Final Project! and course review

YouTube is a pain! I never would have guessed how long it would take to upload three videos! My computer is a little crappy, but still it's ridiculous!

First Video: A reading/"writing"/re-enactment of excerpts from the 1855 version of Leaves of Grass and the (at the time) untitled first poem. - I tried my best to tap the younger, and rough neck Walt in this reading, and I was definitely digging the vibe I got out of it. *This video isn't syncing correctly. I am working on uploading it correctly, if at all possible I really hope that it is since this video is more visual/performance based, rather than audio based*

Second Video: A reading/"writing" of excerpts from the 1892 version of Song of Myself - I put on a nice shirt, sweater, and tie, and tried to evoke the Whitman that was in revision mode. Not the savage of nature, but the man revising incessantly. Thus I sat myself down, and tried to really focus on my language/delivery here.

Third Video: Me rambling. About nothing probably. I suffer from stage fright, so I just start letting words mindlessly spill from my brain to my lips. If you couldn't tell before, I'm a bit awkward...

I feel like doing this project really helped me to understand Whitman even further. I definitely got a chance to feel the pain, pressure, and panic of revision. I also felt the constant stress of making sure things were correct and how I wanted them to be in each piece. Even though my original artistic visions weren't able to be realized (due to limitations in both time and my technological abilities), I am proud with what I was able to film. I really liked doing the 1855 version. I found it to be so much fun, like I was acting, rather than reciting poetry. I felt Walt's energy. I really tapped into him for this project. I tried to walk in his shoes and see how I felt in his world, both Walt the man and Walt the poet. I picked some of my favorite passages to read, and I really feel like they went together well.

And lastly, my review of the class!!!

I really liked this class a lot. I feel like I not only learned a lot, but gained a lot out of this class. I learned a lot about Whitman, his poetry, his peers, his America, but I also gained a new appreciation and fondness for Whitman that I never had before. I really enjoyed the structure of the class. Writing blogs was a lot of fun. I didn't care for tweet of the week, however. I loved the topics and the research, just not the Twitter aspect. I felt like it was not completely necessary. I really enjoyed the Thursday class schedule, however, I think that maybe one Tuesday class a month could be beneficial. I really learned a lot in class every day, and I feel like I could have learned more with a few additional classes. Other than that, I really love the Specimen Days assignments. I think that was my favorite part of the Tuesday classes. I thought it was really interesting to get to take some nightly strolls with Whitman and pick his brain a bit. I also really liked the student run discussions at the finale of the semester. I was pushed into learning more about authors that I probably wouldn't have looked up myself, and really enjoyed discovering some new and interesting things. I also enjoyed reading my comrade's blogs. I felt like I learned a lot from their wonderful insights! And last, but definitely not least, I loved your personal insights and knowledge sharing in class, Hanley. When my comrades (and myself) were silent and unresponsive to your questions, you managed to bring everyone back in with anything that you had to bring up about Walt and his time. So thank you for teaching a wonderful semester!

-Todd Ehmke

Rukeyser

After reading The Book of the Dead, I felt... I don't know, let down?

I thought about the relationship between myself (the reader), the text, and the author, and I ended up feeling cheated out in a sense. I felt like the relationship was very slim, I felt disconnected from the work. I felt as if I couldn't relate to the emotion of the poem, whereas in "Lilacs..." I could. 

I also felt overloaded with imagery in Rukeyser's work. I began to feel weighed down by image after image, especially in the beginning. I don't get this with Walt. 

The Project...

I've been mulling this over in my head for a while now. I think what I've finally decided to do is another YouTube-ing of Whitman. I want to focus on the words themselves and explore various pronunciations and pauses throughout my reading. I'm still not one hundred percent on what poem I want to use, but I will find something that I can piece together a cohesive video with. I'm also thinking of exploring the various revisions of LoG to really find the words and punctuation that suit my video/audio best. In a way, I truly want to "remix" Whitman to come up with my own re-mastered Whitman poem.

Expansion.

