Walt Whitman Essays (Examples)

Walt Whitman and Herman Melville

"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" and "Bartleby the Scrivener"

Walt Whitman's poem "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" and Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" are set in New York City during the early years of the industrial revolution, but are markedly different in tone, theme and the perceptions and feelings of the main characters. Melville's characters exist without joy, love or hope, and merely drag themselves through a life of drudgery and alienation, without making any human connections to each other or to nature. Mankind in Bartleby's world is simply trapped in a pointless existence that ends with death, and unlike Whitman's narrator they are unable to rise above this grim, mundane world or imagine a common link with others or with the past and the future. Rather than simply being tools and machines carrying out routine, white-collar tasks, Whitman's narrator finds the resources within himself to transform…

This lack of tradition is what makes hitman seem slightly worried towards the middle of the poem. He seems adamant to remind the audience that, though this technology is amazing and beautiful in its own way, we should not allow it to eclipse the wonders of the past. Much of this poem can serve as a warning to make sure that we also bring along our poetic sensibilities as we embark on the path to the future since it is this poetic sense and the soul that brings us to new heights even as we feel we have reached the pinnacle of achievement with amazing machines.

The connection of man to nature is also of great concern to hitman as he writes "Passage to India." In the fourth passage, hitman sees two physical worlds, "of tableaus twain" (43); one is the ancient and rich world of the East, the other…

In "Song of Myself," the longest and most complex of the three poems from Leaves of Grass, hitman 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 hitman's "Self": his essence, health, body, individuality, and joy of living, as well as the collective "self" and selves within others: "I celebrate myself and sing myself,... For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you."

Subsequent sections of "Song of Myself," elaborate, by using diverse images, metaphors, and sensory impressions, upon the essential themes suggested within the first section: the individual; the "collective" individual (the individual's identification with other "selves," both within and outside of that individual); one's soul; one's separate senses; and one's relationships with and enjoyment…

The full tragedy of war is expressed in the longer narrative poem "Come Up From the Fields, Father." This poem tells the story about a family who receives a letter from their son, Pete, who is fighting in the war. It soon becomes clear, however, that the letter is not from Pete at all. hitman brilliantly draws this out by pointing out, from the perspective of one of the family members, that this does not seem to be Pete's handwriting. Eventually, the family comes to learn that Pete has been seriously injured in battle. By the end of the poem, it becomes clear that the family will never see their Pete again. Much of the emotional impact of the poem stems from hitman's description of the Mother's tragic reaction to the news:

But the mother needs to be better,

She with thin form presently drest in black,

By day her…

His constant use of the firs person "I" also shows the strong independent streak in Whitman's character and poetry. "Song of Myself" makes it very clear that this independence is not born of ego, nor does it desire or require isolation. ather, the independence and freedom of the repeated "I" is of a part with the nature and society that the speaker observes, which ironically seems to call the individuality of the "I" into question even as it is being celebrated by the speaker.

Critics have wondered whether or not Whitman went through a transformative experience that affected his style, making it as unique but not until his middle age, but no agreement has been reached on this point.

Quotes:

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems."

You are also asking me questions and I hear you, answer that I cannot…

"(Krupp, 44) I think that Whitman's stance is extremely important for my studies and my future development as an individual. On the one hand, the poet's admonition indicates that the study of the spiritual development of humanity is equally significant and useful as the progress of technology and the exact sciences. The human spirit can not be comfortable if it becomes alienated from the true contact with its environment. Thus, in my opinion, studying the human development and the social science is a crucial endeavor for mankind. Humanity has to stay in close contact with its own spirituality and with its own nature, and thus be able to genuinely relate to the surrounding world. Exact sciences are likely to alienate the individual from his environment, if he does not maintain a keen awareness to his spirituality and his nature as a thinking, animated being.

eferences

Krupp, E.C. (2006) "Antagonized by…

Furthermore however, he also understands them. He for instance sympathizes with everything and everyone from older times through today's times. He understands the joys and sorrows of all living things, from a simple leaf to a complex human being. And even in terms of human beings, he understands their complexities. He for instance sympathizes with a stay-at-home woman or with a priest. He also understands the cyclic character of life. At the end of the section, the general dies, but this does not cause the end of the battle, just its continuation under different circumstances, with the necessity to move on and adjust to new situations.

6 / S35 and 36: Both sections 35 and 36 tell the story of the marine encounter between Richard Bonhomme and the English Serapis, from the angle of the winner -- the Americans. The 35th section is focused on the actual battle, whereas the…

Walt Whitman's ten-line free verse poem, "A Noiseless Patient Spider" combines metaphor and metaphysics to convey a sense of meaning and wonderment. Whitman draws parallels between the mysterious arachnid and the equally nebulous human soul. The action of spinning and weaving webs becomes a workable metaphor for Whitman's spiritual conception of the human desire to understand the cosmos and our place within it. The spider builds webs that link disparate places; so does the soul. The soul forges bridges that connect people, time, space, and ideas. The spider itself is unaware of the splendor and beauty it creates, for its web serves simply as a way to catch food. It does not realize that its lure provides a visual representation of the mystical nature of the soul.

