Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Howl

"Howl" is a long, free-verse poem composed by American poet Allen Ginsberg in 1955 and first published in 1956 as the opening work in the collection Howl and Other Poems, issued by City Lights Books in San Francisco.^[1]^[2] The poem's three parts chronicle the destruction of Ginsberg's generation by madness and conformity, invoking biblical and visionary imagery to decry the soul-crushing forces of postwar American capitalism, symbolized as "Moloch," while celebrating the ecstatic visions and nonconformist lives of figures like junkies, madmen, and homosexuals.^[3]^[4] Its public debut reading on October 7, 1955, at the Six Gallery in San Francisco galvanized the nascent Beat movement, positioning "Howl" as a foundational text of Beat literature that rejected mainstream values in favor of spiritual questing, sexual liberation, and psychedelic experience.^[2]^[5] The poem's explicit references to drugs, sex, and anti-establishment rebellion sparked immediate controversy, culminating in the 1957 arrest of City Lights publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti on obscenity charges after U.S. Customs seized imported copies; following a trial, Judge Clayton Horn ruled it non-obscene, citing its "redeeming social importance" under the prevailing legal standard from Roth v. United States, a decision that advanced First Amendment protections for literary expression.^[6]^[7] This landmark victory propelled Ginsberg to international prominence and emboldened the countercultural ethos of the 1960s, influencing subsequent waves of dissent against institutional conformity.^[8] Despite criticisms of its raw, unpolished style and occasional indulgence in excess, "Howl" endures as a prophetic critique of modernity's dehumanizing machinery, embodying the Beats' commitment to authentic, unfiltered perception over sanitized norms.^[9]

Allen Ginsberg's "Howl"

Overview and content

"Howl", subtitled "for Carl Solomon", is a long poem by Allen Ginsberg divided into three principal parts followed by a footnote.^[10] Part I enumerates the experiences of the "best minds" of Ginsberg's generation, portrayed as visionary individuals marginalized and shattered by insanity, urban poverty, drug use, and institutionalization amid post-World War II American society.^[10] This section employs repetitive phrasing beginning with "who" to catalog hallucinatory visions, sexual explorations, and encounters with authority, evoking the chaotic vitality of 1950s countercultural life in cities like New York and San Francisco.^[10] Part II shifts to a prophetic invective against "Moloch", depicted as a devouring idol representing the dehumanizing machinery of industrial capitalism, military bureaucracy, and conformist materialism that consumes individuality and spirituality.^[10] Ginsberg personifies Moloch through imagery of "cement and aluminum" structures, atomic wars, and endless commodities, railing against its role in suppressing human potential.^[10] Part III adopts a more intimate, incantatory tone in direct address to Carl Solomon, whom Ginsberg met in 1949 at the Columbia Psychiatric Institute, affirming solidarity amid psychiatric confinement and shared visions of transcendence.^[11]^[10] The poem's form features extended, breathless lines modeled on Walt Whitman's free verse, fostering a propulsive rhythm that mimics spoken-word performance and jazz improvisation, with anaphoric repetitions and vivid, unfiltered depictions of homosexuality, narcotics, and societal decay.^[11]^[10] First published in the collection Howl and Other Poems by City Lights Books in 1956, the work is dedicated to Solomon and marks Ginsberg's emergence as a central Beat Generation voice.^[11]^[12]

Composition and influences

Ginsberg composed the initial draft of "Howl" in 1955 while living in San Francisco, employing a spontaneous prose technique modeled after Jack Kerouac's method, with Kerouac's "Essentials of Spontaneous Prose" affixed to his wall as a guide.^[13] The poem drew from his personal turmoil, including prior psychological breakdowns and hallucinatory experiences induced by peyote, such as a vision of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel manifesting as an impassive, Moloch-like entity.^[14] These elements informed the work's raw, visionary intensity, reflecting Ginsberg's encounters with mental fragility during his earlier institutionalization.^[15] Key literary precursors shaped the poem's form and voice. Ginsberg cited Walt Whitman's expansive, democratic catalogs as a foundational influence on his long-line structure and inclusive enumerations.^[11] He also drew from William Blake's prophetic timbre, stemming from auditory hallucinations of Blake reciting poems that Ginsberg reported experiencing in the summer of 1948.^[16] Contemporaries like Kerouac and William S. Burroughs provided immediate stylistic reinforcement, with Ginsberg sharing early drafts for feedback—Kerouac advising against revisions to preserve the unfiltered flow.^[17] The dedication to Carl Solomon originated from their meeting in 1949 at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, where both were patients amid Ginsberg's own eight-month commitment following personal crises.^[15] Ginsberg prepared for the poem's debut by immersing himself in Kerouac's prose rhythms via taped recordings. On October 7, 1955, he delivered the first public reading of "Howl" at the Six Gallery in San Francisco, organized as part of a poetry event emceed by Kenneth Rexroth and attended by Kerouac, who cheered vociferously.^[2] ^[18] This performance, closing the evening's lineup, catalyzed the visibility of the Beat Generation writers, galvanizing an audience response that underscored the poem's emergent cultural rupture.^[19]