There have been a few things touched on in class that I've found to be completely interesting and when it comes to choosing one to focus on, I've found great difficulty.

I fully enjoyed the YouTubing Whitman project as I felt like it helped me to understand the raw power of Whitman's poetry. My only problem with that project was that I didn't spend more time with it. I feel like I could've made my video much better if only I had not limited myself to a simple reading. If I were to expand on this project I would make it much longer and take a lot more time to really dive in and immerse myself on Walt's words.

The other project that I enjoyed a lot and have thought about expanding my research on is finding Whitman references/influences in mass culture. If I expanded this research I would reach closer into films and literature to find more instances of Walt. I would also not limit my research to only American references, but attempt to examine his influence, if any, in other countries.

I'm very torn between these two projects and have, as of yet, not decided on one.

THROUGH EIGHT YEARS

I really liked this piece for a variety of reasons. First of all it reminded me of a lot of pop culture which, in light of recent posts, really strikes me as interesting. Maybe Walt is in more pop culture than we know. Walt goes through eight years of his life in a short paragraph and is astounding at his ability to cram so much information into such a limited amount of space. It reminded me of Watchmen, both the graphic novel and the film, in which Dr. Manhattan, a super natural lead character, narrates most of his life's big events in a short series of panels (or minutes in the film's case). The voice of this piece also reminded me of a sort of Vonnegut Jr.- like voice. It was quick, to the point, yet oh, so descriptive.

I also liked the fact that Whitman mentions his own publication of Leaves of Grass in this piece. He mentions a little about how he left pieces out and briefly mentions that he had some difficulties in editing (even though this was one of his favorite pastimes with later editions). This piece really gave me a great insight into the mind of Walt, how it worked, and how he worked.

Tupperware? More like Tupper War.

Martin Farquhar Tupper. You've got to love the name Farquhar. He should've just dropped the Martin and gone by his middle name, maybe he would've lasted with a name like that. Though sadly, Tupper seems to be one of those poets that will only be mentioned in slight passing, having a page or two among a thousand in an anthology somewhere. When researching a poet and reading something like "His blank verse is just prose cut up into suitable lengths" you can assume that they aren't the most talented or memorable poet. Nonetheless, Tupper was still popular in Britain, and though he failed miserably at first in America he managed to sell about one million copies of his Proverbial Philosophy in America in 1867. This year stuck out to me and after scratching my head for a few moments I had realized why. What was the reason I was looking up Tupper in the first place? Oh yeah... WALTY!

Old Walt put out an edition of Leaves of Grass in 1867. His sales would have been in competition with Tupper! Not only had these two authors been compared and reviewed alongside each other, they were now selling against each other. From what I read, this wasn't a great edition as far as selling goes for Walt either. Looks like he may have lost that battle, but isn't always the war that matters? Tupper probably isn't taught too often in school, and his books probably aren't flying off of the shelves anymore (it actually might take some searching to actually find one). On the other hand, Whitman is taught frequently and people still purchase his poetry for the sake of a good read. One had his time, the other is timeless. Looks like Walt has won the war. Sorry, M. Farquhar Tupper (See, what did I say? Has much more of a ring to it). 

Extree! Extree! Read all about it! Walt Whitman is all over the media!

First thing's first. What's hot? The Occupy movement had its moment of shining glory and still pops up in the news from time to time. So Hell, why not use that opportunity to quote Whitman? It's effective isn't it? Whitman is a well known author, and people are bound to recognize his poetry. I found this picture to be appropriate for the times as Occupy became a very hot topic in mass culture, not only in America, but world wide. 

Second is yet again another The Simpsons reference to old Walter. While I could not find a video of this particular clip it is apparent that Lisa is reading Leaves of Grass to a beached whale. Attempting to console the poor dying creature in its dying moments (Very Walt Whitman of you, Lisa). Of course Bart Simpson would be doing the exact opposite and being a jerk to the dying whale. That was, of course, easy to find a clip of. I've included a picture of Lisa and video of Bart to show the contrasting characters, and just for a bit of fun.

