Howl’s Personal Influence

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical,     naked …who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes”
Howl – Allan Ginsburg, 1955

How does one quantify a definitive statement, when the statement is so large, so encompassing, as to elicit reactions of awe, anger and disbelief, even from the so-called “liberal” elite? How is one to recognize the enormity of an event, if the medium of the event is alien, disassociated, and even at times, painful? This is the immediate problem raised from the anthology under consideration. The Poem that Changed America: “Howl” Fifty Years Later leaves no room for question. It leaves little room for discussion. It is a definitive assertion, challenging in its’ arrogance. However, this is not all it does. The title also speaks volumes to the assumptions of the editors while simultaneously imposing meaning on the collected anthologies found therein. But it also invites. The stark title, overlaid on the proud American colors, juxtaposed against the facsimile of the original cover of Howl, encourages one to explore the multiple retellings of the influence and power of a singular poem. It was this invitation that I found most interesting. It was the invitation which encouraged me to seek out the “pith and substance” of this work.

“What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed open their skulls and ate up their     brains and imagination?”

Howl, standing alone as a poem, has indeed caught the imagination of all who have come across its bleakly erotic tones. For all of my blatant rejection of poetry and my obvious ambivalence of the counter culture movement, whether of yesteryear or of today, my imagination was immediately caught up and strangled by the violence, passion and resonance of the work. Ginsburg, in his free flowing method, spoke of the conflict prevalent in society, the cognitive dissonance present in each individual soul. He spoke to the man seeking immediate gratification and release at the local pub. He spoke to the student wading through the seas of mediocrity for a shot at their institutionalized dreams. He spoke to societies amassing material wealth without feeling complete. Ginsburg spoke of the broken dreams and wasted talent of not just a generation, but of a culture, in the rambling, disjointed methods of personal thought. But how could one claim that a poem, even if it resonated, had changed America?

“I am with you in Rockland
where the faculties of the skull no longer admit the worms of the senses”

The collected recollections provide the reader of the anthology with a profoundly enlightening cross section of humanity, tied together with one common string; the fact that Howl had changed the reality of the world of which they, humanity, were invested. It was the completely unrelated nature of each reminiscent reflection on Howl that spoke to the dramatic claim of change in “America.” It was not a change to one particular movement, nor was it a shift from one policy to another. Furthermore, Howl did not alter any one particular cultural phenomenon so dramatically so that that particular aspect would be claimed as solely afected by Ginsbergian theory. Instead, Howl resonated deep within each of the individuals personally. It altered some aspect of their thinking in diverse and unique manners. From Andrei Codrescu’s Transylvania to Bob Dylan’s America to Jane Kramer’s “wholly possible” world , the resonance of Howl’s angst was felt. It was never felt the same, but for those who stumbled upon its’ words, it personified and vocalized an inner nuanced voice. As Robert Polito notes, the poem sought to “create a community” of fellow likeminded individuals.  But while it may have initially intended the few, as Polito implies, it has grasped on the many, the diverse, the unlike likeminded. In a very real manner, it has been recognized by each contributor as the undercurrent for an aspect of change which they have noticed, however dramatically different those changes would appear on the surface. It has achieved what Ginsburg, in later years, had projected as the original intent, “to leave behind … an emotional time bomb”.

“The United States that coughs all night and won’t let us sleep”

There is an obvious counter to this claim, however, that speaks volumes to a society increasingly devoid of attachment to the arts. With just a brief perusal of contributors, the observer would quickly note another common thread found within each. Poetry, it would seem, has come to dominate each of the individuals as they have progressed in the journey of life. Poetry, that common thread, ties each together with a shared historical and epistemological worldview. Therefore, how could Ginsburg’s rancorous poem have anything but a lasting effect on the artistically aloof society? The response is found in their experiences. From the white middle class homosexual to the ghettoized black militant to the academic Jewish feminist, the poem found a commonality beyond the obvious, and resonated as an influence, as an agent of change.

“With mother finally ******, and the last fantastic book flung out of the tenement     window, and the last door closed at 4am and the last telephone slammed at the     wall in reply and the last furnished room emptied down to the last piece of     mental furniture,”

It is a possibility to effect change, without the change being made manifest in dramatic proportion. Each insight from each collaborator manages to provide a window into the worldview of each divers and unique mind, and in process, exposes the imprint of Howl therein. The dramatic effect that Howl once had may be fading in the modern society, due in measure to the liberation and desensitization of all mediums.  It may neither shock nor motivate the reader. It may be institutionalized itself. But for those of whom who heard it in a time of cognitive dissidence, it provided a voice for their change.

~ by maffersalmon on April 2, 2008.