Category: Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was a printer, journalist, essayist, teacher, and one of America’s most important poets. Whitman was a free-thinker, as shown by his own words in the preface to Leaves of Grass. Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, on Long Island, New York. He was the second son of Walter Whitman, a house-builder, and Louisa Van Velsor. At the age of twelve, Whitman began to work at printing firms and fell in love with the written word. Largely self-taught, he read constantly, familiarizing himself with the works of Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and the Bible (Jeffares).

Walt Whitman was one of the first well-known poets to write free-verse poetry, and to use the universal “I”. As stated by Martin in Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America’s First Bohemians, “Sometimes ‘I’ could be taken simply as Whitman, but this was an outlandishly fluid ‘I’ that switched in an eye blink from male to female and with the greatest of ease assumed various identities: a slave, a witch being burned at the stake, a cholera sufferer, a clock” (Loc. 688). His flowing free verse was more narrative than poetic at times. It often flitted from subject to subject, following no specific pattern, but seemingly fitting together.

Not only did Walt Whitman use this new writing style in his poetry, he also wrote about subjects not usually addressed in American poetry during his lifetime. Subjects of Whitman’s poetry included slavery, race, religion, and sexuality. These were topics that were important to ordinary people, even if his ideas on these subjects were different from commonly held ones, and the fact that he wrote about them in first person made them even more meaningful. He also admired working class people, feeling “a rapport with coach drivers and other workingmen” (Martin, loc. 627). He expressed these ideas many times in his poetry. In his thirties, Whitman began seriously applying himself to writing poetry. He wrote a collection of poems called Leaves of Grass. This collection can be considered his life’s work; he wrote the first edition in his thirties and was releasing revised editions up until his death in 1892. The first two editions of Leaves of Grass sold poorly, but the third edition enjoyed greater success (Martin, loc. 964). Much of Whitman’s work in Leaves of Grass is his answer to the question: What is more important, society or the individual? Throughout many of the poems found in Leaves of Grass, Whitman utilizes literary tools such as the universal “I” and free verse in his poems to emphasize his belief in the importance of the individual.

In his poem “I Sing the Body Electric,” Whitman explores the physicality of the human body. Whitman wrote this poem in free verse, separating his words into nine distinct sections of varying lengths. Though this poem could have been just as effective without the numbered, separate verses, the division highlights the specific intent of each verse despite their all being part of the same poem – just like the unique parts of the body comprise a unified whole. Whitman’s use of the list structure is shown prominently in this piece and serves as a tool to draw the reader’s attention to the unique qualities of the human body while also celebrating the body parts’ cumulative significance. These techniques, along with the changing point of view through his use of the universal “I” contributes to Whitman’s themes of freedom and individuality. Ultimately, Whitman makes the point that the body and the soul are almost one in the same and therefore, devaluing the body is also a crime against the soul. This celebration of the body also celebrates each individual portrayed in this poem, and shows the value of the individual. This exemplifies Whitman’s belief in the importance of the individual, as opposed to the group.

Whitman’s other poems share similar themes of self-determinism and praise of the human body. In the poem “Song of the Open Road,” the speaker of the poem is describing a journey he is taking. He describes himself as being “healthy and free,” and he realizes he is the only person who is in complete control of his life and that he, alone, has the power to control his fate. Due to this realization, he does not have to wish for good fortune. He attests that he, himself, is his own good fortune, and that is all he needs and that the earth will provide him with anything else he needs. This is not to say that the road he is taking is not without its imperfections and burdens. Rather than worry, however, the speaker has decided to take those burdens with him. The poem utilizes free verse; the lines are unrhymed and of varying lengths and the poem is told from a first person point of view. The literal meaning of the poem, as well as the poetic device in use throughout all help illuminate Whitman’s belief in the beauty and significance of the individual.

In one of Whitman’s most famous poems, “I Hear America Singing,” the reader can understand how his views on life and the individual culminate into his lived experience. Though the poem was written on the eve of the Civil War, it presents a vision of America as a harmonious community. As the poem celebrates the diversity and richness of American life, it also tries to find a distinctly American sound. Whitman rejects European poetic traditions like meter and rhyme, which feel too constraining to capture the energy of American life. Instead, the poem is written entirely in free verse, and Whitman turns to other devices to make his poem sound musical. America emerges from the work of diverse individual people: their separate work comes together to form a coherent whole. Despite this pluralist view, Whitman still singled out specific individuals for praise in his poetry, In this way, in the poem’s account, America is a nation where individuality and unity are balanced, each producing and reinforcing the other.

“At the time of his death Whitman was more respected in Europe than in his own country, not as a poet, indeed, but as a symbol of American democracy that he first won recognition. His poems exercised a strong fascination on English readers who found his championing of the common man idealistic and prophetic” (Jeffares).

Walt Whitman positively impacted the world with his poetry. Whitman wrote about subjects society didn’t consider to be important, like railroad workers, slaves, and prostitutes. He used unique tools such as the universal “I”, free verse, and unconventional structure validate and elevate these subjects, answering the question: What is more important, society or the individual? The answer is both, technically, but in a time when focus on the individual was taboo, Whitman was an avid supporter of celebrating the individual.

Walt Whitman may not have considered “O Captain! My Captain!” to be his finest work, but the rest of the world certainly disagrees. It was the most famous poem in his life, and now has become one of the most popular poems in American literature. By going stanza by stanza, we will see how he uses this poem to depict the fall of Abraham Lincoln. Whitman accomplishes a moving affect in his poem by using literary devices such as allusions, metaphors, repetition, and rhythm to engage the reader in mournful emotion.

The poem tells a story through the eyes of a sailor who comes home victorious after a rough voyage. He is focused on the shore that has people celebrating the crews safe return, but then realizes not everyone has returned unscathed. The captain is dead. It continues with a shift in tone and rhythm to mourn the fallen leader. Walt Whitman uses this poem as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln and his assassination.

