"Howl and Other Poems" by Ginsberg is exactly what I thought 215 would be like. I love abstract writing because everyone has their own perspective as to what everything means.
Part I of Howl has got to be one of the most confusing, yet interesting things I have ever read. It starts by saying that "the best minds of [his] generation [were] destroyed" (pg. 9) and then continues to describe the people and exactly what they did to destroy their lives. The sentence structure for the majority of the poem is "who" referring to the best minds of the generation, followed by, for the most part, a negative connotated verb. The rest of the sentence goes on to describe some destination and some random act of acting out. Before I go on to explain some of the diction I noticed in my favorite parts of the poem, I want to talk about the title. Although everyone knows what howl means, I thought I'd look it up for accuracy. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word howl is defined as "a cry or wail, as of pain, rage, or protest". I believe these "best minds" were crying out in order for someone to hear their pain they were facing or maybe even just for attention.
Ginsberg's diction or word choice is quite hysterical. From his sexual references, both hetero and homosexual, to childhood words like "yacketayakking" (pg. 11), I believe he kept the reader's attention in a unique way. Also, he mentioned a huge amount of cities, and I was waiting for a South Carolina city to pop up, to my dissatisfaction one did not arrive. But I loved seeing the "best minds" travel, especially when they "disappeared into the volcanoes of Mexico" and then in then in the next paragraph they "reappeared on the West Coast" (pg. 12). Also on page twelve, they "lit cigarettes in boxcars boxcars boxcars". I loved this repetition. Not sure if this is right, but I think it was to create the illusion of a boxcar train that is connecteed. I don't know, my thought process may be too deep right there. Anyway, also on that page, he mentions that the people are hungry and lonesome and then mentions three things to fix two problems: "seeking jazz or sex or soup". I figured the hunger would be fed by the soup and the loneliness by sex, but the jazz reference?? I guess it is like an addiction like in Sonny's Blues. The next page is filled with sexual and biblical references, which I don't think should be mentioned on the same page, at least not in the way he portrayed it.
Part I also had alot of lines that were associated with vegetarianism versus carnivorism which I thought was quite strange. Lines like "dreaming of the pur vegetable kingdom" and "pluged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg" (pg. 16) had me perplexed. That's all I wanted to say about that.
My two favorite parts of this poem are the "successively unsuccessfully" (pg. 16) cutting of wrists. I'm not suicidal or anything, but I thought it was perfectly worded. And the other part is on the next page when the author mentions that they "journeyed to Denver, who died in Denver, who came back to Denver & waited in vain, who watched over Denver & booded & loned in Denver and finally went awy to find out the Time". Time is always capitalized wherever it appears in this work. I think it must be very important to those "best minds".
There is a huge tone shift on page 18 when the sentence structure changes. On the next page, six asteriks appear, and I am clueless as to what word, if any, goes there.
Part II was so strange! I looked up the word "moloch" because it is mentioned twenty-one times on the first page. It means "anything that has the power to extract extreme sacrifice" and it is also another biblical reference. Unlike the first part of the poem that was a continuation of one thought full of commas, this part, on the other hand is comprised of full thoughts punctuated with an exclamation part. I cannot say that I completely understand this part as much as the first one, but I know it is filled with much more emotion.
Part III is my favorite and has inspired me to write a poem in this format which I will share at the end of this post. I think this part is just about understanding someone that has the same personality as yourself and feeling that person's pain of being far away ("I'm with you in Rockland") and of having to be locked up somewhere: "where you scream in a straightjacket" (pg. 25). This idea of straightjackets, shocks, and pingpong tables brings to mind "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Kesey. I enjoyed this part.
"A Supermarket in California" is on the same level as part III in "Howl". I feel that he relates to Whitman on a literary level, but who knows because he is also in his imagination being followed by the store detective. Anywho, I think Whitman is maybe a role model for him, because he asks him questions like: "Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?" (pg. 30). But, I find it weird when he says "poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys" (pg 29). If that was his role model, would he still make fun of him in such a homophobic way? But, I love the juxtaposition of "blue automobiles in driveways" to the "silent cottage" (pg 30). I think this simply means it becomes hard to have an imagination with such distractions of city life. This is well put.
Now, for my version of Part III with the exact opposite meaning of not wanting to be where that person is:
Lost in Birmingham
I'm not with you in Birmingham, the city that gave you life
I'm not with you in Birmingham, where you left to come find me
I'm not with you in Birmingham, where you want me to meet your mother who dislikes me
I'm not with you in Birmingham, where your ugly roots made you the person you are today
I'm not with you in Birmingham, where you committed that crime.
I'm not with you in Greenville, where you found me.
I'm not with you in Colorado, where you lost me.
I'm not with you in Florida, where I became a memory.
I'm not with you in Greenville, where you found me, again.
I'm not with you wherever you are now, and that, only you know why.
Can you find me? Or are you still lost in Birmingham?