Whitman inspires healthy self-awareness with his deep observations of the spider and its web. He witnesses in the miraculous creature his own soul…

alt hitman

One major theme in hitman is what he frankly refers to as "the love of comrades…the manly love of comrades." (hitman, "A Song"). Although alt hitman is frequently but inaccurately claimed as a "gay" poet -- even though Leaves of Grass was published decades before the words "gay" or "homosexual" had entered the English lexicon -- it is clear that the role this plays in his writing is political. hitman wrote in a country that was still a democratic experiment: "Song of Myself" predates the U.S. Civil ar, which nearly caused the utter failure of that democratic experiment.

As we live in a historical moment when we can witness the struggles of democracy worldwide, it is particularly interesting to consider hitman's emotional (and possibly even sexual) commitment to the idea of democracy. Maire Mullins notes that hitman made great use of the contemporary pseudoscience of phrenology, the practice…

alt hitman, American Author & Poet

About his Life:

alt hitman, an American poet was born on May 31, 1819 and a son of Long Island and the second son of alter hitman, a house builder, and Louisa Van Velsor. It was at the age of twelve hitman 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, in 1836, he started his career as a teacher in Long Island and continued until in 1841, he took journalism as a full-time career. In 1848, hitman became editor of the New Orleans Crescent.

In the fall of 1848, he returned to Brooklyn, and founded a "free soil" newspaper, the Brooklyn Freeman, and continued to expand the distinctive style of poetry. However, it was in 855 that he took out a copyright and published the volume himself…

alt hitman was the type of person who makes it possible for society to change its perspective on a lot of things. By introducing innovative theories and by encouraging people to be open-minded hitman actually played an important role in assisting the masses as they experienced progress. Even with the fact that many (the majority of his contemporaries) considered his works to be eccentric and deviant at times, he is partly responsible for assisting the U.S. go through a rebirth process when considering things from a point-of-view involving literature.

One of the most intriguing concepts about hitman was that he was obsessed with reaching out to common people in an attempt to have them acknowledge the importance of changing most of their attitudes. The poet practically considered that literature could be used as a tool that could change many things about the social order and that could influence individuals to…

Whitman uses simile effectively ("The glories strung like beads on my smallest sights and hearings") and uses metaphors effectively to link himself with others that have crossed the river in the past ("The dark threw its patches down upon me also…") because he certainly wasn't and isn't perfect at all so he had a metaphor for that ("I too knitted the old knot of contrariety…"). Melville's narrator, whose work is brilliant but a bit tedious, can slip personification, a metaphor and a simile into the same sentence for effect. For example, talking about Turkey, a previous employee ("a temperate young man") the narrator explains that "…nature herself seemed to have been his vintner, and at his birth charged him so thoroughly with an irritable, brandy-like disposition, that all subsequent potations were needless." Melville's narrator seems to have an obsession to either understand Bartleby, or at least be able to rationalize…

alt hitman and Emily Dickinson project, in their poetry, an individual identity that achieves its power from within, thus placing a premium on the individual self. Ironically, this premium on the individual self was very much in vogue in America at the time; from Emerson to the early pioneers of 19th century industrialism. As a result, their projections of individual power were greatly influenced by the culture in which they live in. This is just one way in which cultural power influences individual power. Another way this occurs in their poetry has to do with their treatment of gender. America during the late 19th century can be characterized as a time of great social upheaval, but also as a time when gender roles were still very much strictly prescribed. Both hitman and Dickinson, while challenging the cultural assumptions about gender in the late 19th century, also project an individual identity,…

alt hitman's "Song of Myself" continues to evoke strong emotions because of the paradox inherent in the juxtaposition between egotism on the one hand and selfless idealism on the other. The poem therefore encapsulates what it means to be an American, which is why other American poets -- and indeed poets from around the world -- have responded to "Song of Myself" poignantly. hen hitman penned "Song of Myself," the poet was imbuing verse with powerful social commentary that belies the relatively simple diction, tone, and style used. The poet reacts to the troubles in 19th century America, including but not limited to slavery and racism, urbanization and capitalism. hitman draws attention to the fact that the United States has built itself as an ideal: "the hand of God is the promise of my own." Yet that ideal has been stymied by the struggle for equality, epitomized most noticeably and…

alt hitman's poetry is unique in American literature. He used imagery of nature to transcend genre. Most of his works deal with individual human emotion, such as love or lust or hate. However, he also used these techniques to create beautiful images of individual people. Another characteristic of many of hitman's poetry is the use of cataloging or listing of moments which all relate back to the central theme of the given poem. In hitman's poetry, whether it be nature-themed or autobiographical piece, the stanzas are all tasked with proving the initial thesis of the given piece. In his poem, "O Captain! My Captain!," hitman uses his characteristics writing techniques to catalog the emotion of the American citizen after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

In the first stanza of the poem, hitman discusses the happiness of the people as they celebrate the end of the Civil ar and the reunification…

It permeates all, the Past as well as the Present, and it is the grandest triumph of the human intellect." (Walt Whitman, 1166)

In the poem under discussion, we notice how ordinary the language in its meaning. Its simplicity is what makes it comparable to a blue song.