Walt Whitman also known to some as “the father of free-verse” neglected to follow any kind of “rhyme or reason” in his poems except in “O Captain! My Captain!”. The eight-line, three stanza poem carries a strong iambic meter that is thrown off in the middle of each section. This allows Whitman to express how he and America was thrown into chaos and sorrow when Abraham Lincoln died so suddenly. Each section begins with an upbeat and quick rhythm to show the joyous mood that they have returned home. In line 3, “The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting” has an internal rhyme that gives a sense of cheer and comfort by staying in a customary form of poetry. This also happens in lines 11, 12, and 20. He uses alliteration to give the same feel of well-being like in lines 10, “for you the flag is flung”. Although as the poem reaches the 5th line in each stanza, the ambiance shifts. Whitman shortens the lines and changes the rhyme scheme which allows for a more chaotic feel. He also switches from using alliterations to apostrophes to interrupt the mood and focus the reader to a more somber moment. He moves the reader’s attention from celebration of a victory to the loss of a leader. He uses the change in rhythm and order to move the reader through a series of emotions to emphasize his message and tribute to Abraham Lincoln.

Each stanza represents a different part of the grieving period: shock, denial, and acceptance. Whitman uses repetition to intensify these feelings in each section. “But O heart! heart! heart!” (line 5) reveals a pain in the sailor once he realizes his beloved captain has fallen. The repetition of the word cuts the sorrow in deeper than if he had said it just once. In the first stanza, the sailor calls “O Captain my Captain!” without knowledge that the fateful leader has fallen yet. As the second stanza comes along, an exclamation mark is added to the phrase, and he repeats “O Captain! my Captain!”. This small difference brings a large baggage of sorrow with it. It turns the stanzas from uncovering a death to grieving it. As the added “rise up” is repeated after it in the second stanza it strengthens the tone of denial that this section symbolizes. As the last stanza arrives Whitman no longer uses the phrase “O Captain! my Captain” he renounces the first part of it and starts the section off by simple saying “My Captain”. The surprise of “O Captain!” has been taken off and left with acceptance. By repeating this phrase over and over at the start of every stanza with only slight differences shows the process that the sailor and Whitman went through when the Captain and Abraham Lincoln died. Another phrase that is repeated is “Fallen cold and dead”. This is what ends every stanza as if to remind him that “My father” has died. That no matter how shocking or how much he denies it, the acceptance is always there. The repetition used shows the mourning process that happens when a death occurs so suddenly like Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and how Whitman and America felt.

The entirety of the poem serves as an extended metaphor as tribute to the fallen Abraham Lincoln. The poem is an elegy to him and his assassination. Whitman uses the captain in the poem to represent Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was killed in the middle of his presidency and this is represented as the captain died in the middle of his command on the “deck”. The captain saw the end of the rough voyage that his ship went through but died before they arrived at port to celebrate. The United States is represented as that ship. In line 2, “weathered every rack” describes what the US went through during the war and then the line finishes with “the prize we sought is won” which indicates the end of the war and the Union winning. The difficult trip the ship went on is over as was the civil war right before Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. “Our fearful trip is done” (line 1) indicates that the civil war is over. The trip they went on is a metaphor for the civil war.

Walt Whitman was able to guide the reader through a central feeling of victory and loss as a tribute to show how he and America felt when the sudden death of Abraham Lincoln occurred. With detailed and thought-provoking use of metaphors, repetition, and genius work of rhythm to create a shift in atmosphere, he created a great tribute to the “fallen” leader. It is one of his most recognizable and known works because of the meaning behind it and how greatly he expressed his sorrows. No matter how much he regrets the success of it, the success only strengthens the meaning behind it.

This research paper is an endeavor to find out the inner world of the child in the poem “There was a child went forth”, that how his personality develops due to the interference with his surroundings. Psychology as a general deals with the inner world and mind of an individual that exhibits the personality of that very individual also. Psychology is one the hotly debated topic in the world today and many psychologists have presented their conjecture regarding it and this is the reason there are many theories and ideologies about this topic. But in this research, the research intention and vexations are upon “The personality development”, the theory of Sigmund Freud. According to Freud’s personality development theory the personality of any individual takes proper shape and structure due to the surrounding, where he/she reacts to different situations and event. Freud also argues that there are three main components that play vital role in this process of personality development namely, Id, Ego and superego. In the poem “There was a child went forth”, the child’s psyche develops while giving reaction to the social surrounding and Freud in his Personality development theory says our personality grows and takes proper shapes due to our surroundings. So this research paper affirms the personality of the child in the poem “There was a child went forth” organizes under Sigmund Freud’s personality development theory.

KEYWORDS; Psychology, Personality, Social surrounding, Id, Ego, Superego.

Introduction

Walter Whitman came into this world on May 31, 1918 and his hometown was West Hills long island. He is a well-known literary name since that time and he had inborn literary qualities. He suffered from financial crisis since his early childhood and those sufferings immensely affected him. Therefore his early childhood life is full of gloomy memories for him and also for his family. When he reached to the age of 11, he got admission in school and but soon needed to do a small clerical job because of their worse financial crisis. At that office, Whitman learned skills like printing press aned typewriting.

He may have expressed ‘wistful bits’ of filler material for infrequent issues. Clements excited contention when he and two companions struggled to curb the carcass of Elias Hicks to make a mortar form of his head. Clements left the Patriot presently a while later, conceivably because of the debate. In the coming season of summer, Whitman started work for another printer in Brooklyn. His family shifted back to West Hills in the spring, yet Whitman remained and resumed work at the shop of Alden Spooner, as a post of editorial manager of the main Whig week by week paper the Long-Island Star. While at the Star, Whitman altered into an ordinary supporter of the neighborhood library, joined a town debating society, started going to theater exhibitions, and in very concealed way distributed a part of his most punctual verse in the New-York Mirror. At age 16 in May 1835, Whitman left both the Star and Brooklyn. He migrated to New York City to fill in as a printer however, in later years, Whitman couldn’t recollect where.

