It permeates all, the Past as well as the Present, and it is the grandest triumph of the human intellect." (Walt Whitman, 1166)
In the poem under discussion, we notice how ordinary the language in its meaning. Its simplicity is what makes it comparable to a blue song.
The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing
For Whitman simplicity of language was very important. He had come to the conclusion that deep down every man thinks and feels the same way. Whether we use very sophisticated language or very simple one, in both cases the feelings expressed are the same. Thus he preferred to use simpler one in order to reach the masses and to make poetry more accessible to everyone. Many might feel that blues is nothing but slang but for Whitman slang had its own power and if it could express sentiments more clearly, he had no problem in borrowing a word or a line from it. He thus said:
slang is] the lawless germinal element, below all words and sentences, and behind all poetry, and proves a certain perennial rankness and protestantism in speech. As the United States inherit by far their most precious...
Hear America Singing, Walt Whitman is able to capture the industrial spirit of the times. In the poem, Whitman is able to demonstrate how each profession and industry described contributes to a grander purpose without diminishing the importance of each individual. Furthermore, Whitman uses the motif of songs to unify work life and nightlife. In "I Hear America Sing," Whitman demonstrates how a common goal drives people to help
Walt Whitman's Ethos America The poetry and thoughts of Walt Whitman are compelled by a great need to bring together the conception of a soul that is disembodied with its own veneration for human physicality. Whitman considers that an abyss or gap has been formed between these two aspects and is determined to bring them together. In essence, he is of the belief that the metaphysical aspect of humans is completely
Equality was coming about at the time of this poem, but America still had a long ways to go, yet Whitman seemed to be able to see how people could be equal and happy in their own ways. In all of this equality that Whitman was describing, one can see how men and women were still not on equal ground at the time of the poem. Whitman relates men to
In "Song of Myself," the longest and most complex of the three poems from Leaves of Grass, Whitman celebrates not only the self, but also the self with, and among others. This poem has 52 separate sections, each of them uniquely rich in imagery; theme; setting; sensory impressions, and sensuality. Section 1 of the poem, for example, freely celebrates Whitman's "Self": his essence, health, body, individuality, and joy of living,
New America Walt Whitman's Vision Whitman's favorite subject was most likely America, as well as the various concepts he believed that it embodied. He was radical in the sense that he used prose that was an example of free verse that had didn't fit in any pre-made template. I his poem "I Hear America Singing" he portrayed his transcendent beliefs about the people and work[footnoteRef:1]. [1: (Whitman, N.d.)] I hear America singing, the
" And had Bucke never read any of Whitman's earlier poetry (Leaves of Grass, for example) "we might think that words could not convey greater passion" than they did in Drum-Taps (p. 171). "But now we know better," he went on. The "splendid faith" of Whitman's earlier poems is "greatly dimmed" in Drum-Taps, he insists. Bucke writes that he was told by a person "who knew the poet well, and who
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