Week 2

Howl  : Ginsberg’s Moonlight Howl

Howl is a play where Allen Ginsberg poetically illustrates many scenes related to society, human imagination, and his own experiences while dedicating it to fellow artist Carl Solomon.  It was written while both artists were at a psychiatric hospital where Allen Ginsberg met Carl Solomon for the first time.  The poem is similar to a serenade where Ginsberg depicts imagery while expressing high emotion that could be compared to the ecstasy inducing effects of taking drugs; there are even references to drugs within the poem.  I interpreted Howl to be exclamatory throughout all three parts of the poem despite the lack of end punctuation and its lack of traditional grammar usage. The poem illustrates its own title, Howl, by having a style that symbolizes a wild animal, such as a wolf, that howls loudly and can be heard at a great distance.   The nontraditional style makes it difficult to understand some of the messages within the poem, but the energy and emotion of the poem are very clearly expressed.  

Part One

The first part of the poem is an epic poem illustrating many different images from the author’s perspective.  It is filled with imagery related to drugs, sex, events within cities, people, scenery and various events.  Each stanza or segmented section contains its own description that contributes to a large tapestry that is woven throughout the poem.  There are many controversial references to violence and sexuality that define the author’s lifestyles and the atmosphere of the poem; these references also are heavily related to stories relate to beat culture and hippie culture.  

Part Two                                       

Part two of Howl is on the subject of society.  It could be interpreted as a verbal howl or rant on society by using the symbol of the Moloch.  A Moloch is a machine that represents industrialized society that is depicted as a giant monster that consumes.  Starting on line 1 of part two, Ginsberg starts to describe imagery of violence of people living within society.  On line 4, the Moloch was introduced with many explanatory sentences.  On line 12, the Moloch is described as a prison implying that it is something bad.  The Moloch is encompassing aspects of industrialized society as if it’s a demon that judges people and causes sorrow.  The rest of this part of the poem is about describing the physical parts of the Moloch; the parts are composed of various different parts of society.  Ginsberg indicates that he himself has left the Moloch on line 12 of page 22 and continues to describe other parts of the Moloch as society.  There is then transition to religion and freedom as the Moloch is lifted into heaven.  

Part Three

Part Three is about Ginseng addressing Carl Solomon directly.  He uses the phrase “I’m with you in Rockland” on line 1 of part 3 and reused the phrase throughout this part of the poem.  Ginseng and Solomon are friends and college poets and this part is how the two poets relate to one another and how they co-exist in the same world.  He also themes the poem based on the health institution in which they met.

There is a final part to the poem, that is representing a religious cleansing to much of the chaos of the earlier part of the poem while celebrating the freedom and intelligence of the human soul.