Whitman did all his efforts to find work in the current and frequently discussed issues of the society probably because of the issues rising in the field of printing and distributing place, and also because of the descended economic crisis which lead to the panic of 1837. He also went back to his family in 1836 at his hometown Hempstead, Long Island. There he taught at various schools as education by the spring of the year 1838.

Whitman left the world on 26 March, 1892 because of milinary pneumonia and nephritis. Hundreds of people came to see his corpse at his home that was allowed for about three hours. His memorable tomb was made at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden. His funeral ceremony was also held at the time of burial where his relatives, companions and the general public came to bid farewell. One friend of him, payed tribute to him in his last funeral ceremony. His other family member are also buried in the same tomb.

PSYCHOLOGY

Merriam Webster defines Psychology in such a way, that the scientific study of the human mind and their behavior toward others is called psychology. It can also be defined as the psychological and behavioral features of humans or the human community in society. It is also related to the psychological study related to various aspects of society and human’s perspective towards life and society

It is known fact that psychology is related to human mind and psyche (William James, 1890). It is the study of the science of behavior and mind (not to be perplexed with neuroscience). Psychology includes the study of voluntary and involuntary occurrences, as well as feelings and emotions. It is an academic discipline of profound scope. Psychologists look for an understanding of the emergent features of brains, and all the variety of phenomena linked to those rising properties. As a social science, its primary objective is to comprehend individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching particular cases.

In this field, an expert specialist or analyst is known as a therapist and can be delegated a social, conduct, or psychological researcher. Therapists endeavor to comprehend the job of mental capacities in individual and social conduct, while likewise investigating the physiological and natural procedures that underlie intellectual capacities and practices.

While mental learning is regularly connected to the evaluation and treatment of emotional well-being issues, it is additionally coordinated towards comprehension and taking care of issues in a few circles of human action. By numerous records brain research at last intends to profit society. Most of the analysts are associated with some sort of restorative job, rehearsing in clinical, advising, or school settings. Many do logical research on a wide scope of points identified with mental procedures and conduct, and regularly work in college brain science divisions or educate in other scholarly settings (e.g., medicinal schools, emergency clinics). Some are utilized in modern and hierarchical settings, or in different territories, for example, human improvement and maturing, sports, wellbeing, and the media, just as in measurable examination and different parts of law.

Sigmund Freud theory of personality development in the poem There was a child went forth.

Psychology is the inner world of human beings that deals with the internal psyche and behavior of people. Psychology is one of the broad fields and this wide concept has been interpreted by a different psychologists. Among them Freud has a dominant name and he is the true icon of this field. In the beginning Freud presented psychoanalytical and psychoanalytic theory is the theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development that guides psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology. First spread out by Sigmund Freud in the late nineteenth century, the psychoanalytic hypothesis has experienced numerous refinements since his work. Psychoanalytic hypothesis came to full conspicuousness in the last third of the twentieth century as a component of the stream of basic talk with respect to mental medications after the 1960s, long after Freud’s demise in 1939, and its legitimacy is currently broadly questioned or dismissed. Freud had stopped his investigation of the cerebrum and his physiological examinations and moved his concentration to the investigation of the brain and the related mental traits making up the psyche, and on treatment utilizing free affiliation and the wonders of transference. His investigation underscored the acknowledgment of youth occasions that could impact the psychological working of grown-ups. His examination of the hereditary and after that the formative viewpoints gave the psychoanalytic hypothesis its attributes. Beginning with his distribution of The Interpretation of Dreams in 1899, his speculations started to pick up noticeable quality

Apart from Freud there are many more psychologists who also have highlighted this theory according to their own ideas and perceptions. Saul McLeod (2018), in his research, argues that Jung’s work has also contributed to mainstream psychology in at least one significant respect. He was the first to distinguish the two major attitudes or orientations of personality – extroversion and introversion. He also identified four basic functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting) which in a cross-classification yield eight pure personality types.

Again in his another article Saul McLeod (2018), writes about Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development that, Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development.

Freud’s psychoanalytical theory is considered one of the renowned theories that many novelists and others literary figures have applied on their literary works. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theory of personality development contends that human behavior is the result and combination of three main components of the brain, Id, Ego and Superego. This basic hypothesis of personality places incredible significance on how clashes among the pieces of the mind shape the personality and the behavior. These are the main three components of human personality and behavior that mould the individual’s personality namely Id, Ego and Superego. The poem There Was a Child Went Forth, is a poem where the writer talks about a child from his birth till maturity and there we can see this child comes across with different situations and also gives them certain reaction and thus his personality develops according to Freud theory.

The id, the most primitive of the three structures, is concerned with the instant gratification of basic physical needs and urges. It works altogether unknowingly (outside of cognizant idea). For instance, if your id strolled past a more peculiar eating dessert, it would in all probability take the frozen ice cream for itself. It doesn’t have the foggiest idea, or care, that it is impolite to take something having a place with another person; it would mind just that you needed the frozen ice cream. The same is the case with the child in the poem whenever he comes across with anything without caring about the aftereffects of that very thing the child embraced it.

The child in the poem is a mouthpiece of Freud’s personality development theory and his personality develops after going through different conditions and situations. Every day the child meets different entities and these entities become the part of his daily life and thus his behavior and personality organizes.

1.1 Research Questions

• How is the psychological development of the child shown in the poem There Was a Child Went Forth?
• What are the main influences of Freud personality development on child psychology in the same poem?

1.2 Research Objectives

• To find out the main aspects of the psychological development of the child in the poem There Was a Child Went Forth.
• To find out the child as a mouthpiece of Freud’s psychological theory in the same poem.

1.4 Theoretical Framework

We can find many theories and these enormous theories have been put forth by the literary figures to disintegrate different social problems. In this work, however, the researcher has used the poem for analysis. The researcher has put forth this research under the psychological theory of Sigmund Fraud.

1.5 Research Limitations

These speeches can be studied and analyzed from many perspectives because this poem is incorporated with many themes but it is difficult for the researcher to bring under consideration all the themes so the has taken into account the psychological study of a child in the poem.