"The world below the brine; Forests at the bottom of the sea—the branches and leaves, sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds…" Quote from Lisa, from Walt, to the whale. 

Finally, to wrap up my fun discovery night, I leave you with a meme (one of my favorite forms of recent internet culture). This particular type of meme usually portrays Ryan Gosling saying some form of pick-up line, and they are typically hilarious. I was delighted to find this one, and must say it's one of my new favorites. 

I find it interesting that Whitman has been alluded to in film, music, television, and even new forms of internet media. There might never be an end to the quotability and relativity of Walt Whitman. 

[Anonymous]. "[A curious title]." Life Illustrated  (28 July 1855)


This anonymous author seemed to be more focused on Walt Whitman as a man more than anything else. In this review "Anonymous" talks about the title, Whitman's portrait, he discusses Whitman as "the perfect loafer", he continues to talk about the preface, then offers a replacement title: American Life, from a Poetical Loafer's Point of View, and wraps up his review by marveling over the fact that Whitman did not care about sales, but rather wrote just for the joy of it all. This author hardly mentioned the actual poetry of the book and merely called its lines "utterances (we know not what else to call them), unconnected, curious, and original." This author obviously cared a lot about the man behind the work, as he intrigued him just as much, if not more than the actual book. This isn't too different from a modern review. Walt Whitman is just as striking as his poetry, and he is studied right alongside his poetry. To attempt to understand and fully grasp Leaves of Grass, one must begin to understand Walt Whitman in all of his loafing glory.


[Anonymous]. "'Leaves of Grass'—An Extraordinary Book." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 15 (15 September 1855)


Once again Whitman's poetry is described as an utterance in this piece. I feel that at the time, there was no better way to describe Whitman's style of poetry. My second observation (which is more of a side note) is that the author of this piece called him Walter Whitman. This isn't too out of the ordinary, since that is his name after all, but I just found it funny since I had never seen it written as such. 


This review gave me some difficulty. At some ends the author seems to enjoy Walter for the beauty of his imagery and command over words, but then seems to loathe him for his vagueness and lack of traditional poetic style - He even goes as far as to name all of the different poetic styles of the ages, just to prove his point. This author is quite indifferent towards Whitman while leaning more to the negative view of things, it seems. The book "staggered" the author beyond judgment or criticism, though his own negative judgment certainly seems to slip through the cracks of his own indifferent review. 


Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman, a Brooklyn Boy." The Brooklyn Daily Times  (29 September 1855)


Here is Walt Whitman at his finest, praising himself in a third-person point of view. He talks about egotism, questioning, "What good is it to argue about egotism?" The egotist admitting to his own egotistical review, classic! Whitman gloats over himself saying that nearly every aspect of his life has purpose (most notably his writing). I really like Whitman's praise over the fact that no other author's spirit had touched him. His writing was that of genuine genius and genuine inspiration. This may be true, it also may not be, only Whitman would truly know. What's funny about that is the fact that Whitman is praising himself over his genuine style when the biggest problem many critics had was his "lack" of style. Here is Walt saying that it is purely him, his poetry, no inspiration required, his poetry IS Walt Whitman in every aspect. One of the most positive reviews about Whitman was that of his own hand. The character of Walt Whitman that the first reviewer I discussed praised continues his enigmatic and curious legacy by reviewing his own work. 


And one more that I just could not resist!


[Anonymous]. "A Pleasant Quiz." The Albion, A Journal of News, Politics and Literature 14.36 (8 September 1855)


HA!! I needed to add this review for the sheer hilarity of it all. "that it suggests the notice of a man reviewing his own work—is not of much importance." Sorry Walter... Though it's not like this stopped him as he continued to review his own work multiple times. 

Tweet a week: Frances Wright

Frances Wright was a radical woman(and I mean that in every sense of the word).  Hailing from Scotland and visiting America in her youth she was a very outspoken young woman, believing in equal rights for women, sexual freedom for women, emancipation of slaves, free education and various other things. She was an author, writing both books and editorials in her own newspaper. Her works made her very popular in the literary world as well as the activist world. 

