Howl- To See With the Eyes of the Angels

In William Carlos Williams introduction to Allen Ginesbergs Howl he says, "Poets are damned by they are not blind, they see with the eyes of the angels. This poet [Ginsberg] sees through and all around the horrors he partakes of in the very intimate details of his poem. He avoids nothing but experiences it to the hilt." If Howl by Allen Ginsberg is anything, it is alive. It's language, prosody and choice of words make the poem, as the title suggest, howl out to the world demanding it's presence be known.

"I'm with you in Rockland/ where we are great typewriters on the same dreadful typewriter." In the third section of howl, the poem becomes a loud chant. Begging for everything, specifically nothing and demanding understanding. The form of the entire poem is written as a rant, which many mistake for lack of attention to detail. However, the poem specifically breaks and rhymes, it has it's own form which was not developed within the first draft. This can be seen in compilations where Ginsberg's drafts are put back to back, he created the form to justify and blend with the content.

The poem is a complete commitment to detail, though the content is vast every idea introduced is specific and true; " who cut their wrists three times successfully unsuccess-/ fully, have up and were forced to open antique stores where they thought they were growings old and cried". The poem may be a howl, a rant, a cry for 'the best minds of a generation' but as an artist the poem reads a testament to the turmoil of artists in society. For the madness one must endure to give duende, life to creative works, for how an artist must go against the grain of the norm only to be called mad in order to give life to poems/sculptures/stage characters/novels/etc.