Question

Why do you think ginsberg titled the poem howl?

Answer 1

Howl appears to be a sprawling, disorganized poem. But it's not. It consists of three sections. Each of these sections is a prolonged "riff" on a single subject. You could even think of the poem as three enormous run-on sentences. The first section is by far the longest.

Answer 2

Because the poem speaks of a complete generation that seems to be lost in between a long gone era of prosperity and happiness (supposedly) and the new times that are filled with insincerity, uncertainty, pain, anguish, and depersonalization. It is as if the speaker, the poet, instead of singing the praise of his generation, was rather howling —crying loudly like a lost and mighty animal in the forest— at the lost potential —but potential nonetheless— of his literary generation.