Essay Disparate Objects in Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass

The soul is also mentioned earlier in the poem as beautiful, despite the faces he sees which are at most "despising," (Whitman, `Faces'). Whitman was apparently very much intrigued by the soul, he tried to find a "path," to the soul even though he admits that he was not sure what the soul was. However, he was determined he would find a "path between reality and their souls," (Allen, 192). Like most of the pantheists of his time he wanted to connect many things, reality and the soul; even individualism and the nation. Whitman quoted, "The empowerments of each element of the country individually but at the same time their merger in the collective empowerment of the nation

themselves can even express. This is such a powerful statement in this epic poem, because it expresses the reader that no matter how much the American poet should right he can never truly say what he wants to. Again, another blatant example of one of the many contradictions in the poetry of Whitman. He calls out everyone to express themselves on their true unequivocal loves, yet here he admits that no one is really

Whitman takes the idea of using parts of nature as unique symbols and transfers this idea into humanity. More specifically, Whitman is able to go beyond Emerson's idea of nature as a symbol and make humans symbols. Most obvious is the way that Whitman uses himself as a symbol of all of humanity. He sees the ideas of humanity coming from him and states, "Through me many long dumb voices…Through me forbidden voices,"(Whitman Section 24 Line 12 & 20). He says that he is a "kosmos" - or he is a universe,

As the speaker sits in an auditorium, they observe the lecturer’s many notes, “When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, / When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,” (lines 2-3). This line provides strong visual imagery of complex investigations in astronomy, and a reader can easily imagine a full lecture room with endless notes and charts which aids in providing the mind-numbing mood of the experience. Moreover, the repetitions of what are essentially synonyms in this context make these lines sound like the rambles of the astronomer, contributing to the tone. As the speaker tires of the lecture, he leaves the room and “In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, / Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars” (lines 8-9). Here Whitman again employs imagery to make the night seem appealing and

Also included in the poem is the image of a young child being embraced by their elders. This shows the gap in life and the aging process that we go through. When we are young we are carefree, but as we age we hold on to the ones we love because of the knowledge that we will one day have to make our departure. Out of this idea of death, Whitman shows that this is a natural part of life and

Perhaps this is Whitman's own way of saying to his audience "pay attention, for although I am speaking of myself I speak for you too, so this is important, and applies to your life as well." Continuing on he claims to "strip away" what is known, and "launch all men and women forward with me into the unknown." This statement serves as if to say to the audience "forget what you know, and what you have been taught. I have something new and important to tell you, so open your mind and use your imagination." Whitman then describes the difference between a clock and eternity. For a clock can only count a moment, it has a very short span; however, it in no way can begin to encompass eternity for eternity is immeasurable. Using images of an endless stream of buckets rising from a reservoir continually providing us with time Whitman paints a picture of eternity, making it a tangible rather than intangible thing. He does what the clock is not able to do. While the clock is incapable of measuring eternity, he gives you an easy image to associate with eternity, making one able to grasp the concept of how expansive eternity really is. Continuing with the idea of the expansiveness of eternity Whitman gives examples of the "trillions of winters

Throughout the passage, the writing appeals to the senses of touch and hearing. As read in the text, “I heard the distant click of their picks and shovels,/ They have clear’d the beams away, they tenderly lift me forth” (lines 29-30). Whitman uses the senses touch and hearing to help the reader feel what is happening in the passage.

Imagery is present throughout Walt Whitman’s Song Of Myself (-----). Whitman is able to draw the reader into the text and ground the abstract ideas back to the readers by appealing to a range of senses. Whitman also uses visual, tactile, auditory and olfactory to imagery give a sense of reality to the setting.

Whitman begins by creating a contradictory image of himself. On one hand he relays an egotistical representation by alluding that he is the center of the universe, "a kosmos, of Manhattan the son," almost a deistic type of character. Whitman also describes himself as not being above any one person, woman or man, an obvious contradiction to his previous representation. His God-like persona is depicted in human terms, physical qualities that all humans possess. Whitman creates this contradiction to show his belief that he is everything, but is only this way because everything is a part of him. He represents himself as part of a whole&emdash;nature, mankind, and the universe are all a part of him. By being everything in nature and nature being a part of him, Whitman has the power to become the voice of nature as a whole. He speaks for nature and mankind when they do not possess the power to do so. Whitman is the voice of all.

reader. When Whitman writes "what I assume you shall assume,/For every atom belonging to me as good

He demonstrates being non-judgmental, which is something people of his time do not understand, let alone today in present time. He goes on later to say "I resist anything better than my own diversity, and breathe the air and leave plenty after me, and am not stuck up, and am in my place" (2756). Whitman feels that he has explored the world and the options around him and now has found his place. He knows his inner self and it has guided him to the place he needs to be.

Whitman says, "Clear and sweet is my soul....and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul" (Lauter, p. 2745). What I believe Whitman is saying here is that his soul and everything else that is not his soul, including the souls of others, is clear and sweet. He goes on to say in the lines following, "Lacks one lacks both..." (Lauter, p. 2745). In other words, a soul cannot be clear if it is not sweet and a soul cannot be sweet

Every line in the next stanza opens with ‘And’, which makes it seem rather like a list, a list of the poet’s demands. Indeed the entire stanza is simply stating things which he demands be done to this man.

Along with the use of metaphors, the form of the poem plays an important role in uncovering the views of Whitman. First and foremost, this poem was written in free verse which is a form of poetry that lacks structure. The free verse stucture of the poem is shown in the lack of form in the stanzas of the poem. Some stanzas are six lines long while others are only one, and the lines can be either concise or drawn out. The poem also lacks any apparent rhyming scheme or rhythm. Unlike Shakespearean poetry, where the foot of the poem stays the same, the lack of any apparent structure to the poem leaves the reader unable to predict what is coming next. In addition to this, at the time this poem was written, free verse was not common. In fact, Whitman may have been one of the first poets to use this form, showing that he may have been rebelling against the predominant structured form in poetry. The lack of any apparent structure guides the reader towards the conclusion that Whitman did not like structure in poetry, and can even be

This is another poem that links Whitman to the Romantics. The "birth of the poet" genre was of particular importance to Wordsworth, whose massive Prelude details his artistic coming-of-age in detail. Like Wordsworth, Whitman claims to take his inspiration from nature. Where Wordsworth is inspired by a wordless feeling of awe, though, Whitman finds an opportunity to anthropomorphize, and nature gives him very specific answers to his questions about overarching concepts. Nature is a tabula rasa onto which the poet can project himself. He conquers it, inscribes it. While it may become a part of him that is always present, the fact that it does so seems to be by his permission.