The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing

For Whitman simplicity of language was very important. He had come to the conclusion that deep down every man thinks and feels the same way. Whether we use very sophisticated language or very simple one, in both cases the feelings expressed are the same. Thus he preferred to use simpler one in order to reach the masses and to make poetry more accessible to…

Hear America Singing, alt hitman is able to capture the industrial spirit of the times. In the poem, hitman is able to demonstrate how each profession and industry described contributes to a grander purpose without diminishing the importance of each individual. Furthermore, hitman uses the motif of songs to unify work life and nightlife. In "I Hear America Sing," hitman demonstrates how a common goal drives people to help make society and their individual lives better.

James E. Miller, Jr. contends, "I Hear America Singing" presents an image of America that America would like to believe true -- an image of proud and healthy individualists engaged in productive and happy labor" ("On "I Hear America Singing"). hitman's vision of a unified and productive society is evident from the start of the poem as hitman establishes that although he hears individuals singing different songs, they are all the voice of America.…

New America

alt hitman's Vision

hitman's favorite subject was most likely America, as well as the various concepts he believed that it embodied. He was radical in the sense that he used prose that was an example of free verse that had didn't fit in any pre-made template. I his poem "I Hear America Singing" he portrayed his transcendent beliefs about the people and work[footnoteRef:1]. [1: (hitman, N.d.)]

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, The wood-cutter's…

Heard the Learned Astronomer

Walt Whitman's poems draw upon many aspects of the natural world. Whitman as a poet is obsessed with the beauty of the natural scenery and also the beauty of the body. Thus, to some extent I find the subject matter of "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer" to be rather strange, given that it depicts a very negative view of a scientist. In the poem, the poet listens to a lecture by a supposedly learned astronomer who has a very pedantic view of the cosmos. The astronomer understands all of the mathematical aspects of the stars, but only the poet can go outside and appreciate the stars' natural beauty. Even the astronomer's audience is cold, enclosed within a lecture hall, rather than out in nature appreciating the stars as, the poet implies, they should be.

This Whitman poem seems to suggest a clear division between nature…

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 contemporary American poetry.

While I was initially drawn to the subject because I believed it was going to focus on Whitman's definition of democracy and the political role of the poet, I was unsure about what the paper was going to be about because there did not appear to be a clearly defined thesis. I thought perhaps the author was going to explain how creativity is a political act because the author argued that creativity requires that an individual open up…

"

And had Bucke never read any of hitman's earlier poetry (Leaves of Grass, for example) "we might think that words could not convey greater passion" than they did in Drum-Taps (p. 171). "But now we know better," he went on. The "splendid faith" of hitman's earlier poems is "greatly dimmed" in Drum-Taps, he insists. Bucke writes that he was told by a person "who knew the poet well, and who was living in ashington when 'Drum-Taps' were being composed, that he has seen alt hitman…turn aside into a doorway or other out-of-the-way place on the street…" (p. 171).

Once out of the bustle of the busy street, hitman would take out his notebook, Bucke continues, write some lines to Drum-Taps "…and while he was so doing he has seen the tears run down [hitman's] cheeks. I can well believe this, for there are poems in Drum Taps that can…

Dickinson, however, approaches art and nature in a much different way. She does not attempt to assert herself or set herself up as "Amerian Poet" the way that hitman does. Instead she wrote her poetry without ever once doing so for fame or fortune. She meditated on her relationship to her surroundings, her understanding of beauty, her admiration for truth, her appreciation of the essence of things. "The Sailor cannot see the North, but knows the Needle can," she wrote in 1862. She considered Death and Judgment as actual realities, doorways to Eternity, rather than the ending of existence. Dickinson looked beyond the here and now, beyond the fleeting feelings of transcendental poetry, to the Infinite. Her fascination with mortality produced vivid images and verses: "Because I could not stop for Death, / He kindly stopped for me; / the carriage held but just ourselves / and Immortality." Because she…

In other words, hitman is seeking to illustrate why the personal identity of the woman or himself is unimportant regarding the events of the poem. hile it may have seemed important in the beginning of the events that the woman was the woman and hitman was hitman, by the end of this progression, these distinctions are meaningless. This is one of the fundamental obstacles to defining personal identity: sameness with one's self at any given instant fails to necessarily imply sameness at another point and time. It may be possible to argue that man's body carries something singular with itself through time, but this may have no relation to mental identity. This is the reason why the problem of identity finds itself at the crossroads of epistemology and metaphysics, or of thought and physicality. hitman position is that this individuality is indeed transient, and it lacks any real meaning from…

Noiseless Patient Spider" by Walt Whitman

Who is the speaker in this poem? What are his/her concerns/feelings? What words in the poem give you this impression of the speaker?

