Allen Ginsberg's Howl

Allen Ginsberg’s revolutionary poem, Howl, is a powerful portrayal of life degraded. It represents the harsh life of the beat generation and chronicles the struggles of the repressed. Howl is a poem of destruction. Destruction of mind, body, and soul through the oppression of the individual. Using powerful diction, Allen Ginsberg describes this abolition of life and its implications through our human understanding of abstractions like Time, Eternity, and self. The poem’s jumbled phrasing and drastic emotion seems to correspond with the minds of the people it describes. Ginsberg uses surprisingly precise and purposeful writing to weave the complex

The 1950s was a decade of extremes and abrupt change where the inhabitants of one of the most robust nations were led to their most vulnerable states, shuddering in fear of Communist tactics as a result of the immense Cold War tensions, lingering in the atmosphere from mainstream media and technological advances. Eliot Katz, author of Poetry and Politics of Allen Ginsberg, highlights Ginsberg’s political impact “[i]n an era filled with too much military conflict, regressive economic policies, and the backsliding of civil liberties, the legacy of Allen Ginsberg [will remain] as important as ever,” (12). Rebellious revolutionary, avid activist, and insightful poet, Allen Ginsberg, wrote and published radical works of poetry during his lifetime,

The Chameleon of Poetry: A Literary Analysis of Howl by Allen Ginsberg The tones that we portray every day change from one to the next, sort of like how a chameleon changes color depending on the environment that they are in. I personally change my tone when handling certain situations that occur, situations such as arguments. When in an argument with my significant other, for example, I go from calm to angry very quickly. Words are spewed out left and right in a chaos of disagreements.

With reference to Ginsberg's emulation of Walt Whitman's content, the Norton Anthology, Postmodern American Poetry, states that, "Ginsberg proposed a return to the immediacy, egalitarianism and visionary ambitions of Blake and Whitman." (130). His poem "America" caters toward themes of democracy, something Whitman's poetry also does. Yet unlike Whitman, Ginsberg takes a more questioning stance on America and does not use his poem to praise the nation.

Constraints of Confinement Trumpets blaring, bass booming, heads swaying to the beat in a tiny jazz club. Creativity is flowing and the Beat Poets of the 1950s are unknowingly establishing a counterculture movement, one that challenges the social norms and politics of their time and even transcends generations to remain relevant today. Poets like Jack Kerouac, William Seward Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and Allen Ginsberg were heavily influenced by jazz, adopting their “seedy dress, manners, and ‘hip’ vocabulary” (“Beat Movement”) that changed their lifestyle and helped write their poetry. Specifically, Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl, is often regarded as “the anthem of 1950s Beats” (“Howl | Poem by Ginsberg”), a poem unstructured and free flowing to reflect Ginsberg’s experiences. In Howl, Allen Ginsberg uses unique language and changes his tone throughout the poem in an attempt to break the constraints of confinement and seek his own forms of freedom.

A Howl for Help Beat poetry took up a big part of the 1950’s. The beat movement was a time where American writers had the opportunity to express themselves in a way that allowed them to achieve genuine happiness. Allen Ginsberg is a prime example of a Beat Poet. In his poem Howl he expresses how he truly feels about the society that he lives in.

Ginsberg reflects on the satire of people worshipping American culture when it is actually the cause of their trouble. Which glorifies a civilization restricting you to normality, and destroying the best minds. These parts take the reader behind Ginsberg’s belief of the “best minds” American culture changes across the fundamental desires to destroy them.

Century apart, Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman share similar cultural, political and moral values, which they express in their literary work. Whitman’s writing is considered controversial for the eighteen hundreds. He sets the stage for generations to come breaking way from the strict Victorian poetic tradition by writing in free verse. Ginsberg follows his footsteps when composing his poem “Howl” by writing in long lines almost resembling prose and subdividing the poem into several parts. Likewise, he uses numerous repetitions to achieve rhythmicity of his verse. Ginsberg’s poem is heavily influenced by Whitman’s philosophy. The works “Song of myself” and “Howl” are similar in ideas, structure and underling themes. The two authors protest against old traditions imposed on the individual by corrupt society, stand against conformity and put emphasis on the need for change. They identify with their generation and dwell on themes such as sexuality, religion and the state of American society.