Of course Walt would take interest in Fanny and find inspiration in her words. She was outspoken just as he was and their political views seem to be quite similar. Their views on slavery are similar as well, though Fanny seems more radical in her views on matters than Walt does. Her writings (from the snippets that I've read online) seem to be more direct than Walt's as well. Walt seems to tell more of a story with his words, depicting his issue in a poetic vision, whit Wright is a lot more straightforward in her word usage. 

A Song For Occupations - "This is Unfinished Business With Me"

I found this poem striking as it differs from Song of Myself in that it uses less of Walt's classic me, me, me talk and focuses more on the YOU. I suppose in a song FOR the occupations it would have to be more about the you anyways, since Walt's favorite occupation was, of course, loafing.

Throughout the course of the poem's career the name was changed several times. It started out unnamed, and then evolved into Poem of the Daily Work of the Workmen and Workwomen of These States in 1856, Chants Democratic in 1860, To Workingmen in 1867, Carol of Occupations in 1872, and finally A Song for Occupations in all subsequent editions. But the title was not the only change made to the poem throughout the various years of updating. The poem itself underwent numerous changes as well. First of all there are the various punctuation differences: the addition and subtraction of various dashes, the addition of parentheses around lines. These changes add to tone and style, making the poem mean different things to each reader as they are able to pause and reflect at punctuation marks as they please. But the punctuation almost seems unnoticeable when comparing the first version of the poem to the last.


When looking at the poems side by side you would notice that the words in the poem change drastically. While the 1855 edition opens with "Come closer to me" a warm embrace from Walt asking you to heed his gentle call, some of the later editions begin opening with, "A song for occupations!" which demonstrate Walt's call to arms almost quickly and fiercely grabbing reader's attentions. But he isn't just calling to any reader, he is calling to the working class. I also found it interesting that Walt is not only calling to the working men, but the working women as well. While the earlier of the versions of the poem seem to be subtly calling to the working class to lightly embrace Whitman, the later versions he is calling more specifically to certain workers in less of an embrace, but more of a "wake-up call." 

Rinse, Lather, Repeat, Rinse...

Looking at the various versions of Leaves of Grass is quite interesting, entirely entertaining, and at times overwhelming.

At first glance of the 1860 edition compared to the 1855 version, the most obvious change is the immediate addition of a new poem: "Proto-Leaf." While the first edition of LoG wasn't very successful Whitman kept editing and revising - adding and subtracting. The addition of this cleverly titled first poem seems to hint at a reintroduction of Whitman to the masses. His way of saying here I am, and here is my first leaf, my proto-leaf. Thus with this poem Walt Whitman starts his new revision with a new/first leaf of grass. After this first poem, LoG jumps into the first poem of the 1860 version simply titled: Walt Whitman. Once again this revision hints at Whitman saying something along the lines of, "Here I am, here me roar (or rather, watch me loafe.)" Rather than having an unnamed poem in a collection of nameless poem, Whitman starts with several bangs, opening peoples eyes to the power and enticement of his poetry. It worked as this version was wildly more popular than the first. But Whitman was not satisfied with his work still and continued to edit.

Fast forward to 1867. Whitman has a new version published and there are many revisions yet again to his work of endlessness. We, being resourceful scholars of 2012, have been so graced to have the internet and access to Walt Whitman's own copy of the 1860 version of LoG complete with pencil annotations, revisions, and notes. It's truly amazing to be able to see Whitman's own process of deconstruction and reconstruction in his poetry. In the 1860 Blue Book it can be seen that Whitman work mark out several passages and rewrite them as shorter more coherent lines, or sometimes add to them as well. Also, it is seem that he would change the spellings of words, thus simplifying them. This can be seen in this changing of words such as dropped to dropt, or his omitting several e letters from words changing words such as entered to enter'd. I have two ideas as to why Whitman would have done this. One, because he was a man who well understood language and changed the spelling of his words so that the spelling matches the way the word is said. My second idea is to simply make the piece sound and look more poetic. Though this is my less favorable of the two ideas. Still it is interesting to be able to ponder over these questions. We may have Whitman's own copy, but we still don't know his exact thoughts and reasons for changing certain things.