Publication and obscenity trial

"Howl and Other Poems," containing the poem "Howl," was published in the fall of 1956 as part of City Lights Books' Pocket Poets series (Number 4), edited and published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti in San Francisco.^[1] Initial sales were limited, with the first printing of 1,000 copies selling slowly until external events drew attention.^[20] On March 25, 1957, U.S. Customs Service officials in San Francisco seized 520 copies of the book imported from a London printer, citing obscenity under Section 305 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which prohibited the importation of obscene materials.^[20] ^[21] This federal action prompted local scrutiny, leading to the arrest of Ferlinghetti and City Lights bookstore manager Shigeyoshi Murao on March 26, 1957, by San Francisco police on state charges of disseminating obscene literature under California Penal Code Section 311.^[6] ^[22] The trial, People of the State of California v. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, commenced on August 16, 1957, in San Francisco Municipal Court before Judge Clayton W. Horn.^[22] The prosecution, led by Deputy District Attorney Ralph McIntosh, contended that the poem's explicit references to sex, drugs, and profanity rendered it obscene, lacking any redeeming value and appealing primarily to prurient interest.^[23] The defense, represented by Jake Ehrlich and the ACLU, argued that "Howl" possessed serious literary, artistic, and social merit, serving as a critique of post-World War II American society without intent to corrupt morals; nine literary experts, including professors and authors, testified to its non-obscene nature and cultural significance.^[20] ^[24] On October 3, 1957, Judge Horn ruled in a written opinion that "Howl" was not obscene under California law, applying a test requiring material to be utterly without redeeming social importance to qualify as obscene—a standard that anticipated the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Roth v. United States later that month.^[25] ^[7] Horn emphasized the poem's artistic value, stating it addressed "the problems of a generation" through prophetic utterance rather than mere filth, and dismissed charges against Murao due to lack of knowledge of contents.^[26] ^[27] Ferlinghetti's acquittal ended the local prosecution, while the Customs Service released the seized copies following the ruling.^[20] The trial's publicity propelled sales, with subsequent printings selling tens of thousands of copies and establishing "Howl" as a landmark in literary publishing.^[28]

Themes and analysis

The poem articulates a critique of conformist society as systematically destroying visionary individuals, framing their "madness" not as pathology but as a causal reaction to institutionalized suppression of creativity and spirituality. The opening catalogs "the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked," depicting these figures—often queer, artistic, or spiritually questing—as pursuing "ancient heavenly connections" through peyote visions, jazz, and ecstatic sexuality, only to face negation by materialist norms that demand uniformity over individual expression.^[10] This destruction manifests empirically in references to real mechanisms of control, such as electroshock therapies and lobotomies administered under psychiatric auspices, which the text links to broader societal forces eroding personal agency.^[10]^[29] Central to this analysis is the figure of Moloch in Part II, symbolizing the devouring apparatus of industrial capitalism and technological rationalism, described as "Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies!" and ultimately "Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks."^[10] Evoking the ancient deity linked to ritual child sacrifice, Moloch causally embodies how economic and bureaucratic systems consume human vitality, reducing people to cogs in a profit-driven machine that stifles nonconformity and fosters alienation in urban wastelands.^[30] Institutional psychiatry extends this oppression, portrayed as a pseudoscientific arm of conformity that pathologizes rebellion, as in the dedication to Carl Solomon "who ate fire in paint hotels" yet endured "the total animal" of institutional restraint.^[10]^[31] The poem reasons from first principles that such structures arise from prioritizing aggregate material production over individual fulfillment, leading to a causal chain where suppressed visions erupt as anguished howls. Structurally, the poem's long, propulsive lines and anaphoric repetitions—such as the incantatory "who" clauses in Part I enumerating acts of defiance, or the hammering "Moloch" refrain in Part II—build a prophetic rhythm that mirrors the overwhelming force of the critiqued systems while asserting the poet's visionary endurance.^[29] This form causally links personal and collective torment to systemic failures, evident in allusions to empirical atrocities like "the Nazi gas-chambers" and "the hydrogen jukebox," which ground abstract alienation in concrete threats of ideological and technological annihilation.^[10] Part III counters with redemptive affirmations of the profane as sacred—"Holy the solitudes of skyscrapers... Holy the cocks of the grandfathers of Kansas"—elevating homosexuality, drug-induced ecstasies, and urban decay as rebellious assertions of authenticity against a reality that demonizes transcendent pursuits.^[10] The footnote reinforces Moloch's inescapability in modern life, yet the poem's ultimate reasoning posits that unfiltered pursuit of "angelic" insights, though clashing with material constraints, exposes the causal falsity of enforced normalcy.^[10]^[30]