1.6 Research Significance

This research is significant for the researchers in finding out the psycho of a child in the growing age. This research study is limited to one of the literary works of the poem and it will help the readers to understand the different complexities of a child in the growing stage till the old stage. Moreover, it will open new channels of research for future researches.

Literature Review

Different critics have given different views about the above depicted poem written by the well-known poet Walt Whitman. But the views that are most relevant with my thesis have been discussed here.

E.LaleDemirtürk (1985), Walt Whitman’s ‘There Wasa Child Went Forth’: THE IMAGE OF ‘EDGES’ IN THE ORIGINS OF LIFE Walt Whitman’s. This is a poem of edges that reveals a child’s generative touch with the world. His encounter with different objects sharpens his perception, for he touches the world through contrasts and opposites. The first edge is the third-month, the month of March, half winter and half spring, an edge between death and renewal of life in nature. As he literally intersects the edge, he interacts with nature and is able to gain a holistic vision of the animals as the ‘brood of the barnyard rather than seeing them separately.

Devardhi, Julia, Growth and Development of Individualism and Universalism in Selected Poems of Walt Whitman.Whitman’s verse is a rich subject for psychoanalytic translation also, this has dependably had a remarkable intrigue to scholarly faultfinders just as look into researchers. This examination is a basic and psychoanalytical investigation on a couple of chosen lyrics of Whitman. The sonnets have been chosen from the 1860 release of Leaves of Grass that highlighted Whitman’s most renowned lyric Song of Myself which is the primary lyric utilized all through. Different ballads were chosen as a help to recognize Whitman’s conviction that each individual is brought into the world with a remarkable personality furthermore, the individual endeavors constantly to understand this independence that is covered up in the different difficulties of life, both the darker and the lighter parts of life. A basic investigation together with the psychoanalytical methodology has been utilized to set up Whitman’s significant enthusiasm for the investigation of the development and improvement of the ‘youngster or individual’s voyage through disordered conditions in the regular world. This examination has consequently, helped the creator to understand the way that this ravenous want for a person’s development and improvement isn’t epiphanic, however, is the last demonstration of the rise of the ‘tyke or individual’ into an undeniable ‘artist’ in the wake of confronting the different difficulties of life.

Black Stephen A. (1998) in his research Psychological Approaches, J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings, eds., Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland Publishing), reproduced by permission.

Given that Whitman made the self his principal poetic topic, it was inevitable that he attracted psychological attention from the first Leaves of Grass on. He insisted that the poems were inseparable from himself, he confided that he created himself by writing poems, and he even dictated the identities of his readers. Nearly all studies of the poetry have been biographical, nearly all biographies have studied the poems to learn of their author, and most questions asked by interpreters and biographers have been psychological questions. Even among the early disciples, speculations about the poet’s magnetism and prophetic quality had psychological overtones.

Murray, (2005)in the note Psychological ApproachesSuperfluous perplexity encompasses a story beginning with Gavin Arthur in which he expresses that Edward Carpenter recognized to him being sexual with Walt Whitman. The disarray lies not in the points of interest of the story, yet by the way it has been passed down from Arthur to progressive ages. Numerous have erroneously accepted that the Arthur story is reported by an oral history just, with artist Allen Ginsberg as the essential channel, and consequently might be problematic

Justin Kaplan (2003), in his paper, Walt Whitman: A Life (Perennial Classics) Paperback Whitman’s virtuoso, interests, verse, and gender-ambiguous reasonableness weaved to make an extravagant life in the midst of the fierce American mid-nineteenth century. In distinctive detail, Kaplan inspects the secretive selves of the confounding man who commended the opportunity and poise of the individual and sang the gestures of recognition of majority rule government and the fellowship of man.

To many people, New York is an exciting place to come and visit or a place to live in; from the hustle and bustle of people coming to and fro, to the many sights that it has to behold, New York is one of the biggest melting pots that this world has to offer. However, one of the most popular boroughs that people, especially tourists, like to come and visit is Manhattan. Two people in particular that loved and adored Manhattan were Walt Whitman and E.B. White. Both of these men had their own reasons why they loved Manhattan, but what remained constant are the sights and memories that can still be seen and had by people today.

For Walt Whitman, not only was Manhattan a sight to behold, but it also helped inspire him to create a poem all about it. Walt Whitman was brought into this world, and left this world before E.B. White could even take his first step in this world. With this in mind, it allows us to see that Walt Whitman had a different perspective on the every growing island of Manhattan. When looking through his poem, titled Mannahatta, we can see that from the time he spent in Manhattan, he had a lot of favorite things to see on his travels. At the end of this poem, it reads “A million people– manners free and superb,/– open voices– hospitality– the most courageous and/friendly young men, City of hurried and sparkling waters! city of spires and masts!/City nested in bays! my city!” (18-20). Back in the day, Manhattan was a very different place than what it is now. Sure, many things that are said in Walt Whitman’s poem stayed the same over time, such as the millions of people and the city being full of spires. However, it also shows that Manhattan has changed a lot since he was living in it; the sparkling waters are somewhat still here, and the masts of boats are usually seen in the summer, but for the most part they are replaced with the horns and the roar of an engine coming from a ferry or a tugboat moving a barge. With all of this in mind, Walt Whitman still loved and adored Manhattan for what it was; with it being the entire city for him, it holds a special place in his heart for helping create not only this magnificent poem, but also shaping him as a person. Speaking from experience, coming and staying in Manhattan has changed me both mentally and physically; the people I had the honor to meet and build relationships with, as well as the people I have come across in my various journeys through Manhattan have made me both stronger and to be more aware of my surroundings because you never know what is around the next corner. Also I know that poetry, more often than not, comes from the heart and comes from experiences that the poet has gone through. To see him write this poem with such description makes me feel that I am standing there with him and he is building the world around me; the world that he came to know and love, and a world that he called his own. While Walt Whitman was here first between the two men, it does not mean that Manhattan means any less to E.B. White.

