Howl

Howl is a poem by Allen Ginsberg that was first performed in 1955 in the Six Gallery in San Francisco. It is noted for relating stories and experiences of his friends and contemporaries, its tumbling hallucinatory style, and the subsequent obscenity trial which it provoked. It is dedicated to Ginsberg's friend Carl Solomon, whom he met in a mental institution.

List of Obscure Things Mentioned in "Howl"

Not all things in Howl are easily understood by the common reader. Here is a glossary of terms that help out in reading the text:

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• Alchemy
• Amnesia
• Archangel
• Bebop
• Benzedrine
• Boxcar
• Buddha
• Capitalism and Communism
• Carl Solomon
• Catatonia
• Dada
• Daisy chain
• Edgar Allan Poe
• El
• Epiphany
• Fugazzi
• Gyzym
• Harlequin
• Hebrew
• Hydrotherapy
• Hypnotism
• Insulin
• Internationale
• Jehovah
• Kabbalah
• Lobotomy
• Metrazol
• Moloch
• Mustard gas
• Narcissus
• Nitroglycerine
• Norns
• Omen
• Opium
• Pater Omnipotens Aeterna Deus (Latin for Father Omnipotent Eternal God)
• Pederasty
• Peyote
• Ping pong
• Plotinus
• Reincarnation
• Seraphim
• Socialism and Fascism
• Solipsism
• Sphinx
• St John of the Cross
• Stanza
• Synagogue
• Syntax
• Telepathy
• Theology
• Turkish bath
• Turpentine
• The vibrating plane
• William Blake ("Blake-eyed")
• Zen