Reception and cultural impact

Upon its initial readings and publication, "Howl" garnered enthusiastic praise from fellow Beat writers for its raw, prophetic energy and departure from conventional poetic restraint. Jack Kerouac, who attended the poem's debut public performance at the Six Gallery in San Francisco on October 7, 1955, reportedly cheered and urged Ginsberg to continue, later describing the work as a transformative outburst akin to spontaneous prose.^[32] The collection Howl and Other Poems achieved commercial success, with over 1 million copies in print by the late 20th century, reflecting sustained demand driven by its resonance with dissenting youth.^[33] The poem exerted measurable influence on 1960s counterculture, serving as a literary precursor to anti-establishment movements, including Vietnam War protests where Ginsberg himself advocated nonviolent "flower power" tactics inspired by its rebellious spirit.^[34] It contributed to broader shifts in publishing norms by bolstering precedents for artistic expression over obscenity restrictions, as evidenced in subsequent legal affirmations of literary merit in profane works.^[7] In literary scholarship, "Howl" is frequently cited for innovating Beat aesthetics through long-line verse and confessional intensity, shaping analyses of mid-century American dissent and influencing genres like rock lyrics—Bob Dylan, for instance, acknowledged Ginsberg's impact on his surrealistic phrasing in songs such as "Desolation Row," which he dedicated to the poet.^[35]^[36] Adaptations have extended its reach, including musical compositions like Lee Hyla's orchestral setting premiered in 1997, which integrates the text with chamber instrumentation to evoke its rhythmic fury, and various theater stagings, such as the 2019 Casper adaptation emphasizing spoken-word ritual.^[37] Performance traditions persist, notably poet Alex Caldiero's ritualistic recitations of the full poem every five years since 1995, culminating in a 2025 multimedia event at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art featuring live music and visual homage.^[38] These renderings underscore "Howl"'s enduring performative vitality, with Caldiero's cycles drawing crowds to experience its incantatory power as a communal act of defiance.^[39]

Criticisms and counterperspectives

Critics, particularly from conservative perspectives in the 1950s, condemned "Howl" for its perceived glorification of self-destructive behaviors, viewing it as a manifestation of juvenile nihilism that undermined traditional family values and social order. Norman Podhoretz, in his 1958 essay "The Know-Nothing Bohemians," lambasted Ginsberg and the Beat poets for romanticizing primitivism, drug-induced visions, and urban decay as superior to disciplined, productive life, arguing that their pity for the "insane" and marginalized reflected a know-nothing rejection of rationality and achievement rather than genuine insight.^[40] This critique framed the poem's explicit depictions of hallucination, addiction, and promiscuity not as prophetic critique but as an endorsement of pathology, with Podhoretz later emphasizing Ginsberg's long-term defense of such "glorification" as evidence of ideological opposition to normative American society.^[41] Objections extended to the poem's portrayal of "madness" and substance abuse among its "best minds," which some linked empirically to the documented toll of Beat lifestyles, including widespread alcoholism and premature deaths. For instance, Jack Kerouac, a central figure in Ginsberg's circle, succumbed to internal hemorrhaging exacerbated by chronic alcohol abuse at age 47 in 1969, while Neal Cassady, referenced implicitly in the poem's frantic energy, died at 41 in 1968 from a combination of exposure and possible drug influence following a freight-train misadventure.^[42] Critics argued that "Howl"'s elevation of these elements as holy or visionary ignored causal harms, such as addiction's role in eroding personal agency and contributing to the Beats' high rates of institutionalization and early mortality, contrasting sharply with the poem's redemptive rhetoric.^[43] Ideologically, the poem's anti-capitalist imagery—personified in the devouring "Moloch" of industrial America—drew fire for idealizing poverty and hedonism over economic productivity, a stance Podhoretz and others saw as naively subversive of the prosperity that postwar conformity had fostered.^[40] Detractors contended that by decrying materialism while celebrating vagrancy and excess, "Howl" promoted a causal chain toward social fragmentation, evidenced by post-1960s surges in family dissolution and mental health disorders correlating with countercultural embrace of such freedoms; U.S. divorce rates, for example, doubled from 2.2 per 1,000 in 1960 to 5.2 by 1980, alongside rising reported psychiatric admissions amid drug experimentation.^[44] The explicit advocacy of homosexuality and unrestrained sexuality was similarly critiqued as eroding stable institutions, with conservative voices attributing subsequent societal strains, including elevated mental health burdens in non-traditional structures, to the normalization of hedonistic pursuits over familial restraint.^[45] In modern literary assessments, some counterperspectives dismiss "Howl" as overrated bombast, lacking the philosophical depth and formal innovation of influences like Walt Whitman, whose optimistic embrace of American vitality in "Song of Myself" contrasts with Ginsberg's descent into lamentation over perceived cultural fall.^[46] Whereas Whitman's work integrated expansive individualism with national affirmation, "Howl" is faulted for devolving into unstructured rant against modernity without equivalent rigor or redemptive vision, rendering it more a period artifact of rebellion than enduring poetry.^[47] This view posits that its cultural elevation owes more to shock value and alignment with 1960s unrest than intrinsic merit, complicating Ginsberg's anti-establishment persona given his later unsubstantiated accusations against the CIA for drug trafficking, which echoed rather than exposed institutional malfeasance.^[48]

Film

Howl (2010 biographical drama)

