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Alyssa Herman

Dr. Cole

English 306

24 April 2017

Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems: A New Form of Protest Art

When considering Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems, I have found that it is

impossible to separate his poetry from its cultural moment. What I mean by this is that Ginsberg

captures a very specific historical moment, and it is important to place his poetry in its historical

context. First, Ginsberg is a war poet, and his poetry is shaped by war. He not only responds to the

post-World War II atmosphere but also to The Cold War and McCarthyism. In this way, Ginsberg

uses his poetry to criticize 1950s America. On the other hand, it is important to consider how

Ginsberg himself was a minority who lived on the fringes of society. His religion, politics,

sexuality, and national heritage were all condemned by 1950s American society. Ginsberg was a

Buddhist, a socialist, a homosexual, and a Russian Jew, which placed him in a unique position as an

“other” to the “traditional” American. Ginsberg’s outsider status allowed him to use his poetry to

portray the situation facing minorities in 20th-century society. By closely analyzing Ginsberg’s

“Howl” (1955-6), “America” (1956), and “A Supermarket in California” (1955), I will argue that

Ginsberg’s poetics and prosody add to his criticism of 1950s America and his portrayal of what

minority groups faced in the 20th century.

At first glance, Ginsberg’s “Howl” appears chaotic and disorganized. However, “Howl”

does have a coherent structure. The poem is split into three parts and a footnote, which all pose a

question and then answer it. Part 1 asks “Who are we?” (The Beat Generation), Part 2 asks “What

destroyed us?” (Moloch), Part 3 asks “How do we resist?” (Carl Solomon), and finally, the footnote

asks “What happens if we resist?” (Holiness). This seemingly chaotic structure relates to one of
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Ginsberg’s main themes: chaos versus order. Ginsberg is questioning the structure of 1950s

America and its government. Throughout “Howl,” Ginsberg praises chaos and those who challenge

order. He honors the people “who were expelled from academies,” “who chained themselves to

subways,” “who bit detectives in the neck,” and those “who threw potato salad at CCNY lecturers”

(9, 10, 13, 18). All of these people, who would be considered mad by society, are the ones that

Ginsberg recognizes because they are individuals who challenge order and authority.

Ginsberg writes “Howl” in long verse paragraphs, or strophes, with unconventional comma

usage in order to control breathing. He uses anaphora throughout “Howl,” so most of the strophes

begin with a repeated word. In Part 1, the repeated word is “who,” in Part 2, it is “Moloch,” in Part

3, it is “I’m with you in Rockland,” and in the footnote, it is “Holy.” The long-lined strophes with

the repeated use of anaphora create a sense of urgency in the reader. It is as though Ginsberg is an

Old Testament prophet who has an urgent message of warning for the people of 1950s America.

This sense of urgency is also created from Ginsberg’s catalogue or litany of individuals and

events. Similar to Walt Whitman in “Song of Myself,” Ginsberg makes a list of individuals who

comprise the minority in America. These are the people who are beaten down by society and who

need to rise up and come together if they want to survive. Here, it is interesting to note the number

of autobiographical elements in “Howl.” Many of the people and events in Ginsberg’s litany are

part of Ginsberg’s personal life. For example, when Ginsberg writes, “who were expelled from

academies for crazy & publishing obscene odes on the windows,” he is referring to himself (9).

Ginsberg was expelled from Columbia because he wrote obscenities on his dorm room window.

However, because Ginsberg avoids using names, these personal, autobiographical statements take

on a more universal meaning. While much of “Howl” literally refers to Ginsberg himself and his

friends, it metaphorically represents all minorities and outsiders in the 20th century.
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Finally, it is important to note Ginsberg’s dark and obscene humor in “Howl.” The poem is

packed with obscene images, so much so that there was an obscenity trial. There are multiple

references to illegal drugs and homosexual sex, which were taboo topics in the 1950s. However, on

the back cover of Howl and Other Poems, Lawrence Ferlinghetti writes that “Howl” was not

obscene because “it had redeeming social significance.” The obscenity in “Howl” is necessary

because Ginsberg is making a point. Ginsberg and the outsiders who do not conform to social

conventions are not the ones who are obscene; 1950s American society is obscene for attempting to

control and crush the individual.