The speaker of "A Noiseless Patient Spider" by Walt Whitman is the poet himself. The poet is watching a spider weave its web and muses about how this is a metaphor for his own soul seeking out new things.

Does the poem convey any particular sensory images (sight, smell, sound)? What words convey that image?

The language of the poem suggests unfurling and unreeling through the use of repetition and alliteration when describing the spider: "It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, / Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them." The focus of the poem is on visual elements, as Whitman is observing the spider.

Q3. Is there a message in the poem? What words convey that message?

Whitman…

hitman and Dickinson

During the conflict and celebration period in America, different authors started to write differently than what had been written by other people. They embraced modern writing styles and broke them with traditional writing styles. Emily Dickson and alt hitman are among these writers. They adopted new styles of writing to express American ideas uniquely. Although both writers are regarded as modern writers, their writing styles can be contrasted and compared in many ways (Moores, 22).

There are more differences in the styles of writing used by hitman and Dickinson than similarities. To begin with, a significant difference can be observed in the structuring of their poems. Looking at hitman, his poems appear to run repeatedly. His poems do not have set lengths, lines or even stanzas. On the other hand, Dickinson's poems have been written using a definite structure. She has written her poems using ballad stanzas…

Equality was coming about at the time of this poem, but merica still had a long ways to go, yet Whitman seemed to be able to see how people could be equal and happy in their own ways.

In all of this equality that Whitman was describing, one can see how men and women were still not on equal ground at the time of the poem. Whitman relates men to their job and work, yet the women seem to only be related to the men and are only very briefly mentioned near the end of the poem. Women are doing household chores, rather than labor, which they will be paid in money for. Their payment is instead the satisfaction of their accomplishments at home and what they can do for their home life.

It's also interesting that the men are the only people having a good time near the end…

Like Emerson, hitman found beauty symbols of American future progress, even in industrial America and standardized and homogenized modern progress like the "Locomotive in inter": "For once come serve the Muse and merge in verse, even as here I see thee," cries hitman, celebrating the terrible, beautiful, awesome power of the moving train cars. hitman finds inspiration in the man-made device, as well as terror. He optimistic, like Emerson, in this poem about the possibility of progress to create something exciting, but hitman is more tolerant of ambivalence. Emerson says he is willing to contradict himself, but hitman actually does in spirit, loving the terror of the locomotive, even while he is wary of it, and what it represents.

As a poet, hitman was always aware that paradox is part of human life. Not even nature was perfect. Nature could be terrible, wild, and wonderful, unlike the natural and quieter…

The spider is working upon a canvas, referring to it as an "Arc of hite" (Dickinson 3) and the mood of the poem is that the spider is quite content to be this way. The spider is working at night and it is the only thing that can contribute to his project. The spider is grounded in his task and while it might look as though there is no planning involved, the poet realizes the spider does have a strategy. The spider is not simply building a bridge but it is also creating a legacy. The mention of the "ruff of dame" (4) and "the Shroud of gnome" (5) illustrate this. It is also worth noting that the spider is projecting itself into its work and this is its "physiognomy" (10). The work is well done so that it seems permanent, like out personal efforts in the world should be.…

But this experience does allow him to make the case that all men should at least seek themselves, however the shape of their respective lives allow this. This is the universality that permeates the transcendental movement and touches on the romanticism of poet alt hitman. Like Emerson, his work would reflect a distinctly American mode of individualism. It would be from this spirit that he would draw on his own experiences as having some meaning beyond his own identity. e find immediately that hitman's work as deeply progressive for its time. From a literary and philosophical perspective, its willingness to reflect on the soul with abstraction and metaphor would show hitman's work to be bold in its expressive liberties. A 'problem' to be construed by the individual reader emerges from this liberty with respect to traditional definitions of the 'soul' in western literature and hitman's more elaborate understanding of the…

The poet is in turmoil and he turns from his love in order to prevent tarnishing or "spoil" (Pound 2) her because she is surrounded by a "new lightness" (3). This poem reflects upon the importance of experience. Like the poets mentioned before, this poet wants us to consider every aspect of our actions. e should not only think of what we want to do but also how that desire and acting upon it will alter our lives. Robert Frost is focused upon the experience of nature. In "Dust of Snow," the poet brings poetry to life as if it were music. hen we read:

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree (Frost 1-4)

Here the poet wants to explore rather than embark on some discovery. These writers are different in their individuals styles but they each desire to connect with…

Dickinson writes in short lines, Whitman in long. Why do these choices seem appropriate for their particular subject matters. Refer to particular poems of each poet to exemplify your points and your own poems to suggest how what you learned in writing them might help you in understanding the choices of the poets. Don't forget, this is an essay and as such requires a thesis as to why the consideration of this topic matters, not in some perfunctory way but how you have found a way to view it meaningfully.