Howl is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.^[49] It stars James Franco as Allen Ginsberg, with David Strathairn portraying the prosecutor Ralph McIntosh in reenactments of the 1957 obscenity trial, alongside supporting roles by Jon Hamm as Jake Ehrlich, the defense attorney, and Jeff Daniels as the publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti.^[50] The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2010, and received a limited theatrical release in the United States on September 24, 2010.^[51] The narrative interweaves three threads: black-and-white reenactments of the federal obscenity trial against City Lights Books for publishing Ginsberg's poem; a stylized animated visualization of the poem's recitation; and color footage of a fictionalized 1957 interview with Ginsberg reflecting on the case.^[52] The trial sequences draw directly from court transcripts, with approximately 95% of the dialogue sourced from actual records and contemporary interviews, ensuring fidelity to historical events surrounding the charges of obscenity under the Comstock Act.^[7] This structure emphasizes the legal defense's arguments on literary merit and lack of prurient intent, culminating in Judge Clayton Horn's ruling that the poem possessed redeeming social importance.^[53] Produced on a budget of $5 million, the film grossed $617,334 domestically and $1.6 million worldwide.^[49] Critical reception was mixed, with a 64% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 107 reviews, praising Franco's nuanced performance capturing Ginsberg's vulnerability and intensity while critiquing the animated segments as occasionally overwrought and disconnected from the trial's gravity.^[51] Reviewers noted the film's restraint in dramatizing the trial's cultural stakes without sensationalism, though some found the hybrid format uneven in sustaining dramatic tension.^[54]

Music

Albums and EPs

Howl is the third studio album by American rock band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, released on August 23, 2005, by RCA Records in the United States. The record marked a significant evolution from the band's prior high-energy garage rock style, incorporating acoustic instrumentation, blues, and folk elements for a raw, roots-oriented aesthetic.^[55]^[56] Howl is the debut EP by American doom metal band Howl from Providence, Rhode Island, initially self-released in 2008 and reissued on July 21, 2009, by Relapse Records. It comprises three extended tracks emphasizing thunderous riffs, groove-heavy structures, and sludge influences characteristic of the genre.^[57]^[58]^[59] Howl is the third studio album by British electronic artist Rival Consoles (Ryan Lee West), released on October 16, 2015, via Erased Tapes Records. The LP delves into atmospheric synth-driven soundscapes, merging experimental IDM, techno pulses, and emotive improvisations to evoke dissonance and introspection.^[60]^[61]

Songs

"Howl" by Florence + the Machine, released on July 3, 2009, as a track from the band's debut album Lungs, is an indie rock song featuring Florence Welch's soaring vocals over sparse instrumentation building to a climactic howl, exploring themes of primal attraction and emotional surrender.^[62] "Howl" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the second track and namesake of the American rock band's third studio album released on August 22, 2005, in the UK, embodies a raw, blues-inflected garage rock style with brooding lyrics on longing and introspection.^[63] The Gaslight Anthem's "Howl," from their 2012 album Handwritten, is a punk-influenced rock anthem urging awakening from complacency, with driving guitars and anthemic choruses that propelled it to live performance staples, including integrations with sports events like New Jersey Devils games.^[64] "Howl" by Beware of Darkness, issued as the band's debut single on May 7, 2013, following its appearance on their 2012 EP of the same name, delivers alternative rock energy with gritty riffs and themes of inner turmoil.^[65] Biffy Clyro's "Howl," released in 2016 from the album Ellipsis, blends alternative rock with the Scottish band's signature dynamic shifts, from introspective verses to explosive refrains, serving as a promotional single with an accompanying music video.^[66] In the Vocaloid genre, "howl" by producer hagayui, featuring Megurine Luka (with Kagamine Rin), premiered on YouTube on August 24, 2018, as an original electronic composition lasting 4:25, utilizing synthesized vocals for a haunting, atmospheric effect.^[67]

Bands and artists

Howl is an American stoner/sludge metal band formed in 2007 in Providence, Rhode Island.^[68] The group draws on themes of hate and misanthropy in its music.^[68] It remains active as of 2025.^[68] Howl is a Norwegian alternative rock band originating from Oslo.^[69] The band released its debut album Higher Class of Lush in 2008, followed by Cold Water Music in 2010.^[70] After a long hiatus from live performances, Howl announced a return show on November 15, 2025, at John Dee in Oslo.^[71]^[72]

Other uses

Animal vocalization

A howl constitutes a prolonged, undulating vocalization generated by the vibration of the larynx in various mammals, predominantly canines such as wolves (Canis lupus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Acoustically, it features a fundamental frequency typically spanning 150 to 780 Hz, often accompanied by up to 12 harmonic overtones, enabling propagation over long distances in open terrains.^[73] This wavering quality arises from modulations in pitch and amplitude, distinguishing howls from shorter barks or yips.^[74] In wild canines, howling primarily facilitates territorial advertisement, pack member localization, and group cohesion, allowing coordination for activities like hunting or defense across kilometers.^[75] Empirical observations from wolf packs indicate that an initiating howl often elicits contagious "chorus" responses, amplifying signal strength and synchronizing behaviors to deter intruders or rally dispersed individuals.^[75] Such responses underscore howling's adaptive value in maintaining social bonds and resource defense in ancestral environments.^[73] Domestic dogs exhibit reduced howling frequency compared to wild relatives, attributable to selective breeding emphasizing barking for close-range alerting, though breeds genetically closer to wolves—such as Siberian huskies—retain stronger howling tendencies.^[76] ^[73] While not exclusive to canines, similar sustained cries occur in non-canid species, including howler monkeys (Alouatta spp.), where they serve analogous roles in troop spacing and predator deterrence within forested habitats.^[77]

