XIII
Allen Ginsberg, influenced by William Carlos
Williams imagist concerns and was also influenced
by "Hebraic-Melvillian bardic breath". His most
famous poem, howl, written from his "soul's ear"
was directly inspired by a spiritual vision of Joan
Vollmer. In the poem, we see Ginsberg's "light of
mind" charge up images of "visionary Indian
angels" from "supernatural ecstasy" in the "starry
dynamo" of the night (Ferguson, Salter &
Stallworthy 1996). The anaphora and surrealist
metaphor of this poem give it a ghostly feel. Its
range, content and diction are untraditional and
give us a new vision of America. This shamanic
transformation of America’s continent is Ginsberg
crying out against a modern babel. In howl part II
this beast becomes the dark spirit moloch. Kerouac
compared the poem to “Jewish prophets of old”
(Hemmer, 2007), its mixture of disease and
mysticism align it with the shamanic process of
healing and spirit. The poem is filled with liberty,
honesty and sensuality to accentuate this process.
Ginsberg’s concern was Visionary experience,
authors often cite his “illuminative audition of
50