Who was Elise Cowen?

Elise Cowen grew up in what her parents saw as the "American Dream."
They had the perfect house, with the perfect job and the perfect
neighborhood. The only thing her parents did not have was a perfect
daughter. More than anything, that is what her parents wanted.

To follow her parents wishes, Elise attended Barnard, but her
parents' dreams were not those of her own. Instead of excelling
at school, Elsie met a few Beat "players" and fit in well with them.
Elise did not enjoy academia, but her love lied in poetry. She favored
the poetry of Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot.

Not long after Elsie was in the Beat scene she met who she thought was
her soul mate - Allen Ginsberg. Their romance did not last long,
however, but Elsie never severed ties with Ginsberg. Elsie saw the
odd event of both Elsie and Ginsberg being admitted to two separate
mental institutions as a sign that they were meant to be together.
Elsie was admitted for depression, while Ginsberg was admitted to
avoid jail time.

After she left Barnard, Elsie tried to lead a normal life as a typist.
At night, however, she drank wine and wrote poetry in secret.
After she was fired from her job, Elsie emerged in New York once again.
She was almost immediately readmitted into a mental institution.
The mental institution turned over care of Elsie to her parents, but it
did not last long. Elsie killed herself by jumping through a locked
living room window.




Excerpts of Elsie's Works

* SITTING *
Sitting with you in the kitchen
Talking of anything
Drinking tea
I love you
“The” is a beautiful, regal, perfect word
Oh I wish you body here
With or without bearded poems

Let me out now please—
--Please let me in




* WORDS *
No love
No compassion
No intelligence
No beauty
No humility
Twenty-seven years is enough

Mother--too late--years of meanness--I'm sorry
Daddy--What happened?
Allen--I'm sorry
Peter--Holy Rose Youth
Berry--Such womanly bravery
Keith--Thank you
Joyce--So girl beautiful
Howard--Baby take care
Leo--open the windows and Shalom
Carol--Let it happen

Let me out now please--
--Please let me in

(Both of these poems are debated as being Elsie's last poems)



Interested in female beat poets like Cowen?
Look at some female beat poets books on Amazon.com


Works Cited