Annotating Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”

“who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz,
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated,”
In this poem, the poet incorporates motifs from other religions. Again, rather of identifying a specific faith to his pals, he speaks about religion and spirituality in general. Another fascinating contrast is that Christianity came to these “mad” friends in poverty settings in a bad section of town.
“What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination?

In the second part of the poem, the author begins his writing with a question.
Starting a piece with a question seems to be a good way to draw readers’ attention and to make it easier for readers to understand by asking questions related to the central idea of the piece. In part 2, it talks about how friends are going crazy, and it seems to start by asking a question like this as a metaphor for it.

 

“Carl Solomon! I’m with you in Rockland

where you’re madder than I am

I’m with you in Rockland

where you must feel very strange”

Unlike the previous two parts, the third section applied a rhythmic repetition method. Repetition is generally known to be used when the speaker wants to emphasize. I think maybe he used this repetition because he wanted to emphasize to Solomon that he was in a mental hospital.

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