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Analysis of the poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Analysis of the poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Analysis of the poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg
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Spirituality in Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" is a complex and intriguing poem about the divine in the common world. The minor themes of drugs and sexuality work together to illuminate the major theme of spirituality. The poem reveals through a multitude of sharp images and phrases that everything from drug use to homosexuality to mental illness is holy, even in a world of atom bombs and materialistic America, which Ginsberg considers not to be holy and he refers to as Moloch. As it is stated in Ginsberg's "Footnote To Howl," "The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy! The nose is/ holy! The tongue and cock and hand and *censored* holy! / Everything is Holy! Everybody's holy! Everywhere is holy!" (3-5).
Sexuality is a theme that runs throughout the entire poem. It is not an uptight sexuality of the 1950's culture but a liberated one. And this sexual imagery, that mostly takes place in the first part of the poem, constantly refers to spirituality and the divine. The poem reads, "who let themselves be *censored*ed in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and/ screamed with joy, / who blew and were blown by those human seraphim, the sailors," (91-93). These two images contrast the common view of homosexuality in the 1950's. The sailors are "seraphim", and the motorcyclists are "saintly". They are not corrupt as the common view might see it. The combination of these images helps to uncover the true theme of the piece. The things that most people of the time would consider to be depraved, such as homosexuality, are actually divine.
Images of drug-use are other tools that are used in this poem to help illuminate the major theme. Once again, even though the drug -users " …ate fire in paint...
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... machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb! Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks! Moloch whose poverty is the specter of genius! Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen! Moloch whose name is the mind! (262-73) Even with all this negativity in the poem, the major theme of spirituality remains.
The poem "Footnote To Howl" sums up the theme of spirituality in "Howl". It reads, "The bum's as holy as the seraphim! the madman is as holy as you my/ soul are holy!" (7-8). Spirituality and the divine run through "Howl" like veins. They carry the theme throughout the piece and deliver it to the reader.
Works Cited
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and other Poems City Lights Books San Francisco 1956
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also a reference to the howling of demons. It was written in seven volumes, and
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Ferguson, Margaret W., Salter, Mary J., and Stallworthy, Jon. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. fifth ed. N.p.: W.W. Norton, 2005. 2120-2121. 2 Print.
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Despite Dylan Thomas’ often obscure images, he expresses a clear message of religious devotion in many of his poems. He creates images that reflect God’s connection with the earth and body. In “And death shall have no dominion,'; Thomas portrays the redemption of the soul in death, and the soul’s liberation into harmony with nature and God. Thomas best depicts his beliefs, though abstract and complicated, to the reader with the use of analogies and images of God’s presence in nature. Appreciating the virtue of humility in “Shall gods be said to thump the clouds,'; Thomas associates God with thunder, rainbows, and night only to remind us that He is even more present in a simple stone as He is in other great entities. In “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower,'; Thomas again makes the connection of body and earth, implying that there is only one holy force that has created all motion and life on this planet. This force, because it is so pure and boundless, is present in the shadows and poverty of our world, as depicted in “Light breaks where no sun shines.'; God’s sacred presence in the body and earth is the ultimate theme within these chosen poems.
"Much Madness Is Divinest Sense." Poetry for Students. Ed. David M. Galens. Vol. 16. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 84-100. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.