What type of poem is Howl by Allen Ginsberg mean?

        Howl is a poem written by Allen Ginsberg in 1955. It is one of the most popular poems during the Beat Generation. This poem celebrates personal freedom and breaking from the social norms. There are two parts to this poem. The first part is about the desperation felt during the post-World War II era by those who felt alienated by the mechanization and intellectual conformity that they felt the American society demanded. On the other hand, part two is written while Ginsberg is under the influence of drug. In this part, Ginsberg take a stance of protest against the aspects of American society. With this poem, Ginsberg represents the movement because of the things that Ginsberg talk about in his writing. The counterculture: freedom from sexual repression; freedom to engage in drug use; rejection of authority and censorship; an rejection of the military-industrial complex all represent the Beat Movement. 

        The use of foul language, slang, drug-addicts, drifters, prostitutes, and swindlers in this poem break out of the social norm. Although these things are shocking to the people in the 1950s, Ginsberg does not seem to care about what people think of him or his writing. In his mind, he is simply following the path of his inspiration. He is being truthful to the society. He wants to show that drug-addicts and prostitutes do exist in the society; therefore; it is not wrong for him to write about it. He has the right to express his opinion and feeling. His work is always an expression of his inner turmoil and quest for meaning. 

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By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Howl, poem in three sections by Allen Ginsberg, first published in Howl and Other Poems in 1956. A “footnote” was added later. It is considered the foremost poetic expression of the Beat generation of the 1950s.

A denunciation of the weaknesses and failings of American society, Howl is a combination lamentation, jeremiad, and vision. The poem opens with a description of the despair and frustration of American youths:

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,

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The poem was praised for its incantatory rhythms and raw emotion; critics noted the influences of Ginsberg’s mentor William Carlos Williams (who wrote an introduction to the 1959 edition), Walt Whitman, and William S. Burroughs. Howl also was an unabashed celebration and critique of the masculine. The poem became the anthem of 1950s Beats. Its frank references to heterosexual and homosexual coupling landed its publisher, the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, in court on charges of distributing obscene material, but he was acquitted in 1957 in a landmark decision.

What is the meaning of the poem Howl?

"Howl" is a lament for "the best minds of [Ginsburg's] generation": a set of artists and thinkers whom the poet/speaker believes were "destroyed by madness.” The poem doesn't blame such "madness" on random misfortune or the sufferers themselves, however, but rather portrays its heroes as being driven mad by their ...

What type of poem is Howl?

'Howl' is a free verse poem, almost a prose-poem, a single long stanza of 78 dense lines, with no regular established meter (metre in British English) and no set rhyme scheme. The structure of the poem is unusual.

Is Howl an elegy?

Howl became an elegy over time, for all those people, but in 56 or 57 it was an indictment of everything that was wrong, an angry, passionate poem and he was like a revolutionary firebrand. One thing I always loved about Allen was his voice. It was very mellow but he could modulate it in all sorts of ways.

What is the form of Howl?

Howl is also a classic example of free verse. It doesn't have a regular meter. Instead, it uses a lot of different kinds of rhythmic patterns, which are repeated over and over again.