Part I of Howl has got to be one of the most confusing, yet interesting things I have ever read. It starts by saying that "the best minds of [his] generation [were] destroyed" (pg. 9) and then continues to describe the people and exactly what they did to destroy their lives. The sentence structure for the majority of the poem is "who" referring to the best minds of the generation, followed by, for the most part, a negative connotated verb. The rest of the sentence goes on to describe some destination and some random act of acting out. Before I go on to explain some of the diction I noticed in my favorite parts of the poem, I want to talk about the title. Although everyone knows what howl means, I thought I'd look it up for accuracy. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word howl is defined as "a cry or wail, as of pain, rage, or protest". I believe these "best minds" were crying out in order for someone to hear their pain they were facing or maybe even just for attention.
Ginsberg's diction or word choice is quite hysterical. From his sexual references, both hetero and homosexual, to childhood words like "yacketayakking" (pg. 11), I believe he kept the reader's attention in a unique way. Also, he mentioned a huge amount of cities, and I was waiting for a South Carolina city to pop up, to my dissatisfaction one did not arrive. But I loved seeing the "best minds" travel, especially when they "disappeared into the volcanoes of Mexico" and then in then in the next paragraph they "reappeared on the West Coast" (pg. 12). Also on page twelve, they "lit cigarettes in boxcars boxcars boxcars". I loved this repetition. Not sure if this is right, but I think it was to create the illusion of a boxcar train that is connecteed. I don't know, my thought process may be too deep right there. Anyway, also on that page, he mentions that the people are hungry and lonesome and then mentions three things to fix two problems: "seeking jazz or sex or soup". I figured the hunger would be fed by the soup and the loneliness by sex, but the jazz reference?? I guess it is like an addiction like in Sonny's Blues. The next page is filled with sexual and biblical references, which I don't think should be mentioned on the same page, at least not in the way he portrayed it.
Part I also had alot of lines that were associated with vegetarianism versus carnivorism which I thought was quite strange. Lines like "dreaming of the pur vegetable kingdom" and "pluged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg" (pg. 16) had me perplexed. That's all I wanted to say about that.
My two favorite parts of this poem are the "successively unsuccessfully" (pg. 16) cutting of wrists. I'm not suicidal or anything, but I thought it was perfectly worded. And the other part is on the next page when the author mentions that they "journeyed to Denver, who died in Denver, who came back to Denver & waited in vain, who watched over Denver & booded & loned in Denver and finally went awy to find out the Time". Time is always capitalized wherever it appears in this work. I think it must be very important to those "best minds".
There is a huge tone shift on page 18 when the sentence structure changes. On the next page, six asteriks appear, and I am clueless as to what word, if any, goes there.
Part II was so strange! I looked up the word "moloch" because it is mentioned twenty-one times on the first page. It means "anything that has the power to extract extreme sacrifice" and it is also another biblical reference. Unlike the first part of the poem that was a continuation of one thought full of commas, this part, on the other hand is comprised of full thoughts punctuated with an exclamation part. I cannot say that I completely understand this part as much as the first one, but I know it is filled with much more emotion.
Part III is my favorite and has inspired me to write a poem in this format which I will share at the end of this post. I think this part is just about understanding someone that has the same personality as yourself and feeling that person's pain of being far away ("I'm with you in Rockland") and of having to be locked up somewhere: "where you scream in a straightjacket" (pg. 25). This idea of straightjackets, shocks, and pingpong tables brings to mind "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Kesey. I enjoyed this part.
"A Supermarket in California" is on the same level as part III in "Howl". I feel that he relates to Whitman on a literary level, but who knows because he is also in his imagination being followed by the store detective. Anywho, I think Whitman is maybe a role model for him, because he asks him questions like: "Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?" (pg. 30). But, I find it weird when he says "poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys" (pg 29). If that was his role model, would he still make fun of him in such a homophobic way? But, I love the juxtaposition of "blue automobiles in driveways" to the "silent cottage" (pg 30). I think this simply means it becomes hard to have an imagination with such distractions of city life. This is well put.
Now, for my version of Part III with the exact opposite meaning of not wanting to be where that person is:
Lost in Birmingham
I'm not with you in Birmingham, the city that gave you life
I'm not with you in Birmingham, where you left to come find me
I'm not with you in Birmingham, where you want me to meet your mother who dislikes me
I'm not with you in Birmingham, where your ugly roots made you the person you are today
I'm not with you in Birmingham, where you committed that crime.
I'm not with you in Greenville, where you found me.
I'm not with you in Colorado, where you lost me.
I'm not with you in Florida, where I became a memory.
I'm not with you in Greenville, where you found me, again.
I'm not with you wherever you are now, and that, only you know why.
Can you find me? Or are you still lost in Birmingham?
-brenda adimora.
My favorite picture of the Birmingham, Alabama skyline. Courtesy of http://www.southernbyways.com/2007/05/more-things-to-see-in-birmingham-alabama/
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