Walt Whitman Biography

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

Isiah Porter 11/24/15 Essay 3 World Literature Literary Devices in Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” The opening line is powerful concerning how Walt Whitman feels about himself in the poem, Song of Myself. This is about a comparison concerning two different things. To better understand this text, I will discuss lines that will open your mind to a higher calling of the text concerning how author talks about himself and what he really means.

Walt Whitman could be seen as a narcissist because of his confidence in knowing the “ways” of the world. He is confident in his theory that the physical self and the emotional self, or the soul, are equals in all aspects. But I’m unsure if this is such a bad thing, as narcissism has negative connotations. On the other hand, the object of a visionary poet is not to sway people a certain way or impress them but to be able to reveal a moment or feeling in time and share their findings, which Walt does. Through his work he isn’t saying look at me and all I know. He is sharing his self-discovery and soul searching with the reader to show how magical it can be. He shares his uncertainties, what it’s like to love and what it’s like to be at peace

In the third stanza, the persona emphasizes the point that everything seems to be going wrong. He adds that the days are twice as long and the birds have forgotten their song. This only shows us that the persona probably experiences sleepless nights and awaits for morning with much eagerness - the birds seem to take longer to announce that morning has come by their singing (Johnson 1). To collaborate this with the idea that everything reminded the persona of the departed, it seems that the persona spends his days and nights thinking about the dear person or object.

There have been many inspirational and motivational poets throughout history, but none has stood out more to me than Walt Whitman. Jane Halsall wrote of Whitman in a review in the School Library Journal, “Whitman was more than a poet; he was a player on the stage of American history,” which I believe is true (1). He helped create a path for other poets to follow through all of his passionate writings. He paved the way for people to live the life they wanted without worrying what other people thought. The life, career, and poetry of Walt Whitman was remarkable in its time period and is still influential to this day.

Once this readiness is attained, Pearl soars “upward, like a floating sea-bird.” Comparing Pearl to a bird is the perfect way for the author to display freedom. The bird begins on the ground which represents the gloom that Pearl has been trapped in, and the sky represents joy. As the Pearl-bird leaves the ground (sadness), and flies upward, soaring towards the sky (happiness), she gets closer and closer to pure

Over the course of the narrative, the black bird quickly drives the protagonist into mmontrollable agitation physically and mentally, a progression that is clearly demonstrated through his rationalizations and eventually, through his increasingly exclamationridden monologue. In the final admission of the suspenseful poem, his exdamations are punctuated by the calm desolation of the sentence ”Quoth the Raven, Nevermore,” reflecting the despair of his soul, trapped beneath the raven’s shadow (Stanza 17, Line 6). The death of the narrator’s dearly beloved; Lenore

Walt Whitman was born in 1819, a second son to a housebuilder and one of 9 children. He worked as a printer at an early age, this is where he became enamored with the written word. Working as a printer in New York until a fire devastated the printing section of the city he was self-taught reading the works of Homer, Dante and the Bible. Whitman worked as a teacher for several years before becoming a journalist, full-time and establishing the paper The Long Islander. He worked as an editor for several papers before moving to New Orleans to become the editor of The Crescent where he first experienced the reality of the slave trade. Returning to his hometown of Brooklyn in Long Island he founded the newspaper the Brooklyn Freeman and continued

In his first edition of the poem, “Song of Myself”, Whitman’s poem takes a bold move when it strictly focuses on the glorification of himself. Whitman’s use of arrogant diction helps convey a condescending tone that suggests the speaker is superior to others. However, this egotistical belief is complicated in his poem when his use of inclusive diction invokes a friendly welcoming environment. Through his Speaker, Whitman uses these shifts of diction to present contradictions which allow the reader to encounter multiple emotions. At the same time, his use of free verse structure invokes a sense of unpredictability that literally allows the reader to encounter the multiplicity of everyday experiences in life. Hence, the text promotes

At the bird’s appearance and apparent vocal articulation, he is at first impressed, then saddened. He compares this evening visitor as only another friend which will soon depart, just as “other friends have flown before” (58). But the raven again echoes quite aptly his one-word vocabulary, thus leading the man on to think more deeply about the possibilities that exist at this juncture. Somewhere deep inside him, he has realized that it doesn’t matter what question he poses, the bird will respond the same.

Whitman’s view of animals is a result of his dissatisfaction with the lifestyle of humans. My opinion is that the author is trying to employ the tranquility that comes with being one with nature. We have a habit of to making things more difficult than required, whereas the simplicity of animals brings about a certain sensation of relaxation. Animals do not seem worry about the world. They tend to go about their day as nature intended. Our life’s will never be freed from human interference and “law”. Unlike animals, we live in a civilization where people’s opinions, social norms and statuses control us. Discrimination, stereotype, social status has overpowered human’s freedom today and has tortured those who are weaker. So, Whitman wanted to undermine the distinction between the two. We observe that the author uses a lot of repetition which are two verbs “I think “&” I stand”, three times “They do not” and “Not one”. These recurrence gives sense of author’s meaning, more memorable. This means that he by repetition he is insisting and emphasize something. He lists his ideas without any hierarchal organization. This shows that he doesn’t have the traditional style of writing a poem, which involves

In a variety of Walt Whitman’s poems, the first person narrative emphasizes that the emotions expressed in his writing are unique to him. In his poem Song of Myself, he describes a scene in nature involving a wild goose call. He reflects “The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listening close,/ Find its purpose and place up there toward the wintry sky…. I see in them myself and the same old law” (6). The use of the first person shows how Whitman’s interpretations of the events he depicts do not apply to all people. He admits that other people may find the goose call “meaningless”, showing his understanding that his feelings of mutual connectedness with the world is not a universal reaction. Whitman is able to show that the emotions evoked

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

The speaker states, “Rise up – for you the flag is flung- for you the bugle trills” (line 10). This is interpreted as the ending of the war due to the patriotic symbolism of the flag which stands for freedom and also victory. Within this stanza, the importance of the captain is now extended from just the speaker to all those who await the ship’s arrival. This is demonstrated as the speaker states, “For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning” (lines 11-12). The joyful tone of the stanza ceases towards the end as an unexpected downfall of emotions begins. Whitman uses repetition in lines 15 and 16 when he states “It is some dream that on the deck, / You’ve fallen cold and dead” (lines 15-16). This serves as a disturbing reminder that the figure which was most significant to the entire situation is no longer alive.

Whitman's Poem "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking," is not, at first glance, an obvious love poem. Most readers would probably consider this a tragic poem about death and love lost. In spite of the fact that the poem is about intrinsically sorrowful events, or perhaps because of it, Whitman is able to capture a very unique and poignant portrayal of love. There are three major perspectives to examine how Whitman develops the theme of love in Out of the Cradle, and by examining each reoccurring theme in the poem separately, we can come to a more complete understanding of how they work together to communicate Whitman's message about love.