It is interesting that both Dickinson's poetry and Whitman's poetry mimic the character of the respective writers. Dickinson was introverted and abrupt to the point of eccentricity. Her poems too are abrupt and introverted. Whitman, on the other hand, was an extrovert… Verbose and chatty his poems are such too. The poems too may reflect Dickinson's expression of futility to…

hitman Lens

alt hitman -- From a Different Perspective

alt hitman was inspired by the Transcendentalist Movement which was something of an offshoot of the Romantic Movement. As such, hitman 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 controversial topics of his day; culture, sexuality, beliefs, and religion. In the 1872 preface he writes[footnoteRef:1]: [1: (Harris)]

The people must begin to learn that religion, (like poetry,) is something far, far different from what they supposed. It is, indeed, too important to the power and perpetuity of the New orld to be consign'd any longer to the churches, old or new, Catholic or Protestant Saint this, or Saint that. It must be consign'd henceforth to democracy en…

hitman, Harper, Alcott

American literature in the nineteenth century is necessarily concerned with democracy: by the time of the U.S. Civil ar the American democratic experiment was not even a century old, and as a result writers remained extremely sensitive until the end of the century toward questions of whether America was capable of living up to the high ideals that it had set for itself in its founding documents. An examination of some representative nineteenth century American works -- hitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," Harper's "A Double Standard" and "The Deliverance," and Louisa May Alcott's story "ork" -- will demonstrate that the failings of American democracy were a subject all these writers had in common.

hitman is commonly thought of as the poet who champions American democracy, but "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is a poem that contains grave doubts. e note this most obviously as hitman's long flowing stanzas suddenly dry…

" (Meg hitman: Powerful, fearless and annoying) She is also considering standing for the governorship of California in 2010.

However, in addition to her astounding range of business and corporate achievements, an interesting aspect that emerges from a study of her life and working methods is that she is not a distant and aloof 'master of the universe'. Rather, her entrepreneurial vision and her ability to understand and respond to people are derived largely from a concern and interest in interaction and communication with others. Her personality and family life also suggests a warm and interesting individual. It is possibly these human qualities and her ability to connect with the needs of the customer that are the qualities that have made her one of the most successful business figures in the world today.

orks Cited

Business Biographies: Meg hitman. November 10, 2008. http://www.answers.com/topic/meg-whitman

Clark a. eBay boss quits to give…

Meg Whitman from eBay

Meg Whitman, dubbed the "Czarina of Net auctions" by Business Week, is the CEO and mastermind behind the success of eBay, Incorporated.

The underdog of the internet auction world, eBay has outrun its three major competitors, Amazon, Yahoo!, and ycos, all internet giants with more reason to win than the startup company perpetually threatened by phony auctions, frauds, and technical glitches.

Through determination and shrewd business skills, Whitman was able to secure hold of the fast-growing Internet auction industry by focusing on her customers and the viability of her profit margin.

At 43 years of age, the auctioneer giant is already worthy more than $900 million as CEO and President of eBay.

Whitman began her career as an online auctioneer from the privacy of her home as someone who began a website for trading Pez dispensers but carefully manipulated her personal and business history to tailor…

Leadership Style of Meg Whitman

Meg Whitman is the Chief Executive Officer at Hewlett-Packard (HP). This is a computer manufacturing firm based in California, USA. She started working at Hewlett Packard way back in 1989, but it is from the year 2009 that she became the CEO of this company. During her youth, she attended Harvard Business School where she got the true learning about leadership. Outside the business field, she also involved herself in politics at some point by vying for the Governor's post in California. She also managed to win the primaries in 2010 but lost the gubernatorial race. Meg Whitman is among the wealthiest women in America with a value of 1.9 billion U.S. dollars. She is also seen to be the most influential woman in the corporate circle. Her stint at HP is the most remarkable. She has turned around HP's fortunes for the better (Whitman,…

alt hitman grew to fame in America for writing poems that were as long and as sprawling as his very strides throughout the wide walks of the country itself. In this respect, his poem "A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Grey and Dim" is very much different. It is certainly one of the poet's shorter works, and is not as ambitious as others he has written. And although the poem is set in a natural environment in the woods (which is a characteristic of many of the author's poems), its theme is not nearly as triumphant and as supportive of the country which his works were known to champion. An analysis of the language in this poem reveals that hitman carefully constructs elements of alliteration, anaphora and figurative language to express a dismay in America and in the form of religion that principally represented the country.

This particular poem…

Death brings the poet closer to a sense of peace with life. As part of the earth, death will return him back to the earth. He writes:

depart as air -- I shake my white locks at the runaway sun; effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.

A bequeathe myself to the dirt, to grow from the grass I love;

If you want me again, look for me under your boot-soles. (1334-7)

Here the poet is expressing that he is comfortable with death and dying and it seems as though he is encouraging the reader to be at peace with death as well.

Being at peace with death does not always mean being immune to the pain it brings. e see the poet's reaction to death in "hen Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." Abraham Lincoln is forever connected to the Civil ar and in this…

American poet Walt Whitman, "One's-Self I Sing," "Song of Myself" #s 1,6,9,10,12,14,15,31,33, and 52, and "Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field one Night." Specifically, it will reflect on three pieces of work and show what is going on in historical context, information about the author, what period he wrote these works, and how these works reflect personal experience.