Like “Howl,” Ginsberg’s “America” is written in free verse. However, “America” is much

different in the sense that the lines are shorter, and almost every line is end-stopped. Instead of the

long lines with few breaths, “America” features mostly short, choppy lines that resemble stream of

consciousness writing. In other words, the lines do not necessarily have a logical connection or

flow, they simply resemble the spontaneity of the mind. The choppy lines also resemble a rant or an

argument because when someone is angry they are not necessarily thinking logically. This relates to

the meaning of the poem because Ginsberg is having an argument with America. He begins the

poem by saying, “America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing” (39). Ginsberg later says, “I’m

sick of your insane demands,” and “There must be some other way to settle this argument” (39). It

seems as though Ginsberg is breaking up with America, and this is their last argument. Again,

Ginsberg uses anaphora, but it has a different effect in “America.” Ginsberg repeats the words

“America” and “I” at the beginning of several lines and goes back and forth between the two. By

using anaphora in this way, Ginsberg mirrors what an actual argument looks like: two people going

back and forth screaming at each other. However, when Ginsberg says “America,” he is actually

doing three things: he is personifying the country, he is using apostrophe by directly addressing the
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country, and he is using anaphora by repeating it at the beginning of multiple lines. Therefore,

Ginsberg uses one word in multiple ways.

While Ginsberg makes autobiographical allusions in “Howl,” he makes historical and

cultural allusions in “America.” Ginsberg writes in the beginning of the poem, “America why are

your libraries full of tears?” (39). He then goes on to mention “the Scottsboro boys” and writes,

“Him make Indians learn read. Him need big black niggers. Hah. Her make us all work sixteen

hours a day. Help. America this is quite serious” (42-43). Here, Ginsberg is attempting to demystify

America’s past by reminding us of its racism, unfair trials, lynchings, Native American boarding

schools, slavery, and child labor. These cultural allusions add to Ginsberg’s criticism of 1950s

America because people were willfully blinding themselves to America’s past in favor of a

romanticized version of America.

Finally, “A Supermarket in California,” is again written in free verse and returns to the long,

breathless lines. Yet, this poem is different than the other two because it uses more punctuation and

the dramatic situation is much clearer. While “Howl” and “America” talk about more abstract

concepts, “A Supermarket in California” is more direct. In this poem, Ginsberg directly addresses

Walt Whitman through apostrophe and imagines seeing Whitman wandering through a

supermarket. Ginsberg looks to Whitman as a father figure in his poetry and in life, and he relates to

Whitman in the sense that they were both gay men living in America during times when this was

not socially accepted. Ginsberg writes, “I saw you Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber,

poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys” (29). Ginsberg later

imagines Whitman asking, “Are you my Angel?” (29). Here, Ginsberg portrays Whitman as a gay,

lonely, old man who does not have love or kids and is looking for salvation or some kind of

connection. Ginsberg understands Whitman’s solitary lifestyle as an outsider and suggests that they

are together in their solitariness. This connects to Ginsberg’s larger theme of portraying the
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struggles of minorities in general. Ginsberg recognizes the solitary and excluded life that minorities

live and attempts to unite them through their loneliness and seclusion.

At the end of “A Supermarket in California,” Ginsberg writes, “Ah, dear father, graybeard,

lonely old courage-teacher, what America did you have…?” (30). Ginsberg compares Whitman’s

America one hundred years earlier to 1950s America and does not see that much of a difference.

Nothing has changed in the sense that he and Whitman, as gay men, are still outcasts. In this way,

Ginsberg again criticizes 1950s American society for not progressing or changing after one hundred

years. Ginsberg is disappointed in “the lost America of love” for still shaming and secluding anyone

who breaks social conventions (30).

In conclusion, Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems is a critique of 1950s America and a

portrait of life as a minority. This is not only evident in the poems’ meanings but also in their

poetics and prosody. Ginsberg is an example of a poet who effectively uses free verse with varying

line lengths, anaphora, apostrophe, unconventional punctuation, and detailed allusions. He explores

the different effects that these poetic and prosodic elements can have on a reader and uses these

effects to create layers of figurative meaning that add to his overall themes. Altogether, Ginsberg

pushed the boundaries of conventional poetry to create a new form of protest art.

Works Cited

Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. City Lights Books, 1956.