For E.B. White, the many memories that he has had as well as stories he heard about have etched themselves into the concrete sidewalks of Manhattan, and are their for all to see. Manhattan, at least from E.B White’s perspective, seemed very similar to the one that Walt Whitman described in his poem. However, the main difference is that E.B. went into more detail into why Manhattan stood out from all the other boroughs; all that surrounds him is the memories of people that once stood on these streets with and before him, and he can stare from his hotel room and see them all unfold before himself. “I am twenty-two blocks from where Rudolph Valentino lay instate, eight block from where Nathan Hale was executed, five blocks from the publisher’s office where Ernest Hemingway hit Max Eastman in the nose… (I could continue this list indefinitely)…” (P. 20-21). Everything is coming alive in front of E.B. White as his words are unfolding in his story; he is being a tour guide with people and events happening before our eyes as we continue our journey through the past. With all of these pieces falling into place, we can see why Manhattan stands out in E.B. White’s mind as the best of all the boroughs that New York City has to offer; not only did it provide him with memories and critiques that made him create a story that read out sort of like a pamphlet leading newcomers on a specified trail and sort of a short story, but it also allowed for the readers to come along for the ride. That is why I think he wrote this piece; to not only tell people about the world that he lived in, but to educate others and prepare others for their own magical journey through Manhattan so they can make their own memories, and then the next group of people will come and see those memories and the cycle will continue to repeat. For E.B. White, Manhattan was not just a home for him to come and live in, it was also a place where anything could and would happen, and he would be there to see it and let us as the audience see it as well.

Manhattan, as a whole, is a very special place indeed for not only Walt Whitman and E.B. White, but for many people as well including myself. While it might be super busy and been drastically modified throughout the years, it still remains one of the biggest hubs of culture and diversity that I have come to know and love. I might have not been there to see it in its heyday, but I am glad to have finally experienced it by going to college here and seeing what all the talk was about. I might enjoy the quiet and miss home where everyone knows each other and having a lot more grass and different terrain to walk across, but I will not stand here and say that Manhattan has not prepared me for the future ahead of me.

Bibliography

1. White, E. B. Here Is New York. Little Bookroom, 2001, marymount.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-299376-dt-content-rid-1760725_1/courses/AIP_332_OL01__19JA/white here is ny 2011 05 15.pdf.
2. Whitman, Walt. “Mannahatta.” Columbia Granger’s World of Poetry Online. 2018. Columbia University Press. 11 Dec. 2018. .

Imagine being known as America’s greatest and most influential poet. You’ll be known as someone who could be able to influence people just by using your words and putting it into poetry. Walt Whitman is extremely well-known and is one of the most influential writers of the 19th century. His writing style, poems, and the impact he has on others are some of the many reasons why he’s important to American literature, and why he’s one of the greatest poets.

Walt Whitman was known as “The Father of Free Verse.” In the early 19th century every poem you’ll find rhymed because free verse wasn’t discovered yet. When Walt Whitman came along, he changed all of that. His free verse form of poetry was extremely inspiring to other poets. An example of a free verse poem he did is called, “Song of Myself.” Free verses doesn’t have a regular meter or it doesn’t rhyme. “The ideal American poet, according to Walt Whitman, did not elevate himself above the common man. He did not identify with Europe, it’s land, people, and society. He was American through and through.” (Allison 2010).

Walt Whitman’s most known works are from his collection called, “Leaves of Grass”. The book was self-published in 1855 consisting of twelve different poems. He spent the rest of his life wanting to expand and revise his work. “He produced varied editions of the work ending with the ninth, or “deathbed” edition, in 1891-1892. What began as a slim book of twelve poems was by the end of his life a thick compendium of almost 400.” (Library of Congress). Some poems that were the most popular was, “Song of Myself, I Hear America singing, and O Captain! My Captain!”.

“Song of Myself” is the longest poem in the Leaves of Grass consisting of around 70 pages and 40 sections. This poem is important because it helped shape the idea of what it means to be an American. Walt Whitman’s perspective of America was an ideal of equality, optimism, independence and brotherly love. “You might wonder why Whitman is so eager to become friends with every single person he met. It might help to remember that the poem was written only a few years before the outbreak of the Civil War, and Whitman viewed friendship as the last hope to save a fractured union.” (Shmoop Editorial Team).

The next poem is called “I Hear America Singing.” This poem is about each individual having a role and a voice that belongs to that one person. It also presents an image of proud and healthy individuals taking joy in their work and being productive. In his poem it talks about carpenters, boatmen, woodcutters, mothers, and children all singing happily to the jobs they’re doing. “The image of the singing workers is repeated throughout the poem to show the theme of joy and contentment in their work.” (eNotes Editorial).

The last poem I mentioned is called “O Captain! My Captain!.” This poem has a background of the Civil War in America. Walt Whitman wrote this poem as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln because he looked up to him. He was sad from seeing the outcome of the Civil War so he made an elegy in memory of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. “An elegy is often a melancholy poem that laments it’s subjects death but ends in consolation.” (Poetry Foundation).

Many other poets and famous figures read Whitman’s poems and instantly found inspiration. He has a huge impact on many writers such as Ezra Pound and Andrew Carnegie because of his writing. Andrew Carnegie was a pioneer in the steel industry. He admired Whitman and called him, “the great poet in America.” Ezra Pound was an American poet and critic. He wrote the poem called “The Pact” which was about Walt Whitman. Ezra disliked Whitman’s work because he felt like he didn’t show much control in his writing. In “The Pact” he asks Whitman for friendship. He knew his actions were child like, but he matured out of it and recognizes the ways Whitman paved a way for his work. Ezra Pound admires him and created an essay called “What I Feel About Walt Whitman.” Pound said, “He is America. When I write of certain things I find myself using his rhythms. I am a Walt Whitman who has learned to wear a collar and a dress shirt. Personally I might be glad to conceal my relationship with my spiritual father.”