Walt Whitman wrote during the Civil War, and he wrote much about the horrors of battle, and losing one's family, which clearly shows in "Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field one Night." In this poem, the narrator keeps vigil over his dead son, and then buries him, which thousands of Americans were doing as the Civil War wore on. The language of the poem is rich and emotional, "Vigil final for you brave boy, (I could not save you, swift was your death, / I faithfully loved you and cared…

Song of Myself

Section 24 of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is so strong, yet so subtle. As forceful as the words are, Whitman also takes a passive tone in revealing himself through the verses. Section 24 starts out by describing the poet by name:

Walt Whitman, a kosmos...Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating, drinking and breeding....Through me forbidden voices....I believe in the flesh and the appetites, Seeing, hearing, feeling, are miracles....Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch or am touch'd from, The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer....If I worship one thing more than another it shall be the spread of my own body, or any part of it....I dote on myself, there is that lot of me and all so luscious, Each moment and whatever happens thrills me with joy."

Whitman describes his own personal relationship with everything else in the world.…

Jones

The Hidden Self:

The poetry of Matthew Arnold and alt hitman

Helen Vendler wrote that a work of poetry "offers a personal sense of the world" (Vendler, 287). Of all the themes of poetry, the personal quest for a sense of "true self," and authenticity -- the essence of true being is one of the most prevalent. Indeed, much of the poetry of Matthew Arnold and alt hitman is an excellent example of this theme -- specifically in how the self, the world, and true reality of life is an immense struggle to behold. Specifically, the poems, The Buried Life (Arnold), and Are You The New Person, Drawn Toward Me?, Ah, Poverty, incings, Sulking Retreats, and Sulkings, and In Paths Untrodden (hitman), seem to show most clearly how both of these men sensed, searched for, and struggled to maintain a sense of self amid the world.

Of all the…

Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

"hen I Heard a Learn'd Astronomer" by alt hitman is a lyrical poem consisting of just eight lines, one single stanza, and was first published in Leaves of Grass in 1855 (hitman 340). The poem begins with the same line as the title of the poem. hitman is known for repeating his title as the first line in his poetry as it is a way to give extra emphasis to the line (and title). "hen I heard a learn'd astronomer" as the title and first line leaves the reader without any sort of doubt about what the narrator is doing: he is listening to someone of intelligence and importance. However, it can also be suggested that hitman is using the clipped version of learned (i.e., 'learn'd) sarcastically (i.e., he is "learned" -- at least that is what people think).

There is also the fact in the…

O Captain

Three Themes in "O Captain! My Captain!"

alt hitman wrote "O Captain! My Captain!" In 1865 and it serves as an elegy to the President Lincoln, who had just been assassinated. As a patriotic American and the "poet of America" (as he called himself), hitman was duty-bound to mourn the loss of the 16th U.S. president in verse. That he did so in a way completely opposite from his free verse "Song of Myself" -- the poem dedicated to himself and the spirit of freedom and license -- is telling. Lincoln, the "captain" of America during the critical time of the Civil ar, represented order, structure and unity. These elements serve as the foundation of hitman's "O Captain!" which deals with three themes in its three stanzas: a mission, fatherhood, and death. This paper will analyze these themes and show how they are brought about.

The theme of…

new world poetry, because it draws many connections between Walt Whitman's original work and the new world poetry that he predicted. The introduction was especially interesting to think about because we tend to believe that modern society has progressed, but as this passage shows, our world is very similar to the Industrial Age that influenced so much of Whitman's poetry. When you say that "today's world is full of different social classes ... (and) a person in this new industrial, marketable world is considered by their title, income and where they stand in the social scale," this unfortunate fact of life that we usually ignore becomes clear. I also like how you immediately connect the introduction to Whitman's Introduction to Leaves of Grass, saying that his work "displays a much different view of the human value" while also mentioning his concept of new world poetry. When an essay begins with…

" Both Whitman and othkopf, like Fukuyama, refer to potential of globalization to build bridges between previously isolated worlds, and to harmonize what were once disparate cultures.

Huntington is joined by countless others in a chorus of pessimism about the future of the world. Mcibben warns about the ill effects of population growth on both human societies and the environment. Huntington, Mcibben, and analysts like them make valid points about the dangers posed by globalization. Their points can be heard and taken into account while at the same time embracing the positive vision espoused by Fukuyama and othkopf. As Whitman suggests, globalization means "Passage to more than India!" Uniting the world under a blanket of common goals and ideals of freedom, liberty, and creativity, all conscientious citizens can welcome a new paradigm of peace.

eferences

McKibben, Bill. "A Special Moment in History." Atlantic Monthly. Boston. May, 1998.

othkopf, David. "In…

Peer Evaluation

Writing poetry may often prove to be a difficult task and it is appears as though the writer of this paper struggled in finding her voice and successfully expressing herself. I was initially drawn to this paper/poem because I was interested to see how Lucy Clifton, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman influenced the writer. I found this combination particularly interesting because of the different perspectives of the writers. As I began to read the poem and explanation, I was left wanting to know more about how and why the writer was influenced.