Miscellaneous references

The word "howl" derives from Middle English howlen or houlen, tracing back to Old English *hūlian and Proto-Germanic *hūwilōną, with an imitative origin mimicking prolonged vocal sounds.^[78]^[79] In informal usage, "howl" denotes loud, uproarious laughter, as in the idiom "howl with laughter," distinct from its primary auditory connotation.^[80]^[81] "Howl" titles a turn-based tactical video game by Austrian developer Mi'pu'mi Games, released in early access on February 2, 2023, via platforms including Steam and GOG, where players navigate a medieval folktale plagued by a transformative "howling" curse rendered in hand-drawn ink art.^[82]^[83] Among software tools, Howl is a lightweight, customizable text editor leveraging the LuaJIT runtime for efficient scripting and extensibility, available on GitHub since its inception as an open-source project.^[84] In 2025, the generative art initiative HOWL.camera employed AI algorithms to reinterpret Allen Ginsberg's 1956 poem "Howl," producing dynamic visuals via image-to-ASCII transformations synced with the poet's audio recordings, deployed on the Tezos blockchain for interactive NFT experiences.^[85]^[86]

References

[1]
Howl and Other Poems | City Lights Booksellers & Publishers
In stock 3–9 day deliveryHowl and Other Poems. byAllen Ginsberg. Paperback. Price: $7.95 Original price ... City Lights Books Publish Date: 01/01/1956. Dimensions: 6.10" L, 4.80" W ...
[2]
Poet Allen Ginsberg reads “Howl” for the first time | October 7, 1955
Published: November 13, 2009 Last Updated: May 27, 2025. Poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem “Howl” at a poetry reading at Six Gallery in San Francisco. The poem ...
[3]
"Howl": How the Poem Came to Be and How it Made Allen Ginsberg ...
When Allen Ginsberg sat down at a secondhand typewriter in 1955 and began the first of his many subsequent drafts of "Howl," he had no idea of the ...<|separator|>
[4]
[PDF] "Wake up in Moloch:" Modernity, "Howl," and the Beats' Spiritual Quest
Dec 5, 2020 · The Beats and the Whitmanian Vision Ginsberg's “Howl” is an iconic work for the Beat Generation, one that is simultaneously a self-reflective ...
[5]
“Howl” as Literary Montage: Cinema's Influence on the Beat ...
Reading “Howl” illuminates how the poets depicted in the poem were striving to escape the physical, spiritual, and temporal constraints of their current world.
[6]
The Howl Obscenity Trial - FoundSF
... Howl, it was ruled not obscene and City Lights was exonerated. The decision that was handed down in the Howl obscenity trial led to the American publication ...
[7]
Banned Books Week Exclusive: The Howl obscenity trial opinion
Sep 28, 2017 · ... obscenity test laid out in the Supreme Court's Roth decision: I do not believe that “Howl” is without redeeming social importance. The first ...Missing: outcome | Show results with:outcome
[8]
HOWL & Other Poems - The Beat Museum
In stock 30-day returnsAllen Ginsberg's HOWL AND OTHER POEMS was originally published by City Lights Books in the fall of 1956. Subsequently seized by U.S. Customs and the San ...
[9]
[PDF] Modernity, Myth, and Innovative Poetic Form in Allen Ginsberg's ...
In “Howl,” Ginsberg lays out an eye-witness testimony of the desperate lives of the Beat generation in their struggle to attain spiritual enlightenment in the ...Missing: significance | Show results with:significance
[10]
Howl | The Poetry Foundation
Howl ... with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies good to eat a thousand years. ... What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed ...Missing: structure | Show results with:structure
[11]
Allen Ginsberg | The Poetry Foundation
“Howl,” also known as “Howl for Carl Solomon,” is a long-lined poem in the tradition of Walt Whitman and an outcry of rage and despair against a destructive, ...
[12]
Howl and Other Poems | City Lights Booksellers & Publishers
In stock 3–9 day deliveryHowl and Other Poems ; byAllen Ginsberg ; Overview. The prophetic poem that launched a generation when it was first published in 1965 is here presented in a ...
[13]
First Draft, Best Draft? - Beatdom
Jun 25, 2024 · Ginsberg said that “Howl” was written in Kerouac's “spontaneous prose” style, and supposedly he had “Essentials of Spontaneous Prose” taped up ...
[14]
Broadcasting “Howl” | Modernism / Modernity Print+
Jul 12, 2018 · The date also incidentally marked the one-year anniversary of Ginsberg's peyote-induced vision of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel as an “[i]mpassive ...
[15]
Allen Ginsberg: Beat Poet, Counterculture Icon, Psychiatric Patient
Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet and counterculture icon who spent eight months as an inpatient at the New York State Psychiatric Institute from 1949 to 1950.
[16]
The Howling Inferno: Crying Out in Anguish to America - Beatdom
Jun 19, 2020 · Indeed, in the summer of 1948, Ginsberg underwent an extraordinary experience, hearing an auditory hallucination of William Blake's voice ...
[17]
Allen Ginsberg's Howl – The Poem Itself - Sharon Bryan
