Howl and Spirituality

Peter J. Graves word count: 884 "Howl" and Spirituality Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" is a complex and intriguing poem about the divine in the common world. The minor themes of drugs and sexuality work together to illuminate the major theme of spirituality. The poem reveals through a multitude of sharp images and phrases that everything from drug use to homosexuality to mental illness is holy, even in a world of atom bombs and materialistic America, which …

…poem "Footnote To Howl" sums up the theme of spirituality in "Howl". It reads, "The bum's as holy as the seraphim! the madman is as holy as you my/ soul are holy!" (7-8). Spirituality and the divine run through "Howl" like veins. They carry the theme throughout the piece and deliver it to the reader. Work Cited Ginsberg, Allen. "Footnote to Howl" and "Howl." The Portable Beat Reader. Ed. Ann Charters. New York: Penguin Books. 1992.