Comparing Ginsberg And Walt Whitman

Whitman’s speaker speaks in the voice of first person. Comparing Ginsberg with Whitman, he is possessed by Whitman who uses the personal pronoun ‘I’ more often, culminating in the hug between the body and soul, town and country, sexuality and spirituality, and science and mysticism – all-pervasive but Whitman’s ‘I’ is not completely identified in the absence of ‘you,’ who is not real; it is the imaginative audience of Whitman, which differentiates the poetry of Whitman, as he says, “You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,’ you shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself,” (Whitman 26). The self of Whitman is all-encompassing; it absorbs all activities rural or urban. There is a unity in all diverse ‘items’ of the self and in the self. Ginsberg uses the same device in “Howl” to pay his

In the poem Howl part one, Allen Ginsberg travels all over the world and describes his life and the “ best minds of his generation” (1) the beat poets. Ginsberg expresses his tone with emptiness, darkness, and depression. Part two; the word Moloch represents war, governments, psychiatric hospital, universities and any other social authorities. Ginsberg conveys that Moloch is responsible for war and sorrows; this ties to the first part of Ginsberg poem. In part three; “I’m with you in Rockland”, where Rockland represents the mental hospital. With the calmer tone, he addresses his friend from “Rockland” Carl Solomon. He conveys how Solomon suffers from delusions, and compares Solomon with his mother. “I’m with you in Rockland

Therefore, Ginsberg’s Howl convinces readers that the themes of suffering and isolation expose the corrupt values of American society. Howl focuses on the detrimental culture of mankind that the poet endured

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

Allen Ginsberg's Howl portrays many different metaphors, images, and analogy's to explain his perception of the 1950s. Howl is divided into three segments all having a different tone, style, and significance. The first segment introduces his belief on his generation, the second explains why his generation remained dreadful and the third is a series of personal metaphors with an assumed friend of his. The three segments can easily remind one of the transcendentalism movement, which is based on individualism and nonconformity.

Although often associated with two completely different eras in American history, both Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman share a great deal in common as two of America’s most famous poets. When it comes to the craft of poetry, both men grew to become extremely influencing figures both within the field and within American society. For example, as mentioned in his biography by Ed Folsom and Kenneth Price, Whitman has had such an influence on others that, “Poetic responses to Whitman sometimes fall into his cadences and in other ways mimic his style” (Folsom and Price). Additionally, Whitman has also influenced, “fiction, film, architecture, music, painting, dance, and other arts” (Folsom and Price) and is known world-wide. Likewise, Ginsberg influenced poetry, for “the Beats”, “encouraged a break from traditional values, supporting drug-use as a means of enlightenment”

Ginsberg describes Beatniks who ate, wept, coughed, plunged, cut, balled, hiccupped, howled, broke, burned, cowered, and sank, yacketyyakking, screaming, vomiting, whispering. These endless verbs range from ecstatic to violent and give the poem an almost frantic tone that reflects the lives of the oppressed. Ginsberg even titles his poem “howl,” a cry of emotion and sorrow. To howl is to wail in self-pity, to be helpless and alone. Hearing a howl is both frightening and piercingly sad. A howl is a perfect representation of the collective cry of the Beats; a people trapped like helpless animals with nothing to do but howl in despair.

When Whitman says, “The youngster and the red-faced girl turn aside up the bushy hill; I peeringly view them from the top. The suicide sprawls on the bloody floor of the bed-room; I witness the corpse with its dabbled hair—I note where the pistol has fallen” (lines 150-153), Ginsberg replies with, “who created great suicidal dramas on the apartment cliff-banks of the Hudson under the wartime blue floodlight of the moon & their heads shall be crowned with laurel in oblivion” (line 46). These two quotes stand out and seem that they are replying to one other. In lines 150-168 in “Song of Myself”, he discussed that he has been through many experience in one, which is horrifying as children committing suicide. Ginsberg replies to this as if they have committed suicide they should be honored and given the status of a hero for such bravery. Ginsberg way of discussing suicide is more intense than Whitman’s. Ginsberg definition of suicide is the resort of pain and suffering and that leads to being honored because it takes a lot of will to go through the agony. Whitman see’s the suffering but ignores it because it’s a part of how the world is and he cannot be judgmental of whom ever is suicidal because he accepts that the world consists of life and

Whitman and Ginsberg share the same points of view that can be seen through not only the words in their poetry, but through how they share similar poetic techniques. In part 1 of “Howl”, Ginsberg repeats the word “who” to begin many of the lines. This gives readers the impression that every strophe in “Howl” is separated with the word “who”. In “Song of Myself”, Whitman often used such devices of repeated identification, here he writes, “It cannot fall the young man who died and was buried, Nor the young woman who died and

The first part of this poem deals with various situations why the greatest minds of Ginsberg's generation “....went mad, starving hysterically naked.” (3) Ranging from situations dealing with college officials, the government and law enforcement, all representations of the capitalistic government in which Ginsberg has such a problem with. Examples range from getting kicked out of school, drinking turpentine, experimenting with drugs, and getting caught trying to smuggle drugs, specifically

Howling at Universities: An Analysis of the Intellectual Institutions In 1956, Allen Ginsberg wrote a poem entitled Howl that was dedicated to his dear friend Carl Solomon. Using imagery and symbolism, this three part poem is a long cry of anger towards the institutions in America. These institutions include universities, the government, large business corporations, and society. His experience in college is where Ginsberg formed his strongest opinion on the institution and became the person, writer, and activist acknowledged within society.

One of the main themes in part one is madness. The first line of the poem blatantly states, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.” He is referring ‘the best minds’ to his friends; his fellow beat poets ‘destroyed by madness.’ Part one does not only refer to his friends, but also applies to many other people such as drug users, drop outs, and homeless bums (“Allen Ginsberg’s Poetry”).

HOWL Analysis “Howl” is a poem written by Allen Ginsberg. At first glance, the poem appears to be a disorganized mess of words, moving from one sentence to the other almost like an enormous run-on sentence. Listening to Ginsberg read, he has an almost monotone voice, jumping from sentence to sentence in a way that mesmerizes the listener. This tone along with his choice of words sets the mood of the poem.

Ginsberg’s work often represents a struggle for spiritual survival in a dehumanized, repressive society. This can be seen in his writing of “Howl”:

The poem as a whole is written in a way that strays from the norm. The lack of commas in certain lines gives off a tone of hysteria because the lack of a pause in between details. For example the line, “…destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked...” (Ginsberg, 1) The words “starving hysterical naked” would be said in a fast pace that would make the tone seem non-stop or hyper. Ginsberg also decides to save the period for the very last line, which would indicate that part one, is an extensive sentence. By doing so it also gives off a hysterical tone because he does not stop but simply takes short pauses in between each line. It gives off the impression that Ginsberg is so passionate in what he is talking about that he does not need to stop until he has said his whole piece. Part one also uses obscene language, which includes words such as “sex,” “f**king,” “semen,” and “a*s” which further indicates the bluntness of the situation. Ginsberg uses a symbolic language