Allen Ginsberg's Motivation for writing Howl
Richard Eberhart, the Pulitzer Prize winning poet of 1966, remarks, "Ginsberg's Howl ushered in a new generation." Many 20th century poets have attested to the freeing effect that Ginsberg's poetry had upon them in the late fifties. But to allege that Ginsberg's Howl "ushered in a new generation" of poetry is to degrade the true historical impact of his poetry. (Breslin 225) However, "Throughout the long history, poetry has relied on evolving rules about what a poem is, with new kinds of poetry building on earlier kinds to create greater possibilities of expression"(qtd in Where the Arts Live n pag.). Thus when Ginsberg Composes Howl he is merely building a castle from the materials created by those who preceded him
Poetry can trace its origins the to origination of Man. Anthropologists have theorized that the first spoken words were made [merely] because of the musical quality or lyrical quality(Sherriffs, Poetry Discussion). Then, when humans were first able to string sounds together to form words and to compose complex words with multiple syllables they were in fact composing the first poems. Early poems were used not only to entertain but also to preserve history, as was the case

Both would prove to be the premise for scholarly debate but Ginsberg did comment, " I am no longer bored by life in general (as mentioned in a previous year) because of my extra-curricular activities. I haven't the time to be bored"(Ginsberg, Allen, Early Journal Entries, May 1941). However, his extracurricular activities were the likely cause of Ginsberg's lack of boredom, his mothers deteriorating condition was enough.

Allen Ginsberg was born on June 3, 1926 in Newark New Jersey. He was a fairly unremarkable child. The second of two sons, Ginsberg grew up in a family defined by "poetry and unconventional politics"(Schumacher 4). Both of his parents were raised in orthodox Judea faith however by the time of Ginsberg's birth both had renounced their faith. Ginsberg's mother was born in Soviet Russia and was a strong Communist supporter. Ginsberg's mother would argue politics with any opposing view regardless of their socio-economic standing. Her communist convictions were so strong that for several summers Ginsberg was shipped to a Communist camp where he would learn how to be a proper member of of a communist community(Schumacher 20-24). Regardless of his family eccentricities, Ginsberg was a very lonely youth. He maintained a journal from the time he was a eleven. On May 22, 1938 Ginsberg reflected upon his life.

"It's a wild rhapsodic, explosive outpouring with good figures of speech flashing by in its volcanic rushing. Its a hot geyser of emotion suddenly released in wild abandon from subterranean depths of your being"(Ginsberg, Luis 29 Feb 1956). This was Louis Ginsberg's first reaction to reading the manuscript of Part one of Howl. This letter was sent a a mere 2 months after the first public reading of Howl in December of 1955 in San Francisco. The reaction of Louis Ginsberg appears to be supportive but it was not the reaction Ginsberg had anticipated: In a in 1966 interview Ginsberg gave in Lawrence, Kansas, Ginsberg explained the personal trauma he underwent when sending his father Howl. "...when I wrote Howl. I didn't expect to publish it. I was concerned with my father seeing all that ... That was the source of my pressure my fathers disapproval. (Ginsberg, Allen 11 Feb 1966). However, his father did not disapprove. The harshest words of criticism Louis Ginsberg says about Howl was said in a May 27, 1956 correspondence to Ginsberg.