Ginsberg sent early versions of his new poem to Kerouac and Burroughs, who both praised it—though Kerouac urged him not to revise, to remember that the first ...
[18]
October 7 - Anniversary of the Six Gallery Reading
Oct 7, 2015 · The reading was in October 1955 at the Six Gallery in San Francisco. The Six Gallery was a cooperative art gallery run by young artists who centered around the ...<|separator|>
[19]
The Earliest "Howl" Recordings - The Beat Museum
Oct 5, 2020 · No recordings were made at the October 7, 1955 inaugural reading of the “6 Poets at 6 Gallery” poetry series, and there are no pictures.
[20]
U.S. Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg's “Howl - History.com
Nine literary experts testified at the trial that the poem was not obscene, and Ferlinghetti was found not guilty.
[21]
Allen Ginsberg and Ann Coulter walk into an auditorium... - OUP Blog
Sep 9, 2017 · On 25 March 1957, U.S. Customs officers in San Francisco seized the shipment en route from the London printer, citing Section 305 of the ...
[22]
People of the State of California v. Lawrence Ferlinghetti - FIRE
v. Lawrence Ferlinghetti Decided October 3, 1957. Howl Obscenity Trial ! Originally, the case name read People of the State of California, Plaintiff vs.
[23]
[PDF] the 1957 Howl Obscenity Trial and Sexual Liberation - PDXScholar
Apr 28, 2015 · Yet, despite the history of sexual suppression that led up to the Howl obscenity trial,. Howl was not declared obscene. This victory, in the ...
[24]
“Howl” and the Obscenity Trial - Tablet Magazine
Oct 3, 2012 · On this date in 1957, California Judge Clayton W. Horn ruled that Allen Ginsberg's poem “Howl” was not obscene. The much-publicized trial ...
[25]
Anniversary of the Howl Verdict - The Allen Ginsberg Project
Oct 3, 2017 · On this day in 1957, Judge Clayton Horn declared that “Howl” was not obscene. As he announced: “I do not believe that “Howl” is without ...
[26]
An Obscene Victory for First Amendment | RealClearHistory
Mar 25, 2013 · In a ruling issued on October 3, 1957, Judge Horn sided with the defense. It doesn't seem that he considered the matter a close legal question.
[27]
Allen Ginsberg and “Howl” – Literature vs. The Law
Murao was cleared when prosecutors could not prove that he knew the book's contents, and the case concluded on October 3, 1957, when Judge Clayton W. Horn ruled ...
[28]
A Legal Howl Greeted Publication - Los Angeles Times
Jan 22, 1996 · ... Howl” was declared not obscene after a trial watched closely by the literary community. “The 'Howl' trial pushed everything up,” says Murao ...
[29]
Howl Summary & Analysis by Allen Ginsberg - LitCharts
“Howl” Themes ... Nonconformity vs. Mainstream Society. Where this theme appears in the poem: Before Line 1; Lines 1-78; Between Lines 78-79; Lines 79-93; Between ...<|separator|>
[30]
Howl: Symbols | SparkNotes
Part 2 of “Howl” centers on a figure called Moloch, which an annotation in the facsimile edition of the poem identifies as “a Canaanite fire god.” According to ...
[31]
Howl by Allen Ginsberg - Poem Analysis
The third part of Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' is quite different from the two proceeding sections. Here, he leans on techniques inspired by Walt Whitman, like ...Missing: stylistic features
[32]
On "Howl" - Modern American Poetry Home
Howl was Allen's metamorphosis from quiet, brilliant, burning bohemian scholar trapped by his flames and repressions to epic vocal bard.Missing: composition peyote
[33]
When Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl was released in 1957, it was a ...
Sep 25, 2025 · City Lights gained notoriety for publishing Allen Ginsberg's "Howl and Other Poems" in 1956, leading to Ferlinghetti's obscenity trial ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[34]
The Last Antiwar Poem | The Nation
Nov 14, 2006 · Considered by many to be a triumphant literary precursor to '60s counterculture and youth rebellion, Howl and Other Poems went on to sell more ...
[35]
Allen Ginsberg's Howl and the Making of the Beat Generation - jstor
Written as a cultural weapon and a call to arms,Howltouched a raw nerve in Cold War America and has been controversial from the day it was first read aloud ...
[36]
Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan - Beatdom
Certainly, they were close, and Dylan has often cited Ginsberg as a massive influence on his life and work; however, they were only fifteen years apart by birth ...
[37]
Text by Allen Ginsberg, Music by Lee Hyla - Howl (2018) - YouTube
Oct 3, 2018 · ... performances of this piece with live narrator. Sarah Whitnah, violin Robyn Julyan, violin David Schumacher, viola Richard vonFoerster, cello ...Missing: adaptations | Show results with:adaptations
[38]
Alex Caldiero's Final Recitation of Allen Ginsberg's “Howl”
Oct 3, 2025 · Alex Caldiero has performed Ginsberg's seminal long poem, “Howl,” every five years since 1995. This 30-year tradition will unfortunately ...
[39]
UMOCA | Alex Caldiero Performs Allen Ginsberg's Howl