Whitman revised his masterpiece until he died. Like any great artist Whitman was probably never happy with his own work and continued to try to make it better. Had he continued living, there would probably be several more editions of this great work as Whitman would have continued to analyze, destroy, and recreate LoG. Making a new poetic masterpiece each and every single time.

Another Midnight Stroll

For this week's Specimen Days post I decided to read Nights on the Mississippi. I really enjoy these late night strolls that Whitman seems to take quite frequently. I enjoy reading about his wanderings of the night because I too like to soak in the nature of the night.

The thing that struck me about this particular piece was Whitman's admittance of loving the view of the bridge. As a man enamored with nature I would've pegged him to loathe something such as a giant man made structure like a bridge. He's proven me wrong again!

Other than my confusion over the bridge I found this piece to be quite peaceful and enjoyable. Whitman never ceases to amaze me with his clear and concise descriptions of nature. He's quite good at painting the picture in my mind of exactly what he's speaking of.

"Wait a minute... This sounds like Rock and/or Roll..."

In my readings about The Oneida Community I resisted the urge to drink any Kool-Aid and continued along with my research of this tantalizing cult. Rather that mimic what my wonderful and brilliant fellow students have already explained about The Oneida Community, I will take this opportunity to jump straight into my thoughts about it. I was baffled by their ideas of Jesus' return having already happened and their Garden of Eden that was to be created. They were just about 120 years to early for In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida to be their theme song. Creating Heaven on Earth or something even better? You'd need to be something out of this world to think that you could achieve that. All of my reading left me with bad tastes in my mouth as I read about Complex Marriages and the attempts to breed "perfect" children. I was wickedly reminded of Warren Jeffs, Jim Jones, and all of the other Religious commune, cult, "for-the-good-of-man" leaders out there. And I posed the same question that I always ask... Why would anyone in their right mind follow along with this?

Today, this question has gravitationally pulled me in the direction of Walt Whitman. As I swam through my thoughts and re-examined various lines of Song of Myself I came to my own conclusion that Whitman would have been disgusted with The Oneida Community. WHile I couldn' find any definite answers for myself on the internet I stand by my own views that Walt Whitman would have set himself apart from this community. While he may have agreed with some of its views such as free love and being free of sins in a perfect type of world, he would have been against various other views in the community. One  view being the one that grosses me out the most: the introduction of sex to immature males and females by overly matured males and females. I Don't believe this would have been cool with Whitman as he would have seen the obvious wrongness in this. This was something very impure and most certainly would have repulsed someone as self-proclaimingly pure as Whitman. While the idea of being married in a large group as a joined one would have been captivating to a man of the world like Walt, the fact that the marriages were only between man and woman would have thrown Walt off. This does not signify unity and oneness, but rather adds to the divide between male and female. I think this would have been a major turn-off to Whitman.

And so as I close another blog post and close my various opened tabs on my browser I say to you that while Whitman wrote of purity of mind and soul and being one with nature and one with each other, the ways of The Oneida Community are not what he meant. Had Whitman been alive throughout the decades from his time and ours he might be telling us to "Turn on, tune in, and drop out" and sang about A-Gadda-Da-Vida rather than his triumphant Song of Himself. Perhaps Whitman's idea of Paradise contrasts The Oneida Community's and his writing of Song of Myself is his way to display this. 

Iron Butterfly even seemed to have a cult following with their hit as can be seen by the sweating and manic citizens of Springfield. Their cult: I-Ron Butterfly!

Youtubing Whitman

Please excuse my slight tardiness with this assignment. I was have trouble with my camera, but finally got it recorded and posted.Enjoy!

 

"One of the finest nurses I met was a red-faced illiterate old Irish woman"

Female Nurses for Soldiers

Originally I thought that this piece would be from the inside perspective of the soldiers lusting after there nurses... I should have known better with Whitman.

