Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher, what america did you have when charon quit poling his ferry and you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat disappear on the black waters of lethe? at the end of his poem, ginsberg uses these allusions to convey a feeling of hopefulness that modern-day america can turn back the hands of time. doom and gloom caused by the pressure of conforming with the middle-class american society. sadness since the speaker will never experience the same america as in whitman’s day. pride and appreciation for his fellow poet’s role in american literary history.