He promotes the counter culture movement by doing rebellious acts that do not conform to the main culture. The tone of part one shows desperation felt during the post- World War II era by those who were alienated by American society. Part one’s structural characteristics include repetitive phrases and run-on sentences. Throughout the duration of part one, a form of repetition is present as a majority of the lines start with the word “who.” The “who” Ginsberg writes about is him and his friends. He describes the lifestyle he lived and the adventures he experienced with his group such as riding the subway while high on Benzedrine and having sexual relationships with other men. Ginsberg was very open about his homosexuality and expressed his desires in this poem. His use of drugs were a reference of the visions he had while using the substances. Deviance is another significant theme in part one. Ginsberg and his friends were known to be rebellious students in college because they didn’t follow rules or social norms. In line seven of Howl, Ginsberg stated that he and his friends “were expelled from the academies for crazy and publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull” (Ginsberg 9). Another example of deviance is found in line 66, when they “threw potato salad at CCNY lecturers” (Ginsberg 18). Every deviant act has its consequences. After the potato salad incident, they went to

In Amy Newman’s “Howl”, she alludes to Sylvia Plath, an American female poet, who is acknowledged for her hardships as a outcasted female in the poetry world due to her oppressive marriage. Newman illustrates Plath as, “[a] star-spangled lost in her housebound Eden curse with orchards and a million gossipy daffodils, writing and nursing and not on the lists...” (Newman). In Allen Ginsberg’s original “Howl” he adverts to male poets he admires of his time, opposingly Newman emulates Ginsberg’s technique and alludes to a feminist iconic poet Sylvia Plath. Newman implements a biblical allusion referencing The Garden of Eden to depict Plath as a successful female poet who was metaphorically locked in her household; where a woman's place

In his second question, “America when will you be angelic?” the speaker asks America to be like an angel. The reference to angels can also be taken as a religious symbol or a symbol of peace and purity. This question is posed because the speaker believes that America is not pure and has no religious values or beliefs and therefore, needs to become pure and pious, hence angelic. Ginsberg’s diction in this verse also demonstrates the speaker’s frustration as if he has been waiting for America to “be angelic” and has been disappointed. Disappointment seems to be the cause of anger displayed by the speaker throughout the poem.

Poet Allen Ginsberg composed "Howl" in 1955 and it was published by City Lights Books of San Francisco, CA the following year. He composed the poem in the middle of the 1950s, one of the greatest decades in history for mainstream America. It had been a decade since the American and Allied victory in the second world war. Numerous American men returned home to a country in much better shape than expected, with many women having entered the workforce to keep the economy and industry alive in their absence. The spoils of war were great and America saw a great era of prosperity and domestic, suburban bliss. More interstate highways were constructed. Many more cars were produced and bought. It was a classic era for mainstream American culture in the 1950s. Yet in the haze of the suburbs, expansion of television, growth of Hollywood, and cars, present here were the seeds of rebellion and counterculture that was more indicative of the following decade, 1960s. One such seed is the poem

The Beat Writers and the Standups knew the power of words. Lenny Bruce said, “It’s the suppression of the word that gives it the power” (Bruce). The Beat Writers and Standups used the concept to create awareness in their audience. It may have been felt that without the language the Beats and Standups used, the message would lose its power to shock and draw attention to how seriously the respective groups were about their message. In like manner, using words and making the audience accustomed to them would make the words lose the power they have. Allen Ginsberg used language in “Howl” that was considered not only vulgar, but obscene. By use of words and phrases like “sweetened the snatches of young girls” (Ginsberg, 14) and “fucked in the ass” (Ginsberg, 13) Ginsberg was able to create images both powerful and thought provoking. The use of such strong language also allowed Ginsberg to paint equally graphic but less blatantly obscene pictures. He wrote of “rotten animals” (Ginsberg, 16) and how the “absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out” (Ginsberg, 20) to illustrate the frustration and agony of his generation. Speaking openly of homosexuality, drug use, and a discontent with mainstream society Ginsberg was able to give voice to the disenfranchised and marginalized. Kerouac wrote frankly of drug use and sex in both On the Road and Dharma Bums. William Burroughs understood the power of words. In a

Walt Whitman is regarded as one of the most influential poets in American history while Allen Ginsberg was and still is considered a leading figure of the Beat Generation. Both of these poets have similar poetic tendencies even though they were almost a century apart from each other. Walt Whitman helped to inspire many literary descendants ranging from writers to poets alike. One of his most famous poems is in his book, “Leaves of Grass”, called “Song of Myself”. Allen Ginsberg can be considered one of Walt Whitman’s literary descendants due to the numerous similarities between “Song of Myself” and Ginsberg’s “Howl”, which is about the real experiences of Americans after World War II.

Allen Ginsberg was one of the founding fathers of what is considered the Beat Generation and the Beat Movement. Throughout his entire life he wrote multiple poems which voiced his certain opinions and thoughts about what America had been going through at the time. American poet, writer, and philosopher, Allen Ginsberg uses his life experiences and ideas on resistance, freedom, and the Beat Movement to express specific ideas within his poems.