In this piece Whitman talks about young nurses who volunteer to help with the wounded soldiers. He comments on how they are not the best for that job and goes on to talk about how an elderly (probably less attractive) nurse is much better at tending to injured men.

What caught me most was Whitman's line: "the magnetic touch of hands." This caught me as such a magnificent line as I could clearly envision such an image. The middle-aged or experienced woman with steady hands, tending to wounds and constantly attached to the body of the injured soldier knowing exactly how to help them.

I also liked how Whitman likened old nurses to mothers stating that mothers are also good and tending to wounds and making people feel better.

This is my title for the poem comparison on 02/09/2012... Yeah, that's the best I could come up with

Elizabeth Oakes Smith and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

These two poets definitely reminded me of Whitman. Whether it was due to actual similarities in the poems or just because I've just had a lot of Whitman on the mind, I might never know. Regardless, I couldn't help but draw my lines of comparison between these two poets and Whitman.

First of all was the matter of content. While both Whitman and Smith talk about nature they each do it in a unique way. Smith speaks as an observer and doesn't seem to quite understand nature, while Walt Whitman speaks as if he is part of nature and he is trying to absorb all the knowledge that nature has to offer him. Smith does not do this as her last lines state "I would not soar like thee, in loneliness to pine." Smith does not understand the flight of the eagle and seemingly does not wish too. Whitman would probably be dying to soar like an eagle in a tree.

Next was Longfellow's poem. He does not speak of nature, rather he speaks of both work and church. These directly contrast Whitman as his poetic muse, his soul, was never free indoors and never while working. Whitman was a loafer, while Longfellow's character is a worker. This much is seen with descriptions such as his hardened hands.

As far as form goes, these two poets had a particular rhythm and rhyme while also keeping their poems short and sweet. While Whitman does have his own rhythms and the occasional rhyme, it did not correspond with either of these poets. Thus is the beauty of Whitman's blank verse.

Purity of Mind, Body, and Soul

"I loafe and invite my soul"

"Clear and sweet is my soul . . . . and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul"

"I believe in you my soul . . . . the other I am must not abase itself to you,
And you must not be abased to the other"

"The souls moving along . . . . are they invisible while the least atom of the stones is visible?"

"This is the the tasteless water of souls . . . . this is the true sustenance"

"I am the poet of the body,
And I am the poet of the soul"
"We also ascend dazzling and tremendous as the sun,
We found our own my soul in the calm and cool of the daybreak"
"Logic and sermons never convince,
The damp of the night drives deeper into my soul"
"Swift wind! Space! My Soul! Now I know it is true what I guessed at"

"I fly the flight of the fluid and swallowing soul,
My course runs below the soundings of plummets"

"To a drudge of the cotton fields or emptier of privies I lean . . . . on his right cheek I put the family kiss,
And in my soul I swear I never will deny him"
"All forces have been steadily employed to complete and delight me,
Now I stand on this spot with my soul"
"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,
And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one's-self is"


I loafe and invite my soulBeing the fourth line of the poem, this early call of attention to the soul is important as Whitman is invoking his soul as a kind of muse. Whitman has worked hard and is ready to loafe around, and so he invites his soul to relax as well. While he is relaxing every physical and mental part of his being, he is also calling to his soul to make itself known and help him in his poetic journey of his song.
 
Clear and sweet is my soul . . . . and clear and sweet is all that is not my soulWhitman also draws attention to the idea of purity (which goes hand-in-hand with the soul in Whitman's eyes ) in this poem. Here he states that his soul is clear and that all other souls in the world are clear as well. Nothing can be more raw or pure as the soul and Whitman calls to this in most of this poetry as loafing, nature, and being free are all qualities of purity. To Whitman, being free and out in nature is the closest way to not only find his soul, but to let it too be free with him.
 
