Howl and Spirituality

A detailed Summary of Howl and Spirituality

Peter J. Graves word count: 884

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 Ginsberg considers not to be holy and he refers to as Moloch. As it is stated in Ginsberg's "Footnote To Howl," "The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy! The nose is/ holy! The tongue and cock and hand and asshole holy! / Everything is Holy! Everybody's holy! Everywhere is holy!" (3-5).

Sexuality is a theme that runs throughout the entire poem. It is not an uptight sexuality of the 1950's culture but a liberated one. And this sexual imagery, that mostly takes place in the first part of the poem, constantly refers to spirituality and the divine. The poem reads, "who let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and/ screamed with joy, / who blew and were blow

Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is

where fifty more shocks will never return you soul to its

whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a

The 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.

Moloch whose name is the mind! (262-73)

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1020
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion

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Howl and Spirituality

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