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Whitman
In the Preface to his compendium of poems, Whitman celebrates the role of the poet as a seer, a visionary, and as a "president of regulation." The latter phrase retains the same joyous tone of "Song of Myself," and the same seeming self-indulgence. A few lines earlier Whitman claims that the if poet "breathes into any thing that was before thought small it dilates with the grandeur and life of the universe."
As the president of regulation, the poet has the right and the privilege to censor subjects or withhold commentary on a desired topic. The "president of regulation" comment likely reflects Whitman's response to critiques of his work and attempts to censor it. Whitman also reserves the right to ramble in his characteristic style because he is the president of regulation and needs no editor.
The line also follows Whitman's assertion that poets are "not one of the chorus." The poet is a self-regulator. Moreover, Whitman notes that poets do not need to defend themselves. As "presidents of regulation," poets possess enough power to triumph through adversity through their art alone. "The presence of the great poet conquers -- not parleying, or struggling, or any prepared attempts."
2. The first portion of "Song of Myself" describes the narrator's encounter with a runaway slave. Here, Whitman places the narration in historical context while making overt social commentary and declaring his political views. When he states, "he staid with me a week" the narrator emphasizes his role in helping the runaway reach safety. He not only "brought water and filled a tub for his sweated body and bruised feet," but he "gave him a room that entered from my own." The latter is a significant line, showing the narrator's empathy, his willingness to help a perfect stranger and let him sleep so near to his own bed for a week or however long the man needed to rest before reaching the North.
Moreover, Whitman's spelling of the word "staid" is sometimes changed to "stayed" but as the poet wrote it the term can be taken two ways. The word "staid" means sedate or calm and the narrator possibly alludes to the overall tone of the anecdote, the amicable way the two men related at that pivotal moment in their lives.
In "Song of Myself," the longest and most complex of the three poems from Leaves of Grass, Whitman celebrates not only the self, but also the self with, and among others. This poem has 52 separate sections, each of them uniquely rich in imagery; theme; setting; sensory impressions, and sensuality. Section 1 of the poem, for example, freely celebrates Whitman's "Self": his essence, health, body, individuality, and joy of living,
American poetry is dependent on Walt Whitman's arguments about democracy and the political role of the poet. This is a very interesting proposition, one I had not considered before, and I was excited to read the essay and analyze the arguments made by the author to substantiate the claims that Whitman's views on democracy and the political role of a poet need to be understood in order to comprehend
Walt Whitman, American Author & Poet About his Life: Walt Whitman, an American poet was born on May 31, 1819 and a son of Long Island and the second son of Walter Whitman, a house builder, and Louisa Van Velsor. It was at the age of twelve Whitman began to learn the printer's trade, and become acquainted with the works of Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Then at the age of 17,
Rousseau, Douglass, both prose writers; Whitman, Tennyson and Wordsworth, all three, poets. What bind them together, what is their common denominator? Nationalism, democracy, love for the common man, singing praises for the ordinary man on the street, fighting for the rights of the poor, seeking the liberation of the downtrodden from oppression, glorifying the human being - man! These are elements that are common to them. Jean Jacques Rousseau Consider Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Whitman Lens Walt Whitman -- From a Different Perspective Walt Whitman was inspired by the Transcendentalist Movement which was something of an offshoot of the Romantic Movement. As such, Whitman was something of a positive character who embraced diversity and especially democracy. In the preface to Leaves of Grass he wrote "The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem." He was unfettered in his ability to tackle some of the more
American National Character What characteristics are distinctly American, regardless of class, race, background? What is problematic about making these generalizations and inheriting the culture? What have we inherited exactly? What problems arise with our ideals - and are we being honest with ourselves? Discuss individualism and the "American Dream." Are these goals realized and are they realistic? This paper seeks answers to those questions. The Puritans (The American Puritans: Their Prose