As a result, Walt Whitman is one of the greatest, most influential poets. He is also very important to American literature. He showed that people can be free and they could be whatever they wanted. Whitman crafted one of the most distinctive styles in world poetry and everyone would be able to recognize his writings. These are the reasons why Walt Whitman is the greatest poet in America.

References

1. Elegy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/elegy.
2. How Walt Whitman Changed The World of Poetry & What You Can Learn From It. (2018, July 23). Retrieved from https://www.neboagency.com/blog/lesson-walt-whitman-audacity/.
3. Leaves of Grass. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/whitman-leaves-of-grass/.
4. Masel, C. (2019, June 4). Guide to the classics: Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and the complex life of the ‘poet of America’. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-walt-whitmans-leaves-of-grass-and-the-complex-life-of-the-poet-of-america-116055.
5. Walt Whitman. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://americanliterature.com/author/walt-whitman.
6. Walt Whitman. (2016, March 2). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/walt-whitman-essay.

The poem “On The Beach at Night” was written in 1856, five years before the start of the civil war. Whitman can characterized to be patriotic in this poem as he uses the father in the poem to represent the founding fathers while the child is the new nation- America. Walt Whitman uses different figurative language and techniques like astrological allusions and symbolism to portray the conflict emerging in the new nation and the inevitable resolution. Whitman uses the “inevitable resolution” to guide the new nation and to instill hope into the civilians to get through the hard times that occur. The theme of remaining hopeful is explored through the tension and peace, the action of the father driving away the child’s fears, and the father comforting the child by instilling hope.

Walt Whitman uses Jupiter and Pleiades to represent the tension that arises and the peace that will inevitably follow. As introduced in the poem, “Stands a child, with her father, Watching the east, the autumn sky” (Whitman, lines 2-3). Whitman uses symbolism to imply that the father and child are not actually observing the Pleiades, but instead are observing the nation. The sun rises on the East and in Autumn (the season the poem is taking place), Jupiter and Pleiades rise and fall opposite of the Sun. Therefore, the daughter and father aren’t observing the constellations in the night sky due to improper orientation. Consequently, it adds to the notion that this poem isn’t simply about a father and a daughter. The father and daughter symbolize bigger ideas concerning America. The founding fathers are reassuring the citizens and the country to be hopeful of the future. They aren’t watching the constellations, instead, they are watching the country and the people living on it including the soldiers. Whitman additionally writes “Ascends, large and calm, the lord-star Jupiter… swim the delicate brothers, the Pleiades” (Whitman, lines 8-10). The significance of this quote is it employs astrological and mythological allusions to contrast the occurring situation of America. “Lord-star Jupiter” is the god of sky and thunder, and thunder is usually associated with being an omen or has a negative connotation. In reference to the new nation, the “lord-star Jupiter” is the tension that emerges between the civilians and their beliefs. On the other hand, the Pleiades are a group of stars that can represent the thirteen colonies which were the foundation of the Americas. The thirteen colonies lead the path to the new nation as they demanded representation, freedom from the British rule, and expanded westward and south. Additionally, the Pleiades are considered to be “delicate brothers” insinuating they are weak or fragile which are terms that are associated with the new nation. The theme of remaining hopeful is emerging as Walt Whitman first explores the problems that are present. He is confronting the problems and letting the civilians know that the nation is weak but it will continue to gain strength.

The father comforts the child and drives away her fears by advising her on how to stay optimistic. Encapsulated in lines 11-13 are the child’s fears, “from the beach, the child holding the hand of her father, those burial clouds that lower, victorious, soon to devour all, watching silently weeps” (Whitman, lines 11-13) This quote foreshadows what threatens the new nation and what will eventually bring its downfall. The “burial clouds” as from a funeral scene, bring gloom and can be inferred to be the death of the nation. These burial clouds are soon to devour all which creates the effect of there being a complication and something threatening the freedom of the civilians and democracy. This threat can be seen to be slavery as it impeded the freedom of many individuals, not being able to vote and control their lives. Slavery is the worse thing to happen to mankind and to America. It ultimately led to the civil war as the union and confederacy had differing beliefs on the ideals of slavery. This foreshadowing reinforces the idea that slavery will and was creating problems for the fragile nation. Walt Whitman was cognizant of the fact that these problems were bubbling in public opinion and the child (the nation) was scared of the effect it would create. The father comforts the child in lines 14-16, “Weep not, child, weep not my darling, with these kisses let me remove your tears” (Whitman, lines 14-16). This quote juxtaposes with the first quote as it is more positive. This quote has a loving and affectionate mood and the father advises the child to stop weeping. The term “darling” is very endearing and evokes the feeling of being cared for. This loving mood correlates to the founding fathers as they aided the country in the right footsteps for the wellness of the civilians. The founding fathers are wiping away the child’s tears just as the founding fathers helped solve the problems in the nation by discussing resolutions. All in all, the father is able to comfort the child the same way the founding fathers guided the nation into the right path.

The father instills hope into the child and uses the stars to spark her interests. Captured in line 19, “Jupiter shall emerge- be patient- watch again another night- the Pleiades shall emerge” (Whitman, line 19) is some of the father’s words. Whitman implements diction in the term “Pleiades” as he emphasizes the peacefulness in the Pleiades. Whitman eludicates that with jupiter comes conflict, but the pleaides will shine once again. This diction enforced that goodwill emerge after the bad and encourages the child to remain hopeful that she will see the stars after the clouds clear out. This means that the nation will be able to strive through their difficult times including the civil war that is incoming. The clouds of slavery will need to be solved and once it is resolved, the country will get out of its fragility and excel. Walt Whitman uses the phrase “Shall shine out again” (Whitman, lines 20-22) throughout the ending. The stars that are a beautiful natural phenomenon, will shine out again because it is its nature. Whitman uses repetition to emphasize that just like the stars, the nation will remain. There may be moments where the clouds cover the stars and it seems like there’s no point in return but the stars always come out at one point. The nation will remain and drive through their period of suffering and resistance and will come out stronger together.

