“Howl” - A Poem by Alan Ginsberg (1956)

My Favorite reading Of “Howl” 

I first read “Howl” by Alan Ginsberg (1926 to 1997) in I guess 1967. About once every decade since then I would be drawn to reread the poem.  I wish I had a fifty year old book blog so I could see what I thought of it then.  Shortly after publication in 1956 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Light Books in San Francisco it was declared obscene by US Customs officials and local police.  On October 3, 1957 it was declared by the courts not to be obscene.  The poem contains extensive graphic images of homoerotic activity, in 1957 this was illegal throughout the USA.  The poem celebrates the sex of the days before aids took the fun out of sexual cruising, blowing sailors is celebrated  as a near holy act.

The poem is an intense assault on the structures of society.  Partially I can see it as a descendent of two poems I recently posted upon “Darkness” by Lord Byron and “The Wasteland” by T. S. Eliot.  In “Howl” the darkness sets us of on a polymorphism of sex.  The wasteland where disposed aristocrats wax nostalgic over the glories of the best is replaced with a vision where the only glories are in glory holes.  In “Howl” there is no crying over the fate of society, only a fight against the slave masters.

I recommend strongly the YouTube video I link to above, read by a woman with a perfect voice for it, your experience will be enhanced by the images.

“Howl” after fifty years still has the power to shock, I see as something that would still offend many, and those offended need to be.

Wikipedia has a good back ground article on Ginsberg.

I love “Howl”.  It is for sure influenced heavily by Whitman, Ginsberg’s poetic icon.  

Please share your thoughts on “Howl” with us.

Mel u