Whitman's Diction

Spring is the season of growth, revival and beginnings. In the poems “Spring and All” by William Carlos Williams and “For Jane Meyers” by Louise Gluck, the poets talk about this very season. In fact, the two poems are contradictory, in that, Williams writes about the bleakness of winter and the awakening of spring. On the other hand, Gluck’s romantic poetry associates the natural renewal of spring with bereavement and death. Both poets use abundant imagery, symbolism, metaphors, different tones, and similes, to affirm their contending attitudes towards the season. Consequently, although the poems are about the same subject, the demeanor of the poets are varied.

Like in many of his other poems, Whitman uses free verse in this short literary work. His free verse style in this one stanza is written without a specific pattern of rhyme or meter. Innovation flows through the lines as Whitman is unpredictable with his rhythm. In the eight lines (one stanza) of this poem, he creates an anecdotal feel by having the lines vary in length and giving variety to the stressed and unstressed syllables. For example, the first two lines stress the long beat on the third syllable with the words “heard” (line 1) and “proof” (line 2), whereas the third line stresses the fourth syllable with “shown” (line 3). Then continues to the fourth line to stress the long beat on the second syllable using a comma: “When I,” (line 4). These first four lines act as a setup while the speaker recalls listening to the astronomer’s lecture. Whitman demonstrates anaphora in the poem by having each line in this setup begin with the word “When” to illustrate to the reader that the speaker is evoking a prior experience. Whitman utilizes multiple

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

Device Quote Explanation Metaphor “Bullets of princes” - Europe line 23 Here Whitman uses the metaphor of the princes to compare the Americans to children. He often speaks of the authority as the kings, and in calling the Americans princes, the sons of kings, he is calling them immature for fight. Whitman is a pacifist and uses this metaphor to support the theme that the immature can fight, it takes true maturity to settle ones’ differences because, children are immature therefore children argue and fight. which is why he compares the adults children, to emphasize that the civil war is an unnecessary chaos and can be resolved peacefully.

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.

We are almost shocked when we get to Whitman Mission because when we showed up we were not expecting what we saw. I was expecting to be able to restock on all of my supplies and stuff but all the buildings were burnt down to pieces and there were no supplies left because the Cayuse Indians so we have to plan something else out. We had decided to just continue to Oregon City instead of traveling to Fort Vancouver and getting supplies.

One thing I found to be so fascinating was Faulkner's use of making the audience wait for things. Even the mundane could be spun into a mystery. For example, in one of Vardaman's early narrations, he refers to some sort of object, but we, the audience don't know to what specific thing he is referring: "Dewey Dell says it wont be sold because it belongs to Santa Clause and he takin it back with him until next Christmas. Then it will be behind the glass again, shining with waiting"(100). While we have some sense that Vardaman is referring to some sort of toy, Faulkner only provides the basest of context; and by leaving out one minute detail in the narration, effectively spins out a mystery. This makes our discovery of what Vardaman is referring

The woman in the poem feels as if she is being forgotten by her husband and children. As she gets older, she experiences loss of loved ones until she is seemingly alone. Not surprising whatsoever, Gwendolyn Brooks has made yet another relatable poem. Whether they admit it or not, everyone in their lifetime feels as if they are lonely in some hard times. Brooks has the ability to create a character that portrays a complicated feeling incredibly well, which is a quality that every writer would wish to accomplish. Brooks’ talent as a writer is heightened in this poem, mostly because she shows how much she truly can transform her writing into a complex poem for audiences to think about. In doing this, she uses personification to add to the creativity of this poem in the line “the grasses forgetting their blaze and consenting to brown.” This is symbolic for autumn and the aging of a person’s physical features, because just as plants age from spring to fall, people age from a child to grow wrinkly, shriveled and no longer full of youth. Brooks incorporates repetition into this specific poem. For example, in this piece of poetry she repeats “I am a woman,” ”it is summer-gone,” and writes “I am cold in this cold house this house.” All of these uses of repetition emphasize the development from a younger woman to the older-age of womanhood. The manner Gwendolyn Brooks goes about writing this poem hints to the

His belief that death only brings more life are prominent Indian-born religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. Of reincarnation he writes: “and as to Life I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths,/(No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before)” (1297-1298). While his ideas seem to be seeded in Eastern thought, he was still a writer in America during the transcendentalist period and this is where his ideas of death and nature become blended. In his poem, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, he shares his fascination and wonder at plants that die in the fall and come back in the spring.

First published after the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865, Walt Whitman’s poem “Bivouac on a Mountain Side” portrays more than just the tangible picture of a transcendentalist’s vision. The mood of the poem reflects the author’s observations and visions of the Civil War while stationed in Washington and Virginia as well as his beliefs about the war by use of imagery and symbolism.

Poems are like snowflakes. While no two are the same, they all have common structures and themes. One prevalent theme in poetry is that of death, which is present in both “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. Dickinson perceives death as a gentleman, while Frost perceives death as loneliness, which provides insight on how the time periods of the poems, the genders of the authors, and the authors’ personal experiences influence literature.

In his first anthology of poems entitled “Song of Myself”, Walt Whitman reveals some of his views on democracy through the use of symbolism and free verse poetry. His use of symbolism and free verse poetry creates indeterminacy, giving the reader hints rather than answers about the nature of the poem. In the sixth part of “Song of Myself”, a child asks the narrator of the poem, “What is the grass?” (Whitman). Instead of simply giving an answer, the narrator cannot make up his mind, and stumbles on how to explain the grass to the child. Through the use of specific symbolisms, Whitman, as the narrator, explicates his views while remaining under the façade of explaining grass to the child. The views Whitman conveys remain indeterminate and

In Walt Whitman’s collection of Leaves of Grass, he includes many poems that are a compilation of his musings and thoughts. One thing that he does throughout his collection is that he creates goals through each poem to get different messages across. Some of his common messages, or underlying themes, are the Self, democracy, and the individual, but an interesting common theme found scattered throughout Leaves of Grass is the cycle of life and death, especially in comparison to the United States, the Civil War, and life itself. In “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” does such thing. Published in 1865, the pastoral elegy was written after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. This is the best way that Walt Whitman mourns a beloved public figure in his own modern world, and also the way he copes with the natural world. “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” best captures Whitman’s notion what it means to be human: the common understanding of the never-ending cycle of life and death through the form of the elegy, the symbol of the lilac, and the personification of death.

For instance, he contradicts images of “bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths” (11) with images of the captain’s “pale and still lips” (17) to emphasize his grim emotions; the somber mood on the deck stands out against the joyful connotations of the flowers and ribbons. The persona once again uses contradictions to emphasize his meaning, this time through verbal irony. For instance, words such as “heart” (5), “bleeding” (6), and “pulse” (18) generally allude to life, though in this case they refer to death. For instance, while blood is the main element of life, Whitman clarifies that the captain’s blood is spilling on the deck as opposed to rushing through his body. Using words that refer to life when he refers to death suggests that he is so distraught by the event that he cannot accept it. Additionally, the disconsolate speaker describes the captain as “fallen cold and dead” on the deck, a cacophonous portrayal of the truth, revealing his bitterness and grief. Imagery and diction work together to convey Whitman’s sorrow and eventual acceptance of Lincoln’s death.

The epiphany surrounding the word "death" seems appropriate, for in other poems of Whitman's we have seen death described as the ultimate tool for democracy and sympathy. Here death is shown to be the one lesson a child must learn, whether from nature or from an elder. Only the realization of death can lead to emotional and artistic