I am the poet of the body/And I am the poet of the soulWhitman obviously sees himself as a voice of the unvoiced. By being a poet of the soul, he seems to be stating that he is the voice of purity and of true human nature. He is the voice of understanding on both a physical and metaphysical state of being. He is the voice of mentality, sensuality, physicality, and spirituality. With this passage Whitman suggests that he is a voice of the soul and to the soul. He can speak and write past someone's ears and dive straight into the core of humans, into their soul and make them feel as he does. Whitman, in a sense, states that he transcends any bodily functions as a poet and is of a purer nature, calling straight into the souls of his readers/listeners.
 
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/And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one's-self is
Here is the cornerstone of Whitman's poetic soul. While his idea of the soul is pure and transcends all bodily form, the soul is not more or better than the body and vice versa. One is nothing without the other. The two need each other and draw from each other. While Whitman calls to his soul and in a way befriends his own soul, his soul is no better than his body. He needs his soul to be the poet that he is and his soul needs his body to act as a device from which to sing through.
 
Throughout this poem, Whitman uses the ides of the soul as a motif to continuously link himself and the reader back to nature, back the the self and purity, and back to his writing. With his constant references to the soul, whether it be his own or in general, Whitman keeps both himself and the reader focused on the purity of the nature and the poet and does not let readers forget that without soul, our mind and body might be useless. One is not greater than the other, but rather they all need each other to equally coexist.
 
Whitman seems to drone on and on about the soul (particularly his own) at times and even personifies the soul to be a living breathing thing at times. While at times it may seem annoying, it shouldn't be taken so lightly. The soul to Whitman is as impirtant as the words that he writes. Without his soul the words would not exist. Whitman seems to transcend all normal thought when it comes to the soul and has a deeper understanding of what it means to have a soul and what it means to join mind, body, and soul. Whitman's soul is his muse and he calls to it when he needs purity, calmness, and poetic beauty. The soul to Whitman is pure, and his poetry is evidence of this.

The Wilmost Proviso

The Wilmot Proviso basically states that all territory acquired from Mexico would ban slavery in those states. The Proviso did not pass senate, however.

After reading Song of Myself, especially the section about the runaway slave I believe that Whitman would have been for the Wilmot Proviso. Whitman didn't seem like a man of many prejudices and I believe that his runaway slave story is quite true. He saw a human in need of help, and he answered to that need with compassion. But would Whitman have cared enough about the Proviso to do anything about it or to help get it passed? He is obviously not a man who cares for slavery, but if it's not his own direct issue would he do anything about it?

A Silent Night Ramble

This stuck out to me for quite a few reasons. One main reason was because of Whitman's ability to pass more than two hours of time in one short paragraph. He starts the night by leaving the hospital at 10PM and walks around enjoying the wonders of the world until past midnight. The short length of the poem passes time in a short fashion practically personifying the thought that "time flies when you're having fun," or in Whitman's case, when you're enjoying the wonders of the world.

Another thing that stood out to me about this piece was the fact that almost anyone can relate to it. If anyone has taken a nightly stroll through the city, or even just around their own neighborhood, they would know the sheer wonder and awe that it can provoke. Even if you've seen the horrors of a hospital or any other traumatic experiences from daily life, one can always take comfort in the beauty of the night's sky, or even the familiarity of the streets in which you walk. The words Whitman uses to describe the night are so beautifully accurate that it's hard not to enjoy this short piece of writing, or Whitman's "ramble".

What is grass?

"A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? ....I do not know what it is any more than he."

I found this section of the poem to be quite powerful. Though Whitman at times acts all knowing, this section displays him question the world and proving that he doesn't know any more than a child does about the workings and mysteries of nature. When Whitman can't come up with a straight answer as to what grass is, he comes up with a collection of metaphorical answers to the child's question, even mentioning that grass is a child of vegetation.

The name of the poem undoubtedly takes from this passage and says a lot about the poem itself. That while Whitman may know a lot about writing and the workings of people and their social habitations, he may never know the answers to the questions of nature and God. To Whitman leaves of grass are just metaphors for a thousand other things that he can answer, but he will never be able to answer what exactly the grass is.