While I was interested to see how these three poets influenced the writer, I found that I lacked a lot of information regarding the connection between poet and writer. One of the things that left me confused was that the writer did not cite specific poems in the explanation, except for Clifton's "The Lost Baby." While…

Song of Myself categorizes the concept of the American self as Whitman creates the conflict between the individual and the society encapsulating love, life, death, the material and the spiritual within one paradigm. He then reconciles the spiritual with the material and presents the union as the equalizing of individuals in society.

Song of Myself" is one of the two strongly personal and autobiographical poems in Leaves of Grass. Writing during the mid-nineteenth century when the concept of democracy and individualism was creating a focus on the human aspect of progress., Whitman's poems allowed a reconciliation of the soul with the human experience. Using the stream-of-consciousness technique he presented a rambling sequence of ideas and impressions to flow freely through a character's mind. In "Song of Myself" we see Whitman's tumble and mixture of private sensation and external universal experience that sharply contrasts to the Victorian stiffness of his day.…

Ralph aldo Emerson's Influence on the Poetry of . hitman and E. Dickinson

During 19th century American literature, orthodox teachings and values are evident in most literary works, which is an evidence of the strong influence religion has over the American society. It is noted that during this period, a new form of religion is emerging as one of the dominant religious organizations in the est, particularly the Protestant religion. Ralph aldo Emerson is one example of a 19th century literary poet that influenced his contemporaries with his highly influential works that illustrate his religious background and belief.

Emerson's distinct character of showing his personal religious beliefs in his poem will be discussed in this paper. In line with this discussion, an analysis of two poets will also be discussed in order to show how Emerson's influence has affected each poet's style and theme of poetry. Two poets that have…

Song of Myself" response

I think your insight that Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is not about egotism is very apt. In fact, Whitman's poem is the very opposite of egotism. You write: "Song of Myself" seems "to focus specifically on himself, as Whitman begins by declaring, 'I celebrate myself, and sing myself' but America for Whitman is about more than simply the glorification of the individual. He also understands the significance of the nation's history as he explains, 'My tongue, every atom of my blood, formed from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same.'" Whitman believes that America is a nation which frees individuals to express themselves, and celebrating himself is, by extension, celebrating America.

Whitman also seems to celebrate the universal 'Self' (with a large S), rather than the personalized, isolated self. The poem is not…

Sing the Body Electric

Although the 19th century is often conceptualized as a repressive era, Walt Whitman's poem "I Sing the Body Electric" crackles with sexual electricity. It celebrates the human, physical body in a very positive manner. Whitman points out some very positive physical characteristics all human beings possess. However, as you note, he also points out some very negative aspects of human physical life: "The sprawl and fullness of babes, the bosoms and heads of women, the folds of their dress, their style as we pass in the street, the contour of their shape downwards." As you note, women in particular often had a very difficult life, physically as well as emotionally speaking, in the 19th century. Middle-class women were hemmed in by corsets and constant child-bearing and lower-class women had to suffer heavy physical labor. Whitman attempts to create a complete, all-encompassing picture of the physical body…

nature in American literature, from earliest writings to the Civil War period. It is my purpose to outline the connection between spirituality, freedom and nature and explain how American writers have chosen to reflect and interpret these themes in relation to their historical realities.

At the beginning of the colonization process there were two congruent depictions of nature. Initially, the tribes comprising The Iroquois League lived in close contact with nature and believed in the importance of maintaining a harmonious relationship with it. In this respect, the Iroquois Constitution imposes a devout display of gratitude to all by-human elements of the world before the opening of any council. On the other hand, the early explorers and founders of the United States perceived an immense natural potential in the country. In this sense, Thomas Hariot describes the New World as a land of wealth, his words and images aimed both at…

Hammad

Poetry is one of the most ancient of all the literary genres known to humanity, yet contemporary poems can still speak to occasions which grip the human consciousness in the here and now. I agree that this is manifested in Suheir Hammad's poem, in which she speaks directly to the reader about her experiences as an Arab-American in a post-9/11 world. Hammad's poetry is in the vernacular in the sense that it mimics human speech with its raw, angry quality, but poetic techniques are evident in the way that it uses repetition and colorful language.

"One more person ask me if I knew the hijackers.

One more motherfucker ask me what Navy my brother is in.

One more person assume no Arabs or Muslims were killed"

Poetry can rhyme and follow a strict format, such as a ballad or a villanelle, or it can pour out in uncontrolled free…

American Civil ar [...] Civil ar event I would most like to eyewitness, and answer the questions: hy? hat would I have seen? ould participating in or seeing that event have made you a different person from the one you are today? If so, how? The Civil ar event I have chosen is the surrender at Appomattox courthouse.

