Compare And Contrast Pumppo And Whitman

"Why should I pray? Why should I venerate and be ceremonious?……I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my own bones." (pg 40)Nature and all of her wondrous facets, especially the human body, was Whitman's religion. Walt Whitman was indeed an intensely spiritual man in his own unconventional way. His epic classic "Song of Myself" demonstrates these attitudes of his, and in his view how the proverbial "poet" of his America should believe. Humanity yearns for spiritual fulfillment and Whitman believed that everything around us and even ourselves were walking testaments to what true ethereal life is.

The suggestions of equality between all people are not blatant and are not abundant in “Song of Myself” but they do exist, showing that Whitman was not as neutral as most readers are led to believe. He believed in equality.

"WHITMAN WAS MORE MAN THAN YOU'LL EVER BE," said a student of Louisiana State University. When asked questions of your sexual preference or thoughts on the issue of sex, I would venture to say it makes most people uncomfortable. This is an age-old topic that people know about, yet do not want to talk about. He was particularly reticent about his issues regarding sex and his particular sexual preference. In fact, of Whitman's struggles the most difficult for him to deal with was his ever so strong homosexual desires (Hubbell 283). Whether homosexuality is right or wrong is not for me to decide. Though I feel it should not be used so explicitly in works of

In the song, Fiasco portrays the manipulation that many are often affected by. He suggests that others should, like him, ignore what others think and act purely on what you believe. Fiasco uses the analogy of slaves to describe the similar effects of losing one’s individuality. The experiences one would face if he/she succumbs into the negative influences of others would be similar to that of African American slaves. Because of human nature, jealousy exists amongst every individual and by allowing others to control aspects of your life, he/she will be able harm those dependent variables of one’s life. Similarly, Whitman states that one should freely “…give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families…” (Leaves of Summer, Preface) Whitman again describes the idea of individualism. People fear of the higher power and often let that fear consume them, eventually eliminating the individual’s ability to act freely. He implies that people should ignore those circumstances and without

Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition and a religion by revelation to us and not the history of theirs? (Prentice Hall Literature The American Experience, Nature,366 )” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote this to speak about individualism that, as you can tell, very passionate about and he made a political statement. Thomas C. Foster even states it himself. “That radical individualism is politically charged in Lawrence, just as it is in Walt Whitman (whom he admired greatly) and Ralph Waldo Emerson in their very different ways. (How to Read Literature like a Professor, 118)” Emerson is trying to express his belief and persuade others to become closer to earth and respect

“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” by Walt Whitman is the recollection of a speaker that attended an astronomer’s lecture only to be bored and leaves the room to enjoy the stars without scientific analyzation hindering their natural beauty. On the other hand, “324” by Emily Dickinson demonstrates the role of nature in the speaker’s personal connection to religion and God instead of attending Church and sermons. Although their topics seem so unlike, the poetic devices within them have both similarities and differences. Whitman’s and Dickinson’s poems bear many differences, including structure, meter, and rhyme, while remaining alike in their use of imagery to convey like attitudes towards traditionalism and nature.

Both Hope Leslie and Hester Prynne defy the Puritan authority to do what they feel is morally right in the face of judgment and opposition. In Hope Leslie,

            In Puritan society, people stress self-reliance, among many other things.  However, the people more than stress self-reliance - they assume it.  The Puritan people assume that you need only yourself and God, and therefore have no need for emotional necessity, no need to have a “shoulder to cry on.”  Once again, for people in the stations of life which Hester and Dimmesdale hold, it is unthinkable for them to comfort each other.  Yet, in the

In the Puritan Society, committing adultery happened rarely because of how the people viewed it and the punishments that followed it. Hester’s suffering that came from her punishments were immensely difficult for her. Her pain she felt internally from the embodied “A” to the Scaffold. Which led to public shaming and people judging her in a negative way.

Whitman was able to change people’s views on life and was able to give people something that they wanted and were looking for in his creation of a new writing style. His writing about real life experiences connected him well with the common man, which is another aspect of the Romantic period. Whitman is also thought of as the “father of free verse.” He enjoyed using free verse because it could further distinguish him from other writers of the past, and of his time.

The creation of an acceptable persona is essential to Whitman's poetic program. In "Song of Myself" this is

Walt Whitman is considered one of the most important writers in the history of American Literature. The people of his own time called him a radical, a madman, and a pornographer. These days he is greatly appreciated and entitled as a fearless prophet of a new stage of human development. Sometimes Whitman would be in a slump and he felt that he needed to deflect the people who inquired too directly. This even meant using examples of homosexual elements in his work, as well as unbelievable stories of him having affairs with numerous women and fathering many children, unknown to him. Throughout these sorts of times W. Whitman has gone through both resentment and flattery, nevertheless showing us

On this verse, we can see how Whitman tries to connect to mind, body, spirit and nature. In “Song of Myself” Whitman attempted to change the meaning of American poetry. I described identity issues that pertain to him, but that the audience was able to identify with. Whitman, opened the door to

In 1855 when the first edition of Leaves of Grass was published, the first Women’s Convention had already taken place in Seneca Falls. According to Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass is a women’s book. In the epigraph of Sherry Ceniza’s Walt Whitman and 19th-century women reformers she quotes him having said “Leaves of Grass I essentially a woman’s book: the women do it know it, but every now and then a woman shows that she knows it” (Ceniza). The implication here combined with the text in Song of Myself suggest a phenomenon that is all too common. Whitman is seen as and sees himself as a poet beyond racial and gender distinctions but like many in a position of privilege, their appropriation of the pain felt by these opposed groups serves only

Whitman is known for being revolutionary for his use of free form verse in the nineteenth century. This style is evident throughout Song of Myself which aids in his descriptions and devices used to get his meaning across. His grouping of three lines per stanza for this section is common for the entirety of “Song of Myself”, which has variations of three line to occasionally five line stanzas. His freedom in his poem’s style and lack of rhyme scheme allow him to fully showcase his thoughts in a new way for this time period. An overall summary of the poem is Whitman’s pondering of himself and the world in behavior and personality to him being fully confident in himself with no existential crisis. For the first half of section 20, Whitman’s character of himself questions everything beyond the ownership of himself. He questions the integrity of other people’s identities and characters as well as ignoring social norms involving manners and religious behavior. The declaration of a lack of manners and questioning the church would have been scandalous to