Oct 7, 2025 · His performances are part ritual, part incantation: a makeshift altar, an image of Ginsberg, flowers laid in homage. Each time, the poem erupts ...Missing: recitation | Show results with:recitation
[40]
My War With Allen Ginsberg - Commentary Magazine
Aug 1, 1997 · Ginsberg's epic poem “Howl” cannot be read on the radio during most daylight hours because of federal limitations on obscenity. And he is ...Missing: reception | Show results with:reception
[41]
'Ex-Friends': Leaving the Flock and Being Excommunicated
Feb 15, 1999 · It is here that Podhoretz tells how he contended for some 40 years with Ginsberg, the poet, (never in fact a friend) over the "glorification" ...
[42]
Jack Kerouac's Depression and Addiction - Our Mental Health
Dec 25, 2024 · Jack Kerouac struggled with depression, alcoholism, and drug use, which fueled his writing and led to self-destructive behaviors and his death.
[43]
[PDF] Social Madness in Beat Generation Writing
Beats use self-induced forms of madness to regain and maintain the control that the truly psychotic have lost. Since the “particular issues mad characters.
[44]
Children of the Revolution: The Impact of 1960s and 1970s Cultural ...
Our study examines associations between baby boomers' retirement views and identification with counterculture.
[45]
From Hero of the Counterculture to Risk Assessment - Sage Journals
May 16, 2016 · This article examines this dynamic in relation to mental illness by developing a comparative thematic analysis of two novels. The article argues ...Missing: correlation | Show results with:correlation
[46]
[PDF] The Fall of Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" Ideals in Allen ...
Contrary to Whitman's poem, Allen Ginsberg's. "Howl" protests the fall of the values and ideals celebrated in Whitman's poem because of the new values of the ...
[47]
Is Allen Ginsberg overrated or over-hyped? - Quora
Oct 8, 2018 · His poetry was overrated, however. His signature poem, and one of his best poems, “Howl,” made him famous, as one of the original “Beat Poets,” ...
[48]
Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and the CIA - Stephanie Nikolopoulos
Jul 31, 2014 · Wikipedia gives a quick summary of Ginsberg's conspiracy theory that the CIA profited off of drugs: Through his own drug use, and the drug use ...
[49]
Howl (2010) - IMDb
Rating 6.6/10 (13,625) Howl: Directed by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman. With James Franco, Todd ... Release date · August 27, 2010 (Italy). Country of origin. United States.
[50]
Howl (2010) - Full cast & crew - IMDb
Cast · James Franco · Todd Rotondi · Todd Rotondi · Jon Prescott at an event for Brooklyn's Finest (2009). Jon Prescott · Aaron Tveit · David Strathairn at an event ...Missing: plot | Show results with:plot<|separator|>
[51]
Howl | Rotten Tomatoes
Rating 64% (107) The film includes animated portions depicting interpretations of the poem itself. Director: Rob Epstein , Jeffrey Friedman ... Release Date (Theaters): Sep ...
[52]
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/38568-howl
[53]
Howl Movie Script
... obscenity trial), and animation that echoes the poem's surreal style. All three coalesce in hybrid that dramatizes the birth of a counterculture. Genre ...
[54]
Howl | Reviews - Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten score. Howl basically plays like a decent Sunday-afternoon TV docudrama. It may be considered by some to be art, but I imagine few will consider it ...Missing: reception | Show results with:reception
[55]
Howl - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club | Album - AllMusic
Rating 8.2/10 (410) Release Date: August 23, 2005. Duration: 54:47. Genre: Pop/Rock, Country. Styles: American Trad Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie ...
[56]
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Howl Album Review | Pitchfork
Sep 1, 2005 · Howl · Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition. Bruce Springsteen · Blight. The Antlers · Deep Country. Bruiser and Bicycle.
[57]
Howl | Howl - Bandcamp
Free deliveryProvidence' HOWL delivers three gargantuan tracks of riff-heavy, American metal on their debut. This is a thunderous introduction to this quartet, and only ...
[58]
Howl - Howl (album review ) | Sputnikmusic
Oct 7, 2009 · The band is called Howl and in 2008 they put out a thundering three track behemoth of groove heavy, ass kicking, head bludgeoning heavy metal ...
[59]
HOWL - Dirty Skunks
Howl is an American Doom metal band from Providence, Rhode Island, formed in 2006. ... Howl signed with Relapse Records in 2009 and reissued their self-titled EP ...
[60]
Rival Consoles: Howl Album Review - Pitchfork
Oct 22, 2015 · * Howl's closer, "Looming", is a six-and-a-half-minute mini-epic that reflects the depth of emotion that West says he poured into Howl. But the ...
[61]
Rival Consoles - Howl - Amazon.com Music
30-day returns'Howl' is the new album by Rival Consoles, London-based electronic producer Ryan Lee West, set for release through Erased Tapes on 16th October 2015.
[62]
