Entry Six: Counterculture - Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl'

Howl by Allen Ginsburg is a poem published in 1956 about counterculture in 1950s America. The poem itself is split into three sections. There are themes of sexual liberation, experimentation with psychedelic drugs and anti-capitalism.

The poem is one of the most well-known poems to be associated with the writers of the ‘Beat Generation’ who explored these themes amongst others and greatly influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era throughout the 1950s.
Another contributor to great ‘Beat Generation’ literature is William S. Burroughs with his novel ‘Naked Lunch’ (1959). He is one of the authors mentioned in the footnote to Howl ‘holy Burroughs’ and both works ‘Naked Lunch’ and ‘Howl’ caused a lot of controversy at the time and were the centre of obscenity trials in America but the judge decided the poem was of ‘redeeming social importance’.

I.

The first section starts with,

‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness’

This section describes the experiences of the outcasts of society who don’t want to conform to the controlled and oppressive post-war (WWII) America. 

Ginsberg represents their experiences in graphic detail in what seems like an archaic mess of writing; in 'Notes Written on Finally Recording Howl' (1959), he describes how he let his innermost thoughts, feelings and experiences flow out in just one mad sitting;
"I thought I wouldn't write a poem, but just write what I wanted to without fear, let my imagination go, open secrecy, and scribble magic lines from my real mind--sum up my life--something I wouldn't be able to show anybody, write for my own soul's ear and a few other golden ears. So the first line of Howl, "I saw the best minds etc.," the whole first section, typed out madly in one afternoon".


I think in writing the poem this way, as if it was really for his eyes only, in sort of a therapeutic outburst, we really see the reality of his experiences.
This first section is by far the longest and we go through it with a good rhythm;

"I depended on the word "who" to keep the beat, a base to keep measure, return to and take off from again onto another streak of invention" (Notes Written on Finally Recording Howl).

II.

The second section talks about the figure 'Moloch'.

'Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men!'

This can be interpreted as an evil demonic figure, or money or the establishment itself. It seems to be a cry out against conformism and capitalism.

III.

The last section talks of Carl Solomun in Rockland, (a psychiatric hospital) where he describes his solidarity with him.


Ginsberg gives a stark, personal and real voice to his experiences in the 1950s. It is a strong and evocative piece of writing which gives us a true insight into social experiences in post-World War II America.