Comparing Ginsberg And Song Of Myself

American Poetry has evolved into a unique and established form of art. Walt Whitman’s pioneering style and untraditional subject matter, depicted in his renowned poem “Song of Myself,” has paved the way for many future American writers. Furthermore, his poem has had an enormous influence on Allen Ginsberg, whose controversial poem “Howl” echoes many of the characteristics of Whitman's verse. However, while the form and content of “Howl” may have been influenced by “Song of Myself,” Ginsberg's poem signifies a transformation of Whitman's use of the line, his first-person narration, and his vision of America. As Whitman's lines open outward in the voice of a universal speaker who creates a positive view of America, Ginsberg's poem does the opposite, …show more content…
It was a song of praise for the life that Whitman saw around him. Ginsberg took a similar approach, in both form and idea, with his poem, “Howl.” His work was truly a howl, of anguish, or fury. A song is meant to be sung, remembered and repeated but a howl is emitted without warning, and it immediately draws attention. The writing styles of Whitman and Ginsberg share similar characteristics, including: structure, language, and the portrayal of America during their respective time period. Whitman is more of a naturalist, but Ginsberg shows a sense of unhappiness with his surroundings and the American way of life in the 1950s and …show more content…
Solutide! Filth! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars! Children screaming under the stairways! Boys sobbing in armies! Old men weeping in the parks”(Ginsberg, 21). However, the main difference that is prominent between Ginsberg and Whitman is that Ginsberg is very “raw” in his expression. For instance, when he states “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the Negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix” (Ginsberg, 9). Ginsberg’s view on the world is illustrated as fractured, and torn apart, but fights to maintain an individual identity within the world. Whereas, Whitman is more hopeful for the world and his place in it for “the atmosphere is not a perfume, it has no taste of the distillation, it is odorless, It is for my mouth forever, I am in love with it, I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised and naked, I am mad for it to be in contact with me” (Whitman, 25). Whitman's work is more hopeful, filled with adoration for nature and praises for the