The final line of the poem asks Whitman about the America he experienced one hundred years ago. What meaning does Ginsberg convey by ending the poem this way?

Answer:

By ending the poem with a question to Whitman about the America of a hundred years earlier, Ginsberg conveys that Whitman’s idealized “America of love” no longer exists. The speaker suggests Whitman would not recognize the commercialized, lonely America of the 1950s and expresses longing for that earlier, more hopeful vision, while also implying Whitman’s view was shaped by his own social and cultural position.