The Civil ar ended nearly where it began, at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, on April 9, 1865. I have chosen this event not because of the defeat of the South, but because it was the meeting of two great generals, and marked the end of a war that had torn the country apart. I believe the occasion was not only historically important, but also important in that it was an end to the bloodshed, and a stepping-stone to peace. hile a few Confederate forces continued to fight after the surrender, the war…

political, social, cultural, and economic differences between the North and the South on the eve of the Civil ar. How did these differences grow from 1800-1860?

Of course, the event that led to the actual first battles of the Civil ar was the firing on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, by Confederate troops on April 13, 1861. However, many other actions and events led up to the eventual outbreak of Civil ar. The North and the South were different, and not simply because the Southern landowners also owned slaves. The North was an industrial society, based on "growth and prosperity" (Norton 196). The South, on the other hand, was less industrialized and more agrarian in nature. "Southern wealth came from export crops, its population thus remained almost wholly rural rather than both rural and urban" (Norton). Thus, there were extremely different cultural and social values between the North and the South.…

Because foundations to relationships are there, and will eventually and invariably be found.

or the informal portion of this essay, I approach answering this query from a different perspective. Very often, the weather is the start of conversations with our friends, family members and acquaintances -- even casual ones. One revels if the weather is good, especially on a nice spring day that is not quite hot but certainly a mark of winter's departure. On the other hand, if the weather is unfriendly, one commiserates with those involved in the discussion. I will explore the notion of the state of the weather not withstanding, how we react to it is a reflection of our souls. We will enjoy the weather if we are in a good mood. We will not if we are not in a good mood.

Consider the events of September 11, 2001. The day started out as…

American Literature

Listen to Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God preached. Discuss in the discussion group.

Jonathan Edwards gives us a perfect example of the Calvinist beliefs of the Puritan settlers in early New England. Edwards studied theology at Yale University -- where today there is still a dormitory named after him -- but then became a noteworthy preacher in the Great Awakening, which exhorted an entire generation to renew their Christian faith. Edwards' skill in preaching lies in using literary imagery to get across abstract theological concepts. Calvinist theology believes in "total depravity" -- in other words, because of Adam and Eve eating the apple, human beings are fallen, and stained with "original sin." The most memorable image in Edwards' sermon -- the image of the spider being held over a fiery pit -- is meant to be a metaphor to enable the listener to imagine how…

..I am with you, and know how it is." Cunningham utilizes this idea of hitman's timelessness to weave him through the narratives that build character in his work. hitman's issues are clearly still timely as his call to question those things that are seen as progress is universal in the developed and developing worlds, alike. Post-modernism is also often though to as post-colonial as the standardization of borders has seemed to stagnate over the last 50 or so years and colonization is conducted in much subtler ways, than were evident in alt's lifetime. Cunningham, no doubt weaves his artistic interpretation of hitman into his works, but it is clear that it is with the careful reader's vision of the subtle and constructionist leanings of hitman. Cunningham's writing is truly an incarnation of the relevance of hitman to the modern context. He utilizes the turn of many an artful phrase to…

Americans of all nations at any time upon the earth have probably the fullest poetical nature. The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem. In the history hitherto the largest and most stirring appear tame and orderly to their ampler largeness and stir" (hitman iii).

alt hitman's "A Sketch" reinforces this passage as it becomes clear that the poet wants to emphasize his appreciation of a concept that is ignored by many. By emphasizing the "wave-worn shore," the poet most probably wants to relate to the continent's toughness and to the U.S. ability to stand against some of history's most challenging situations.

hile most people are likely to consider love to be the main element that "A Sketch" is meant to put across, it is very likely that hitman also wanted the poem to stand as a reference to love as a divisive matter -- one that requires further…

Romantic ideal in the poetry of William Blake, William Wordsworth and Walt Whitman shares the attitude that the most worthy part of human existence lies in simplicity and deep emotion rather than rational thought. Romanticism is based upon a movement away from the rationality of Enlightenment and the wealth-driven society inspired by Industrialism. This ideal is reflected in the work of the poets mentioned above. To demonstrate this, "The Chimney weeper," "Ode: Imitations of Immortality" and "I ing the Body Electric" from each respective poet are considered.

William Blake

Blake's poetry emphasizes the evils of existing power systems within society, and how these are used to oppress the poor and powerless. This is shown in his poem "The Chimney weeper." The little chimney sweeper is representative of the poor and oppressed suffering under the current systems of power. The parents and the church are images reflecting the oppressive forces. The…

1). hitman is the spokesman of the American soul when he states, "How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he" (6.2). The American soul is newborn -- without, so it seems, definition.

He guesses that grass might be the symbol of his disposition -- green and growing, youthful and alive; or that it might be "the handkerchief of the Lord / A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, / & #8230;that we may see and remark, and say hose?" (6.4-6). Or it may be that the grass is a symbol of the child, just as the child, according to ordsworth, is father of the man: so too is the grass father of us all -- as we are all part of the same life cycle -- samsara, as Eastern philosophy would call it.

The truth is that the grass is all…