Walt Whitman utilized this poem, just as the father did to the child, to instill hope. Walt Whitman instilled hope into the civilians who were concerned with the future of their nation. The new nation was very fragile and new as it had broken free from the British hold and were thrown into political, social, and economic disorder. Even the founding father themselves doubted the strength of the nation as George Washington and James Madison wrote to each other conveying the United States wouldn’t be able to survive with only the Articles of Confederation and without a central government. George Washington, James Madison, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Thomas Jefferson all came to be known as the founding fathers. The “fathers” who gave essential guidance in the shaping of the nation. They are responsible for the ideas intertwined in the Declaration of Independence and the republican form of government in the United States Constitution. However, their ultimate failure by these founding fathers was their inability to act decisively on the inhumanity of slavery and their inability to establish a policy toward the indigenous inhabitants of the North American continent. Both of these failures led to the tensions described in the poem. In the year 1856, when Walt Whitman wrote “On the Beach at Night,” on January 25th there was the Battle of Seattle where there was a skirmish between settlers Iand Indians. Even more insightful was the event on “Bleeding Kansas” in 1856 and onward which was a civil war in itself between pro and anti-slavery forces. On May 21 in particular, approximately 800 pro-slavery men attacked an anti-slavery community and in response, John Brown went into Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas, and attacked five pro-slavery men in front of their families. All things considered, the founding fathers aided the country into its formation and instilled hope but they weren’t able to solve the tensions that led to the civil war. This poem acts as advice for the civilians, letting them know that the conflict will end, and the stars will shine again.

The poetry collection “Leaves of Grass” is the most known work of the American Poet Walt Whitman. He was born on May 31, 1819, and since his young age he was passionate about writing and reading. He taught himself mostly everything and became interested and familiar with the works of Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and the Bible.

Starting working as a printer in New York City, Walt Whitman founded later a weekly newspaper, “The Long-Islander” and later edited a number of Brooklyn and New York papers, such as Brooklyn Daily Eagle. In 1848, he left Brooklyn Daily Eagle and became the editor of the New Orleans Crescent for three months. He developed a unique style of poetry and in 1855, Walt Whitman released the first edition of “Leaves of Grass”, a collection of poetry that consisted of twelve untitled poems. One year later, in 1856 he released the second edition of the book, which contained thirty-two poems. Most of his professional life was dedicated to writing and re-writing “Leaves of Grass”, revising it multiple times until his death. As a result, we have vastly different editions overall – a small book of twelve poems and a compilation of over 400.

The poetry collection “Leaves of Grass” is loosely connected, representing Whitman’s point of view on the philosophy of life and humanity. His poetry praises nature and human’s role in it, he was influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalist movement, although his works are classified as Romanticism.

Walt Whitman spent his last years working on revisions of his deathbed edition of “Leaves of Grass” and preparing his final volume of poems and prose, “Good-Bye My Fancy”. He died on March 26, 1892, and along with Emily Dickinson, he is considered one of America’s most important poets.

On The Beach At Night

The title of this poem is representing the calm state of mind of a human being. Being at the beach at night will make you enjoy the peace around you and listen to the waves of water, things which may be a result of meditation and rest. The night has its joys as well, seeing the stars in the sky and thinking about how great the world is.

From the first verses, we see that a father with her child are watching the autumn sky. The autumn sky means that the sky is not yet dark and that they are enjoying the sunset, with its red and brown autumn shades. The words that describe the sky and the environment are close to depicting a sunset landscape in which two human beings take part.

This heavenly landscape and state of mind is roughly interrupted by “ravening clouds, the burial clouds, in black masses spreading”. We see from the next verse how rough is the transition between the autumn sky and the dark-gray sky. The poet contributed to this transition with elements such as “darkness, black, ravening, burial”, doing it suddenly as no one expected, as the world and sky were falling apart. We see the appreciation of nature and its beauty, the narrator is creating this environment perfect for the reader to admire it and to reflect it in his mind. As the clouds start to spread “Amid a transparent clear belt of ethernet left in the east”, the poet makes reference to Greek mythology by mentioning “lord-star Jupiter” and “sisters the Pleiades”.

We see that the lord-star Jupiter makes its appearance faster and it is more imposing, while the sisters the Pleiades have a graduate appearance “only a very little above, swim the delicate sisters the Pleiades” meanwhile the father and the daughter are enjoying the sight, the daughter holding her father’s hand.

We are facing a beautiful landscape, gorgeous sky, same as it was in the first verses but the burial clouds are coming closer and lower. “Those burial-clouds that lower victorious soon to devour all” – again that transition takes place but this time it affects the human being. The sight put her in tears “watching, silently weeps” and the father is trying gently to make her stop crying “Weep not child, weep not my darling”.

The father behavior shows that he knows what is happening and that he was once in this situation, he is aware of everything that takes place and he is trying to remove his daughter’s tears with kisses. Then he is explaining that the “ravening clouds shall not long be victorious, they shall not long posses the sky, they devour the stars only in apparition”, he understands that the clouds won’t stay there for a long time, they will not cover the shining stars and the gorgeous sky. The clouds will lose possession of the sky and the sky will be free. The stars cannot be devoured by the black clouds and that they shall emerge in the sky soon. He only asks for patience, thing which gives the reader the hope that everything will be alright.

Also the poet is trying to tell the reader to find patience in any hard situation of his life, to be calm through any storm they face and not lose his temper. Doing this will not only help you succeed but also can reveal the beauty of life. The father is telling to his daughter that soon the open star cluster the Pleiades will shine again and the beauty of the night will be revealed. The stars are considered by the father immortal and that they have a special value as they are described silver and golden “they are immortal—all those stars, both silvery and golden, shall shine out again”.

Even if the clouds are still there, we know that the stars are immortal, we know that sooner or later they will shine out again, it’s just a matter of time, the daughter is taught to remain patient and endure the struggle of watching how the dark clouds are devouring the sky until the stars will radiate their lights again. We can also predict that the stars will shine again because of the “Pleiades”, the narrator named them because he refers at them not as an individuality but as a whole star cluster that will unite eventually.

