’ life is from painful experiences to fame and fortune. He was a product of broken family that made him no home with parents to depend with. His love for music and writing made him famous. The poems written by Henry Rollins reflected his discipline in life and ability to observe humankind and put it into writing. Finally, Rollins presented a life story of struggle and success as he experienced painful thongs in life and come out of it by writing essays, music lyrics, and poems and developing his talent in music in the form of punk.
In other words, Rollins is indeed a wise poet because he utilized his painful past experiences to achieve fulfillment in writing poems and essays and competing in the music industry.
Works Cited
“Henry Rollins Biography”. 2009. Music Guide. March 25, 2009 <http://www. musicianguide. com/biographies/1608003149/Henry-Rollins. html>. Moro, Marianne. “Henry Rollins-Rock Renaissance Man”. 14 August 2001. Suite 101 Website. March 25, 2009 <http://www. suite101. com/article. cfm/rock_music_ new/77253>.