Thursday, April 15, 2010
Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Howl is a poem written by Allen Ginsberg. I found this poem very unique and very different from all the other poems I read so far. For one things the length is three times as long than the others, but I feel this poem has specfic message that it was sharing on how not to be or do things. I believe the author, Ginsberg feelings is talking about the drug use that occur in the late 1970. Howl appears to be a sprawling, disorganized poem. But it's not. It has of three sections that consist with prolonged "riff" on a single subject. I think the author wrote this poem as eye witness of these events. Everything that he discuss in his poem describe our society and how is. These are people "who did this, who did that," etc. We quickly learn in the poem that these "best minds" were not doctors, lawyers, and scientists. They were not people whom most middle-class folks in the 1950s would have identified with the best America had to offer. The central question of this poem is "Where?" The poem ends with the image for us as reader to keep dreaming,where would they will reunite.
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I got the same vibe from this poem. It's a way of showing the sexual repression of the 40s and 50s and it definitely wasn't the norm. He expressed drugs, sexualities and then homosexuals weren't accepted, so he writes about it.
ReplyDeleteNot quite sure what you mean by "where," but you're certainly right about the performative, "riffing" style and the speaker as bearing witness to the darker side of 1950s American culture; the poem is really not concerned about "drug use," per se--this is merely a symptom of larger needs/issues--such as? see my comments on Andrea's blog, as well
ReplyDeleteAs Andrea notes, a lot of the imagery, as well as the poem's long lines and chaning rhythms, are a breaking through/speaking out of these repressed voices
@ 1129, oh yeah your point you hit the nose. The author did try to hit that point directly.
ReplyDeleteok professor i understand. When i say "where". I refer to as where did all these things that wasnt legal gone, such as expressing drugs, sexualities and then homosexuals weren't accepted. Now in today world everything is been expressed freely with no problem even though it may be wrong. Where is the world coming too.
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