Ginsberg's Inspiration

In the article “The Paradox of Howl,” Stephen Burt argues that Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” is hypocritical in that it captures and foresees the beginning of a new culture, but at the same time draws most of its information from the past. “Howl” imitates 17^th-century stanzaic poetry and observes the author’s own life experiences and his generation’s concerns. Ginsberg analyzed his classmates’ conformity to societal standards and the problems with his mentally ill mother. Ginsberg also draws from his time in the Columbia Psychiatric Institute with his fellow patient Carl Solomon. The poet is against Solomon’s confinement and uses his case as an example of the confinement of passion, self-expression and free thought in America. In that way, the poem resembles past European literature and existing ideas, such as that of the French comic playwright Molière. It is clear, that Ginsberg is not the first writer who is anti-establishment and that he has learned and drawn from many minds in the past. But what separated Ginsberg from the rest is the attention and intensity in the response he received after publishing his poem, which is mostly a result of the post-war time it was published in.