Walt Whitman's Use Of Literal Poetry Essay

The time of Romanticism brought upon many trends extending from the idea of individualism as a rebellious separation from the classics, an idealistic outlook and finally to a strong religious base. Most of the writers of the Romantic period followed Pantheism "God is everything and everything is God ... the world is either identical with God or in some way a self-expression of his nature" (Owen 1971: 74). The idea of Pantheism was that everything in the world worked in unity. In some of the works of the Romantic period the expression of nature and humans are not separate entities, but one in the same. Even though in reality it did not work this way Pantheism was the ideal of most these writers and idealism in itself was yet another trend

“Song of Myself” is an attempt by Walt Whitman to become the “American poet” as described by Ralph Waldo Emerson; he attempts to be “[T]he sayer, the namer, and [representative] of beauty” (Emerson 1182). Whitman wants to speak to and for America. Whitman does not explicitly choose sides on the slavery debate that was raging at the time of his writing, but he does express the equality of all people, regardless of gender and race in “Song of Myself”. While Whitman’s writing can be read as neutral but “Song of Myself” is, in reality, very anti-slavery and pro-equality.

Walt Whitman was a revolutionary poet who let his emotions run free through his poetry. Whitman was never afraid to express himself no matter how inappropriate or offensive his emotions might have seemed at the time. This is why Whitman's poem still echo that same sentiment and emotion today almost as loudly as when the drums were first tapped.

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.

For as long as it can be remembered people have used multiple forms of literature in order to gain knowledge, entertain, and even express a certain idea. Poetry is in fact one of those forms of literature, and before people began to write it, it was known to be told verbally by many. A person would tell a tale and those who listened would memorize it, what eventually caused poetry to spread around. Still to this day, many come to fall in love with the magic poetry possesses. It is the writer’s decision to either have a specific rhythm to it or just have a simple list of words. This essay argues that poetry is a creative way of expressing one's emotions and that it should be, not only preserved, but celebrated, even by those who have not considered themselves poetry fans in the past.

Walt Whitman and Elizabeth Bishop are two of the most highly acclaimed American poets of all time, exploring themes, scenes and emotions that deeply resonate with psyche of the American public. Whitman and Bishop explore the relationship between themselves and their audience by writing about the liminal space between individual and community. As renowned poetic voices for their country, the two are individuals speaking for the multitude. They are therefore fascinated with their apparent inability to determine what defines an individual within humanity, and it becomes clear through their writing that they are at times frightened

“I celebrate myself.” Walt Whitman’s introduction into Song of Myself sets a distinctive tone for his writing. Whitman influenced America in many ways and the driving forces of his influence are disguised within the complexities of his writing. Whitman’s’ desire was for humans, and specifically Americans, to be in harmony with the universe, with themselves as individuals, and with each other as a nation; Whitman used his poetry to encourage this belief amongst his fellow man. Encompassed in the themes in Song of Myself, Whitman impel his influence into the hearts and minds of the American people and the world. At times latent and at other times obvious, Whitman uses individualism and democracy,

In Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, the speaker often uses “I” as a way to embody individuals, or “adjuncts,” of society and the whole that they comprise. At other times, the use of “I” appears to refer to the singular speaker, occasionally seeming to contradict its more encompassing voice. Two particular passages from this selection of poems employ parenthetical statements that work both to differentiate between which “I” is speaking, as well as to whom he is directing his words. This manipulation of punctuation is most notable in poems 7 and 51, the first of which the speaker informs the audience of the immortality of all people, while the latter expresses the brief nature of the speaker’s time with the reader and addresses potential contradictory

Both Whitman and Dickinson were legendary in the branch of poetry, making their marks by writing plenty of poems, concentrating on important themes such as the developing America/independence, and creating beautiful works of art by exceeding the norms of Iambic Pentameter in conventional poetry. These poets exercised great influence among the coming generations of poets, while also exemplifying their traditional uses of poetic devices. But an important aspect that distinguished the uniqueness of both poets was the tone that was exemplified in their works. As a result, Dickinson and Whitman’s poems incorporated a plethora of symbolic messages that supported their tone and mood of not only their writing, but also what influenced them in

Is it conceivable to compare two poets that appear to be uniquely different from each other and compare and contrast their famous pieces of literature? It may be unimaginable to consider that there are similarities between Emily Dickenson’s “I’m Nobody! Who are You?” and Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myslef”, formerly known as Leaves of Grass, but there are definitely similarities. However, it is important to identify the differences between the two poets first .

The homosexual themes displayed in Walt Whitman’s works, especially in his most famous collection of poems Leaves of Grass, raise the question of his own sexuality. Many of his poems depicted affection and sexuality in a simple, personal manner, causing nineteenth century Americans to view them as pornographic and obscene. Based on this poetry, Whitman is usually assumed to be homosexual, or at least bisexual. However, this assumption does not account for major influences of his writing such as the shift from transcendentalism to realism and the American Civil War. After considering these factors, it can be concluded that Whitman’s poems were not intended to set apart a few homosexual men, but to bring all men and women together.

During the time period that Walter Whitman lived, there were many controversial things happening to the American people as a whole. One of the most strenuous upon society at the time was the Civil War. The Civil War created many problems in the lives of most Americans during this time period. This war also prompted, and inspired Walt to create many of his historical works of art. The war was raging in both the north and the south during Whitman's golden era of his writing. In the North, the economy was blooming, and growing, and industry was getting better and better each day. While in the South, the price, and the labor of the war was taking its effect upon society. The economy was getting worse, and worse as time went on. The problems

Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is an thought-provoking text for the reason that it was finished for a extended age of time and studied founded on Whitman's variations in his lifetime, involvement, and philosophy, though the material and flair remained fundamentally equivalent.

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

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