Ginsberg and Whitman

(Of personal note, I want to explore both of the poems in one question each, bringing them together for the final question -- otherwise, I would feel like I could not come to share my full thoughts on either in regards to the specific questions)

1. Ginsburg's "Howl" follows a pattern on lines that maintain a steady rhythm. The repetition of "who" within the structure of the poem connotes the title's act of "howling" or "yawping" -- it's a speech and a performance that seeks to express a higher message to its audience as it represents the people. Like Whitman, Ginsburg uses his poem "to recreate the syntax and measure of poor human prose and stand before you speechless and intelligent and shaking with shame, rejected yet confessing out the soul to conform to the rhythm of thought in his naked and endless head" ("Howl"). The "who", then, becomes the counterpart of "you" as the pronoun that brings in the reader, the people, as its subject. Unlike Whitman, however, Ginsburg focuses more on the "the best minds of my generation" as he lists out the many, many different characteristics and features that make up who they are and the experiences they encounter as "outcasts" of a capitalistic and conformist society. Also, each section that starts with who appears to have a sort of "beat" or rhythm to it as there's a momentum that leads the musicality to what sounds like iambic meter. Here, then, the syntax and form of the poem is more formal and in control as opposed to the free verse of Whitman that possessed its own varied rhythm and poetic feet. Nevertheless, especially after listening to Ginsburg read the poem, there is a speech-like, epic poetry style that can be traced to Whitman's style of performing his words, bending the role of poetry beyond paper -- beyond the standard, but distant relationship between reader and poet.

2. I thought I read "A Supermarket in California" somewhere recently, and it turned out that I took a look at it for the Whitman in Pop Culture assignment! Anyway, with some focus on the poem, one theme Ginsburg and Whitman share that stood out to me the most was the concept of isolation versus finding comradeship. The poem starts out with the speaker thinking of Whitman on a night stroll "with a headache subconscious". All the while, he notices Walt, "childless, lonely old grubber". When the two depart together, "solitary" is repeated a few times; their time together somehow does not erase the fact that "the trees add shade to shade, lights out in the houses, we'll both be lonely". Strangely, the all-embracing, intimate, and sensual Whitman seems to resemble the questioning, solemn Whitman of "Calamus". Going back to the title, it's as if the two men are observing from their distant, secluded place but also making a visit to the more open and populated supermarket where there are the most interactions made. Even more far-out is the reference to the ancient Greek Underworld and how the character of Whitman actually watched the ferryman of the Underworld steer the boat in a realm beyond human means. Perhaps Ginsburg hopes to evoke a sense of Whitman's situations of comradeship tending to thrive as outcasts of society, but needs to be openly expressed an shared -- though in Ginsburg's case it would be more subversive. To go more into the Greek mythology, I believe the River Lethe's waters cause forgetfulness. Could that suggest a desire to forget the rest of the world and remain in exile? Or rather, there is probably no choice -- otherwise, the two characters would have to conform to the unwilling society that rejects their camaraderie.

3. Ginsberg, a radical thinker of his time, voiced his thoughts and ideas through his poetry. As an opponent of capitalism and conformity, he writes as means to stir social unrest. Moreover, Ginsburg "the man" does not overextend as the main focus of each of these two poems -- in "Howl", he narrates and describes the stories of the outcasts who cannot openly express themselves while in "A Supermarket in California", he "interacts" with his muse representation of Whitman who serves as a representation of these similar outcasts. The poet, then, serves as the voice of these oppressed people and calls for reform.