Howl" by Allen Ginsberg

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,

angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,

Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" is a landmark poem of the Beat generation, a searing indictment of American society and its values. The language is raw and unfiltered, full of vivid and often shocking imagery. The poem is structured in long, breathless lines that build to a frenzied climax, reflecting the sense of urgency and desperation that permeates the poem. Ginsberg's use of repetition and anaphora adds to the overall effect, making the poem feel like a kind of chant or incantation.