Walt Whitman's Relation to the Romantic Period Essay

The poem “Niagara” by Sigourney is essentially about how God portrays himself through nature and the impact this creates on the individual. His creations are a representation of himself and the power that he holds. In “Song of Myself,” Whitman takes the focus away from nature and places the emphasis on the individual. God is everywhere we go, nature is part of Gods’ creation, but so are we. The poems have differing views on God which in turn impacts how the authors view the relationship of God to the individual. Sigourney and Whitman both acknowledge Gods prevalence in the environment that surrounds them, but Sigourney believes that we will never be able to amount to Gods glory or even be good enough to praise him, whereas Whitman believes God is part of us, he is no better than us, therefore we should not spend our time trying to understand or praise him.

"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.

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

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.

As he literally states in lines 1266-67, “I have said that the soul is not more than the body, And I have said that the body is not more than the soul.” The body consists of the flesh or physical structure of the person, while the soul is the personality that creates a uniqueness for the persona. Whitman believes everyone has a different body, a unique soul, while sharing the same spirit. Whitman differs from Christian doctrine when challenging the idea of heaven and hell, replacing it with life and growth. From this arises Whitman’s “Carpe Diem” motif, wherein he suggests to seize the day and live in the present as written in lines 30-31, “I have heard what the talkers were talking...

Walt Whitman loved to experiment with form when it came to poetry. He used his verses to show his complete adoration of all things wild, and our role as beings in this infinitely complex and thought-provoking universe in which we exist. To say he had a bit of a “nature crush” would be an understatement – Whitman goes in to great detail of his love for the wildness and often describes his emotions in a viscerally sexual manner, using poetic devices to underline his immense feelings for environment and hammer in the imagery to readers of how majestic the world appears to him. “Romantic” poets loved the outdoors – if it wasn’t contained in four walls and a roof, they were all about it. They loved to praise the innate details that made our planet so incredible,

American Romanticism was an era full of authentic styles and unusual topics. Romanticism started in 1830 and lasted until about 1870, but was the era for artistic writers to blossom into who they are known as today. Two of the most famous authors during this time period were Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. Each author is famous for their different styles of writing, and forever shaped the American Romanticism era.

Walter “Walt” Whitman, also known as “the father of free verse,” is one of the most influential writers in American history. Whitman was born, on May 31, 1819, in Long Island, New York. His family settled in North America in the first half of the 17th century. His father and mother, Walter Whitman Sr. and Louisa Van Velsor, got married on June 9, 1816. Together, they had nine children. Whitman's father was of English descent and his mother was Dutch; this ancestry was typical of the region. They were poor farmers with meager amounts of formal education.

Walt Whitman was a writer who was able to reflect the human spirit through words on print. Though Whitman didn’t have as much recognition as he does today, due to what people felt was crude and offensive material, he was able to create poetry that displayed the human emotions. When reading his material, it is easy to get the impression that Whitman had strong opinions over several subjects. Through his writings, Whitman was able to convey these messages in his work. Having been influenced by the writing movements that were spreading during the nineteenth century and his introduction to literature as a child, Whitman had written hundreds of poems that are still recognized today.

The soul is a wonderful thing, as it tells us who we are mentally, while the body signifies who we are physically. Both may seem entirely different, but when the body is the soul, it can emphasize people’s individuality. This is what Whitman describes in his poem I Sing the Body Electric. He compares and contrasts both men and women equally and even treats slaves in a positive way as well. Whitman’s theme portrayed in I Sing the Body Electric is that the body is perfect in every way and in every person.

The dominant themes that are more pervasive in Whitman’s poetry are democracy, life/death cycles, individualism, and nature. These themes play major roles in some of his more notable poems such as “Songs of Myself” or “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” He used democracy as a theme to bring society together, and unite everyone based on their general beliefs. He depicted life and death cycles to merge society together on a spiritual level. Despite his eagerness to unite society he also embraced individualism, and is also a persistent theme in most of his poetry. Nature was an important concept that Whitman used to convince people who there were more important things to life than class structure. He used nature connect us all, and encourage people to

Whitman writes that he, as a poet, represents the body and that he is "the poet of the soul" (Lauter, p.2759). In other words, his poetry represents the body and the soul, but since we are more interested in the soul, we will focus on that. Remember, also, Whitman's poetry is often contradictory. He says in the following lines, "The pleasures of heaven are with me, and the pains of hell are with me" (Lauter, p. 2759). I believe what Whitman is saying here is that his soul includes both pleasure and pain. But, in the very next line he says that he has brought pleasure on himself and the pain he feels he "translates into a new tongue" (Lauter, p. 2759). The tongue refers to here is his poetry. To tie this altogether, his poetry represents the soul, particularly pleasure and pain. He takes the pain from his soul and translates it into poetry. Therefore, his poetry represents his soul.

& nbsp;Divinity, Sexuality and the Self in Whitman’s Song of Myself       Through his poetry, Whitman's "Song of Myself" makes the soul sensual and makes divine the flesh.  In Whitman's time, the dichotomy between the soul and the body had been clearly defined by centuries of Western philosophy and theology.  Today, the goodness of the soul and the badness of the flesh still remain a significant notion in contemporary thought.  Even Whitman's literary predecessor, Emerson, chose to distinctly differentiate the soul from all nature.  Whitman, however, chooses to reevaluate that relationship.

It was a deep poem, because it opened up his perspective on life, and his perspective is unique. In a way he spoke of his own religion, and preached that everyone meets their maker, but everyone is reincarnated as a blade of grass, and he spoke of showing respect for the blades of grass because they could have been part of his ancestory or a person of importance to another person. In general, he wanted people to show appreciation for the world because many generations walked this planet before he did. He wanted people to respect those who have since been deceased, no matter their race, because death is inevitable, and they will soon face it. Whitman’s writing style carried over into this canto, his blank verse style of poetry, although it was not flashy, it made him sound educated and well spoken, but hard to follow. He also revealed that he did believe in a god when he spoke of God’s handkerchief was a gift for Earth, through a

The Romantic Era of American literature promoted the inspiration that allowed the United States to discover its own individuality and culture. Writers like Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and Ralph Waldo Emerson began to retreat from European influence and looked inward for creative vision. Emerson, in particular, preached the idea of isolating oneself from society and depending solely on the inner soul. These themes can be found in most of Emerson’s writings, but are most significant in his essay, Self-Reliance. This essay follows the narrator as he delves into the distinct levels of self-reliance. In fact, the steps of the narrator’s journey toward self-reliance simultaneously reveal the path to inner divinity.