Ginsberg Howl

Reflection
The poem Howl, written by Allen Ginsberg, was first published in the mid-twentieth century, a phenomenal event at the time. What distinguishes it from other works at the time is its form and thought behind.
Howl has three sections and 112 lines that are lengthy and hard to find a break. Reading the first line, "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves…," the reader will feel breathless and painful to continue, and it is meant to be so. Not only the first sentence but any other sentences in the poem are all of such length which leaves the reader both physically and emotionally drained. The exhausted sensation coincides with the idea of the poem. The best-minded people
They are literally set apart from the modernity because they oppose to the industrialization value and natural order. The “machinery of night” and “starry dynamo” represented the two things respectively. Ginsberg believes that there is something in the dark that left the citizens of America nothing but the corrupted modern value. The “starry dynamo” represents the divine world where only the “best minds” could understand and live.
This line contributes to the poem as it pointed out the naturalized process of industrialization which corrupted the generation, stuffed their minds with worldly value. The best-minded people, however, never conform to such scheme, therefore becoming mad.
Boasting is an essential component in other’s evaluation of an individual’s flair and reputation. Beowulf presents a powerful boast that helps him raise his honor, and the level expectations.
In the excerpt, he says,
“They have seen my strength for
It meant to be absurd because the dreams usually do not make sense but still delicately connect to reality, to one’s daily thought. Just like sleeping, the breath is smooth, but with a little excitement from the dream. I used three different things: drinking a rotten milk, chasing by a dog, and wake up by a clock. These events meant to express ideas that life is not always the way we conceived, and sometimes the unfortunate things happened again and again, we have to faced it all. However, nothing could be worse than these nasty dreams. In the class, when I spoke out loud of my poem, the tone and meaning seemed totally changed. There is a gap between the idea in the mind and vocal meaning. Consequently, in the revision process, I speak it out loud, and found that the gist of the poem was vague and weak. I regroup the three different events and add an conclusion stanza to it. Listening to other classmates’ poems, I kept in mind the importance of rhythm and detail-describing which enables readers to feel the same feeling as the writer does. Therefore, I added many sensational, texture depictions to my poem to evoke the emotional stress as being chased by dogs, and swallowing the bad