Howl - song and lyrics by Florence + The Machine - Spotify
Howl, howl. Howl, howl. Now there's no holding back, I'm making to attack. My blood is singing with your voice, I want to pour it out. The saints can't help me ...Missing: titled | Show results with:titled
[63]
Howl - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
B.R.M.C.Howl ; Producer: Peter Hayes, Robert Levon Been ; Engineer: B.R.M.C., Mad Action (tracks: 12 13), Rick Parker (tracks 1-11) ; Mastered By: Rick Parker.
[64]
The Gaslight Anthem – Howl Lyrics - Genius
Howl Lyrics: Hey, hey / Hey, hey / Hey, wake it up, hey, shake it out / Does anything still move you since you're educated now?
[65]
Beware of Darkness - Howl (Official Music Video) [Single Version]
Dec 13, 2012 · Beware of Darkness - Howl (Official Music Video) [Single Version].Missing: notable named
[66]
Watch the video for #Howl now! Taken from the new album #Ellipsis ...
Aug 4, 2016 · Watch the video for #Howl now! Taken from the new album #Ellipsis: http://smarturl.it/EllipsisOutNow.
[67]
hagayui ft. luka english (and rin) - "howl" (vocaloid original) - YouTube
Aug 24, 2018 · Music, lyrics, illust, movie: hagayui Vocals: Megurine Luka ... luka english (and rin) - "howl" (vocaloid original). 131 views · 7 ...
[68]
Howl - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives
Oct 25, 2008 · Howl ; Location: Providence, Rhode Island ; Status: Active ; Formed in: 2007 ; Genre: Stoner/Sludge Metal ; Themes: Hate, Misanthropy ...Missing: doom | Show results with:doom
[69]
Howl Lyrics, Songs, and Albums - Genius
Howl is a rock band from Oslo, Norway. The band's name is taken from the Allen Ginsberg poem with the same name. The band consist of Simen Lund (vocals), ...
[70]
Howl - Facebook
Howl. 1676 likes · 76 talking about this. Howl ga ut debutalbumet Higher Class of Lush i 2008 og oppfølgeren Cold Water Music kom i 2010.
[71]
Howl - Visit Oslo
Rock band Howl returns to the stage 15 years after their last show! Image of album cover and band. Photo credits: Howl /Rockefeller.
[72]
Howl Oslo Tickets, John Dee, 15 Nov 2025 - Songkick
Buy tickets, find event, venue and support act information and reviews for Howl's upcoming concert at John Dee in Oslo on 15 Nov 2025.Missing: band | Show results with:band
[73]
Genetic distance from wolves affects family dogs' reactions towards ...
Feb 6, 2023 · Solo howls of wolves are various in length (0.5–11 s) with a fundamental frequency (f0) between 150 and 780 Hz, and they often contain frequency ...
[74]
https://www.ellevetsciences.com/pet-care/why-do-dogs-howl/
[75]
Why Wolves Howl (U.S. National Park Service)
May 16, 2019 · Howling is probably secondary to scent (Harrington and Asa 2003), despite the richness of both motivational triggers for wolf howling and the ...
[76]
How Closely Dogs Are Related To Wolves Can Influence If They ...
Feb 6, 2023 · In domestic breeds, the role of howling is less clear as some dogs love to howl while others hardly seem to howl at all. To investigate if ...
[77]
9 Amazing Animals That Howl (With Pictures) - Wild Explained
May 13, 2022 · List of Animals That Howl · Wolves · Howler Monkeys · Coyotes · Foxes · Dingoes · Jackals · Cats · Dogs.
[78]
Howl - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
Originating in the early 13th century, "howl" is likely imitative, akin to Germanic words; it means to emit a loud, prolonged cry and also functions as a ...
[79]
howl - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology. From Middle English howlen, houlen, from Old English *hūlian, from Proto-West Germanic *hūilōn, from Proto-Germanic *hūwilōną, *hiuwilōną (“to howl ...English · Etymology · Verb · Cornish
[80]
HOWL Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
Oct 16, 2025 · 2025 See All Example Sentences for howl. Word History. Etymology. Middle English houlen; akin to Middle High German hiulen to howl. First Known ...
[81]
HOWL Definition & Meaning - Dictionary.com
a loud, scornful laugh or yell. something that causes a laugh or a scornful yell, as a joke or funny or embarrassing situation.
[82]
Save 60% on Howl on Steam
$$3.99 Rating 4.5 (62) Howl is a turn-based tactical folktale set in medieval times. A sinister "howling plague" has ravaged the land, turning all who hear it into feral beasts.
[83]
Howl on GOG.com
In stock Rating 3.5 (11) · Free deliveryFeb 5, 2024 · Howl is a turn-based puzzle/tactical folktale set in the Middle Ages, where a mysterious howling plague ravages the land.
[84]
The Howl Editor - GitHub
Howl is a general purpose editor that aims to be both lightweight and fully customizable. It's built on top of the very fast LuaJIT runtime.<|separator|>
[85]
Allen Ginsberg's HOWL Reimagined Through Revolutionary AI Art ...
Feb 9, 2025 · Each piece transforms the chosen image through AI interpretation and ASCII art techniques, weaving in elements of Ginsberg's recorded poetry.
[86]
Allen Ginsberg's HOWL Reimagined Through Generative Art on Tezos
Feb 10, 2025 · HOWL.camera is a revolutionary AI-powered art experience transforming Allen Ginsberg's iconic poem HOWL into dynamic generative visuals.