We may also think that the light of the stars enlightens the narrator, it is connected to his mind which can be now in a state of lack of inspiration or that things don’t go well in his life but at the end everything shall be good. The whole poem is related to the human being and the nature represented as the universe, the narrator has a philosophical connection with the universe, he is studying the entire cosmos revealing its beauty through the impressive light of the stars.

The poem is also about the connection and relationship between a parent and his child, the parent acts as a protector for his child, that is his main role and secondary to teach him that life is about up and downs, not everything will go well or as we want, sometimes it’s about being patient and endure the rough times. The idea of up and downs in life is depicted with the sudden changes of nature, at the very beginning we see the ups, described with colors of autumn, a lovely red sky and by the silence that sets down between the father and daughter.

The downs are reflected by the appearing ravenous clouds, by the sky going dark and by the clouds who were devouring the bright sky. We see that the author is using specific words in the idea of making the environment more terrifying, the daughter starts to weep, she’s been told to confront the situation, to believe that the sky will be enlightened by the stars. After the downs, the ups of life show again, the poet is revealing how the stars rise and shine, he is describing this in a spectacular manner as the star cluster is named as “Pleiades”, referring to the aspect of the Greek mythology. It’s a portrait of hope and infinite beauty, coming with a subtle message for the reader, to endure and not lose hope through the darkest times. We are taught to value nature and its beauty. The symbol of innocence and purity is the daughter.

The poem opens with a narrative description of an event similar to that portrayed in Hopkins’s ‘Spring and Fall,’ a father discussing a natural scene, here, the stars in the night sky, with his daughter. The father notices that the child begins to weep as she watches the ‘burial-clouds’ cover over the stars. The poem then changes from a narrative description to a dramatic presentation of the father reassuring his daughter that the stars are immortal and will endure. The last stanza of the poem concludes the father’s speech and includes two important parenthetical statements which explain that this reassurance is also a ‘first suggestion, the problem and indirection.’ Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Ed. Sculley Bradley and Harold W. Blodgett. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1973.

Bibliography:

1. Kenneth M. Price, Ed Folsom, “The Walt Whitman Archive”, May 28 2019 https://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_569.html
2. Alexander Norman Jeffares, Gray Wilson Allen, “Walt Whitman – American Poet”, Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., Jul 20, 1998, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walt-Whitman

An author uses many literary devices to help the reader understand the theme of the poem. Authors use different literary devices to describe how something is or felt. They also use sensory details to show the reader how something is and lets them visualize an image of what is happening. Authors also organize their poems in a way that fits with the theme of the poem. In the poems, “Deciding” by Wendy Wilder Larsen, “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes, and “I Sit and Look Out” by Walt Whitman, all the authors use sensory details, imagery, and organizational structure to convey themes in poems.

One of the main ways an author shows the theme in a poem is by using sensory details to allow the reader to use their senses to understand the theme of the poem. In “The Weary Blues”, by Langston Hughes, it says “In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone, I heard the Negro sing, that old piano man… thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor” (line 23). This line allows the reader to visualize a man tapping his toe to the beat of a drum. These lines lead the reader to believe that playing music makes people happy. These lines use sensory details to reach the theme of the poem. In the poem, “I Sit and Look Out” by Walt Whitman, the author uses “I see, I hear, and I observe” to describe what he is seeing and hearing so that the reader can visualize what the author is seeing.

Authors use imagery in poems to help convey the theme of a poem. In the poem “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes, the author says “droning a drowsy syncopated tune” (line 1). This line represents imagery because it lets the reader hear a tune that can make them tired and fall asleep. In the poem “I Sit and An author uses many literary devices to help the reader understand the theme of the poem. Authors use different literary devices to describe how something is or felt. They also use sensory details to show the reader how something is and let them visualize an image of what is happening. Authors also organize their poems in a way that fits with the theme of the poem. In the poems, “Deciding” by Wendy Wilder Larsen, “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes, and “I Sit and Look Out” by Walt Whitman, all the authors use sensory details, imagery, and organizational structure to convey themes in poems.

One of the main ways an author shows the theme in a poem is by using sensory details to allow the reader to use their senses to understand the theme of the poem. In “The Weary Blues”, by Langston Hughes, it says “In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone, I heard the Negro sing, that old piano man… thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor” (line 23). This line allows the reader to visualize a man tapping his toe to the beat of a drum. These lines lead the reader to believe that playing music makes people happy. These lines use sensory details to reach the theme of the poem. In the poem, “I Sit and Look Out” by Walt Whitman, the author uses “I see, I hear, and I observe” to describe what he is seeing and hearing so that the reader can visualize what the author is seeing.

Authors use imagery in poems to help convey the theme of a poem. In the poem “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes, the author says “droning a drowsy syncopated tune” (line 1). This line represents imagery because it lets the reader hear a tune that can make them tired and fall asleep. In the poem “I Sit and Look Out,” the author says “I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done” (line 2). This line allows the reader to hear what the author is describing. Imagery describes how the author sees or hears something and allows the reader to see or hear what the author does.

Authors also use organizational structure to convey the theme of the poem. In the poem “I Sit and Look Out,” the author starts almost every line with “I sit, I see, I hear, and I observe. This helps the reader understand that the poem is about what the author is visualizing as they are writing the poem. The repetition of “I” indicates an organized structure in the poem which helps develop the theme of the poem. In the poem “The Weary Blues,” the other makes almost every two lines rhyme. This rhyme scheme shows an organized structure which helps to develop the theme in the poem. An organized structure allows a reader to find a pattern and immediately know if it has to do with the theme.

There are many different things that go into developing the theme of a poem. Authors use multiple different literary devices to convey the theme. Authors use sensory details, imagery, and an organized structure to help the reader develop a theme in the poem. In the poems, “Deciding” by Wendy Wilder Larsen, “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes, and “I Sit and Look Out” by Walt Whitman, all used imagery, sensory details, and an organized structure to convey the most important theme of the poem. Most poems have multiple themes, but these devices help a reader to pull out the main theme of the poem.