Howl

American Beat-era poet Allen Ginsberg began writing “Howl” as a private recollection for friends, though he later published the long poem in his 1956 book Howl and Other Poems. Also known as “Howl: For Carl Solomon,” the poem cemented Ginsberg’s status as a prophet-poet in the romantic literature vein of Walt Whitman and William Blake (two major influences). “Footnote for Howl,” written in 1955, is the final portion, though it’s not always included with the original text. Different anecdotes and stories abound concerning the poem’s genesis. Ginsberg abandoned at least two earlier versions, both with different titles, after receiving criticism from poet-friends about voice and style. After a drug-induced vision in 1954 in a friend’s apartment, however, Ginsberg returned to the poem and hammered out much of Part 2, thus chronicling the trademark vision of destruction and hopeful redemption for which “Howl” is known.

Ginsberg eventually became a household name, to the point his public figure often overshadowed his prophetic yet shocking poems, and even caused some to label him a sellout. Early detractors of “Howl” took issue with what they perceived as a loosening of morals inherent to Beat poetry, of which “Howl” is perhaps the most well-known artifact. Others argued (and still do) Ginsberg eventually bought into the very system that “Howl” vehemently critiques. Regardless of one’s stance on the matter, “Howl” paints a dark vision of America: Angels in mortal form search for meaning and connection while traversing a dystopian country run by bloodthirsty capitalism personified. Themes include the horrors of US capitalism, mental illness, heteronormativity, gay pride, embracing quotidian beauty, authenticity, and more. Despite the dark vision, “Howl” also offers hope and solidarity through rebirth and celebration. It remains one of the most well-known poems from the Beat Generation to this day.

Poet Biography

Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was born in Newark, New Jersey, on June 3, 1926. His Russian Jewish mother, Naomi, was a communist, and his father, Louis, was a poet and high school teacher. Ginsberg absorbed his parents’ obsessions—most notably, his father’s love of the written word and his mother’s encouragement of radical politics. Naomi also had schizophrenia; she spent much of her later years institutionalized. Ginsberg eventually authorized her lobotomy—a decision her doctor recommended but one that wracked Ginsberg with guilt for the rest of his life (the poem “Kaddish” pays tribute to Naomi’s life and to Ginsberg’s struggle with her legacy).

Ginsberg began his education in Paterson, New Jersey where he met and befriended the famed poet William Carlos Williams (who would later write the introduction to Howl and Other Poems). Williams instructed the young Ginsberg, who was fond of emulation, to write in his own voice and style, and to draw inspiration from everyday life. Ginsberg attended Columbia University, where he met William Burroughs (author of Naked Lunch) and began rebelling against the educational system (the school briefly expelled him for etching obscenities on his dorm room window). One of the most seminal moments of Ginsberg’s life occurred during the summer of 1948, when he had a vision of William Blake reciting poetry. Ginsberg believed this vision symbolized the attainment of universal harmony—a harmony that superseded status quo notions of humanity, poetry, beauty, etc.

Ginsberg is best known as a Beat poet. He hit the San Francisco scene in 1954, happy to reacquaint with friends Gregory Corso, Jack Kerouac, and Burroughs (all of whom are associated with the upper echelon of Beat writers). He also crossed paths with Neal Cassady (who appears in “Howl”). Burroughs, Kerouac, and Cassady all had sexual relationships with Ginsberg at different points in time, and these friends/lovers often appeared as themselves or in disguise in each other’s works.

Though Ginsberg tried working as a marketing researcher and even attempted to “go straight,” after counseling, he gave up the job and embraced his sexual orientation as a gay man. Soon after, he met his life partner, poet and actor Peter Orlovsky. With his newfound acceptance and freedom, Ginsberg completed Part 1 of “Howl.” He lived around the corner from poet and activist Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s now-iconic San Franciscan City Lights Bookstore—the same bookstore that published “Howl” and other vital works from the Beat Generation.

Despite counterculture stances and poetry with then-taboo topics—drug use, casual sex, and explicit depictions of gay love—Ginsberg became something of a household name. He traveled the world in search of truth, adopting various aspects of different faiths, then returned to the US in 1965 and received jobs from various universities. He began giving talks and readings. Perhaps because of his disarming manner, detractors accused him of selling out while the general public lauded his everyman persona (often at the expense of his poems). Ginsberg’s poems still speak to the search for authenticity and self-expression, and his name continues to be associated with counterculture and youthful protest.

Poem Text

Ginsberg, Allen. “Howl.” 1984. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

“Howl” opens without pulling any punches: Ginsberg unreservedly decries the destruction of “the best minds of [his] generation” (Line 1). He’s eyewitness to this doom and gloom, cataloguing its widespread hold in Part 1. While Lines 1-3 briefly describe who these “best minds” are, the rest of Part 1 (Lines 4-78) uses anaphora and cataloguing to detail both the “who” and the “how.” Part 1 is also one long run-on sentence; the unwieldy lines spill over to the next like sneaker waves. The best minds—Ginsberg’s friends and lovers—fall victim to both physical and mental ailments including suicide, death, mental illness, drug use, (un)fulfilling casual sex, the oppressive US government, capitalism, formal poetry, and heteronormative values. Though the stanzas reference friends, lovers, and strangers in the past tense, Ginsberg breaks this thought pattern in Line 72 to address Carl Solomon in the present tense (“ah, Carl, while you are not safe I am not safe, and now you’re really in the total animal soup of time—” (Line 72)) before returning to the past tense. Ginsberg closes Part 1 by stating that those destroyed had “the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies […]” (Line 78).

Part 2 (Lines 79-93) gives a name to the destruction first mentioned in Part 1: Moloch. It details why the destruction has taken place while giving Moloch various names and describing Moloch’s attributes. Ginsberg liberally uses both imperatives and exclamation points to mimic aggression and frustration. He calls Moloch a “[…] sphinx of cement and aluminum […]” (Line 79) and a “[…] crossbone soulless jailhouse […]” (Line 82). Moloch is “Solitude! Filth! Ugliness! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars!” (Line 80). As far as attributes, Ginsberg says Moloch’s “[…] mind is pure machinery!” (Line 83) and Moloch’s “[…] soul is electricity and banks!” (Line 83). Toward the end of Part 2, Ginsberg returns to the “best minds” reference he embedded in Part 1 by declaring that “They broke their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven!” (Line 89) even though heaven exists everywhere. Part 2 ends with a multitude of images “[…] gone down the American river!” (Line 90), and a “Mad generation!” (Line 92) with holy eyes and laughter also jumping down this river.

Part 3 is in the present tense and directly addresses Carl Solomon. Ginsberg again uses anaphora and cataloguing by informing Solomon that “I’m with you in Rockland” for every other line. Ginsberg jokes about Solomon’s possible antics with hospital nurses, but then his mood changes. Ginsberg grows somber, stating that “[…] the soul is innocent and immortal it should never die ungodly in an armed madhouse” (Line 117). The poem next delves into religious imagery, including a cross (Line 119); Golgotha (Line 121); and resurrection, “human Jesus,” and a tomb (Line 123). The last lines also conjure images of revolution as the poem reaches a crescendo before its quiet ending. Part 3 finishes with Ginsberg dreaming of Solomon emerging free and tearful from the ocean; the two friends reunite on a quiet shoreline.

Also known as “Footnote to Howl,” Part 4 employs anaphora once again. Ginsberg emphatically declares that everyday things such as locomotives and eyeballs are holy, as are his friends. He calls sex and sexual organs holy, affirming that human beings—even those who suffer under Moloch’s control—are also inherently holy.