"Ginsberg's Inferno: Dante and "Howl"" by Jeffrey MeyersIn "Howl" Ginsberg places his own revolutionary poetry of suffering--his portrayal of outcast homosexuals and drug addicts, the insane and suicidal--in opposition to the traditional values of society. At the same time he uses Dante's scholastic philosophy, fearful punishments and circles of Hell as the foundation of his own poem, to heighten yet control the personal guilt and terror in his frenzied lamentation. Ginsberg, a star performer of his own work, emphasized the agonized howl in "Howl" As the chanted poem leaped off the page, he made his ecstatic audience understand how Dante's Inferno deepens the intellectual content, tightens the structure and enhances the theme of his poignant poem.