Each poet broke barriers with their poetry. According to the text, “T.S.Eliot’s The Wasteland…changed the course of American literal history.” (Harper 1992) The text also states, “Allen Ginsberg brought a raw new power into American poetry with the publication of Howl. Both poets are even compared to Whitman, in the sense that they were groundbreaking. According to the text, both men even lead similar lives. Both men attended Ivy League schools where they were misunderstood and much preferred writing for themselves than for a degree. Each man was cons

The main difference between Eliot’s The Wasteland and Ginsberg’s Howl is audience to whom they were addressing. Following World War I, there was obvious economic downfall and an overall feeling of depression. Eliot speaks directly to this sentiment. Ginsberg, on the other hand, wrote Howl following World War II. America had emerged as the most powerful nation on earth and Eisenhower was president. The nation felt justified in its actions, but Ginsberg saw something inherently wrong with this. According to the text, Ginsberg never followed the “norm.” He grew up “among Jewish socialists and communists.” (Harper 2445) This led him to believe that change was possible. While many people saw the greatness of America, Ginsberg was a keen observer of all that was going wrong. He begins Howl by stating “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.” (Ginsberg 2446) He goes on to describe drug and alcohol abuse along with a great deal of sexual subject matter.

The end to Ginsberg’s Howl seems to closely mirror that of Eliot’s The Wasteland. Each poet refers to God, and more specifically, to the period leading up His crucifixion, and the crucifixion itself. The final section of The Wasteland, What Thunder Said, there is an uproar of thunder, but no rain. The first stanza refers to Jesus’ agony in the garden, his betrayal by Judas, his judgement by Pontius Pilate, and his crucifixion. “After the agony in stony places/ the shouting and the crying/ prison and palace and reverberation/ of thunder of spring over distant mountains/ he who was living is now dead.” (Eliot 2013) In line 393, a cock crows, “Co co rico co co rico/ in a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust/ brin

Some topics in this essay:
Burial Dead, Eliot’s Wasteland, War II, Pontius Pilate, Eliot’s Ginsberg, Ginsberg’s Howl, Ivy League, World War, II America, America Ginsberg, world war, ginsberg’s howl, eliot’s wasteland, overall feeling, war ii, world war ii, according text, howl world war, harsh reality, similarly ginsberg, wrote howl, howl world, wrote howl world,